Xiaomi Redmi Note First Look: A Premium Phablet On A Budget

Rating:

3.5/5

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PROS

• Display offers gorgeous colors
• Sharp 13MP camera
• Massive fitted battery
• Affordable price
• 4G LTE now on offer

CONS

• Excessive use of plastic
• Lackluster design

Nobody knew Xiaomi in the beginning; the little known Chinese handset maker's meteoric rise in the smartphone arena is keenly followed by the mainstream media. Many of its smartphones got rave reviews from critics - the Mi3 especially - from India's top tech news sites, including GizBot.

Just now, the anticipation is building for the Redmi Note, which will go on sale in this country on December 2. The 5.5-inch smartphone is anticipated to break all previous records, and it will attract user anticipation. However, this time around, the stakes are impossibly high, as Xiaomi will officially enter the offline retail market.

Xiaomi on Monday confirmed the retail availability of the Redmi Note 4G at an event held in Delhi-NCR. The world's third largest smartphone maker has partnered with Airtel to sell Redmi Note 4G through its 100 flagship outlets in India's top six cities. Buyers will need to register online to pick up the phone from the Airtel store.

Possibly the finest and one of the cheapest 4G LTE-enabled on the market, the Redmi Note (4G) will arrive later in December, at a price of Rs. 9,999. The original Redmi Note, on the other hand, will cost users Rs. 8,999.

Xiaomi has once again challenged the high-profile smartphone players, putting its affordable yet high quality handsets back in action. Is Xiaomi Redmi Note the new Android smartphone to beat? Check out our first impressions before deciding whether the Redmi Note is a hit or miss.

Xiaomi Redmi Note: Form Factor, Design, Display and Operating System

This very latest offering from Xiaomi, Redmi Note, is remarkably different from the Mi 3. In fact, the Redmi Note looks like a bigger version of the Redmi 1S, with a little chunkier design and wrapped in a plastic made body. The device hardly uses metal. Sure, it still looks overwhelming and feels great.

The Note's build quality gave us a mixed feeling when we held the device for the first time. At 199 grams, it obviously feels heavy to hold, especially when you hold the device to take a picture. The phone has shiny and glossy exterior though it still looks attractive enough.

The Note's design also makes the phone more ergonomically comfortable, for instance, when you're making calls. One major worry with the Note's design is that the back is a fingerprint magnet.

Like the Redmi 1S, the Redmi Note's power and volume buttons are situated on the right-hand side. On the handset's bottom edge is its microUSB port, while the top edge houses a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.

On the rear back side, you'll get to see is its 13MP camera alongside an LED Flash. Meanwhile, there's a 5MP front facing shooter above the display.

The Redmi Note's 5.5-inch 1280 x 720 screen offers some of the most spectacular colors on any smartphone in its class. Even in the broad day light, the screen gave rich and vibrant colors. Screen brightness isn't an issue either. Still, there were some instances when the lower resolution was an issue.

The Redmi Note's software features, without any doubt, the best on any handset we've seen lately, though the device is powered by a dated Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean OS. The heavy customizable MIUI user interface surly adds a lot of more features who'd like to use on a day-to-day basis.

They are the kind of enhancements you don't realize easily, which actually makes the experience on the next level. In the meanwhile, the LTE version runs Android 4.4 KitKat with MIUI v5.0 layered on top of Android.