Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 4G trounces the sub-$200 phablet competition (REVIEW)

Xiaomi’s cheap phablets, the Redmi Note and Redmi Note 4G, are sweeping across South and Southeast Asia. The 4G version launched in China in August, followed by Singapore and India in November, selling out quickly in all of its inaugural flash sales.

The Note series capitalizes on Asia’s love of a) low prices and b) big screens. So how does it stack up against big screen rivals in the same price range? Here’s a comparison with the Micromax Canvas Turbo from India, the Himax Polymer from Indonesia, and the ever-present Moto G:

As you can see, phones at this price range in Asia face some stiff competition both from local heroes and global giants. But Xiaomi’s new Note comes in swinging with a major advantage plastered right into its name: 4G LTE connectivity.

Hardware and performance

Armed with a quality Qualcomm chipset as opposed to the MediaTek on board the original Note, the Note 4G can handle pretty much anything you can throw at it. Barring the very occasional stutter while playing intensive 3D games, all apps loaded instantly and operated smoothly. Some noticeable heat radiated from around the rear camera when shooting video and gaming for more than a couple minutes.

The phone only comes with with 8GB of internal memory, but a microSD slot means you can add another 64GB.

The screen, despite not being full HD, is bright and sharp. Only the most high-res videos will look slightly grainy, but it’s hardly anything to complain about at this price point.

Phone calls come through loud and clear, but the speaker on the rear of the phone, while sufficiently loud, is poorly positioned. To get the loudest and clearest audio from it, the phone has to be placed screen down, or else it sounds a bit muffled. Speakers along the top or bottom edges would have been preferable.

The battery is excellent, and stands out in stark contrast to the Note 4G’s rivals. Not only is it much larger at 3,200mAh – even bigger than my OnePlus One and an iPhone 6 Plus – it’s also removable. That means you can swap in a new one once the old one inevitable wears down. With moderate use on wifi and 3G, I never even broke through the 50 percent battery mark after a full day of use. That said, 4G subscribers might see a more significant dip.

Look and feel

This is where things start going sour for Xiaomi. You get what you pay for, and the Note 4G feels cheap. It’s as plastic as plastic gets, with audible creaks when pressure is applied to the body. The back cover is comically slippery, like a banana peel in a Bugs Bunny skit.

The slippery feel of the phone is worsened when you consider its size. Those with smaller hands might have trouble keeping a firm grip on it when using one hand. The height, width, and thickness are all a few millimeters bigger than my OnePlus, which has an equal screen size. However, it doesn’t feel too fat to keep in my pocket or too heavy. My bigger concern is that it can easily slide out while sitting.

The single piece of flexible plastic that makes up the rear cover is about as plain as can be. On the front, the screen bezel is a bit thick, but, again, that’s to be expected for a phone that costs less than US$200. The overall aesthetic neither pleases nor offends.

On the front, the glass is a bit too glossy, making fingerprints evident and glare a problem, but turning up the screen brightness seems to curb the issue.

The three Android soft buttons light up red when the phone is turned on, a nice touch included on most Xiaomi phones. There’s a notification light on the top, which can be customized to be different colors for different types of notifications.

The SIM and microSD card slots are behind the battery, while the power and volume buttons sit on the upper right edge. It only takes a full-sized SIM card, so don’t make the same mistake as me and try jamming your micro or nano SIM in there. The charger is on bottom, and the headphone jack on top.

See: Xiaomi Mi4 is a bombshell in the $300 smartphone war (REVIEW)

Camera

The camera defaults make most photos a bit too loud and oversaturated, but MIUI’s appreciably customizable settings can compensate for that. ISO, exposure, saturation, anti banding, contrast, and white balance controls are all at your disposal. Colors are accurate, but I found most images lacking sharpness. Anything less than a bright sunny day will result in a fair bit of grain. Moving subjects are also tough to capture when lighting isn’t optimal.

The default camera app comes with more filters than I cared to test, along with an HDR for those who want their lives to look more colorful on social media than in reality. There’s also a few fun gimmicks, like the faux fisheye and mirrored modes.

The shutter isn’t nearly as fast as its Mi 4 brethren, with the exception of a burst mode used by holding the button down. For budget phones like this, it would be nice to see more companies go the way of Apple and opt for a lower megapixel count with a sharper lens and more accurate sensor.

For video, you can shoot up to 1080p, and there’s a slow-mo option and more filters, but it’s even less forgiving than the still camera in low light scenarios.

Here are some sample photos:

Stuck on MIUI 5?

Despite this phone first going on sale in August and Xiaomi’s newest Android ROM, MIUI 6, launching a mere two months later, there’s no plan yet for the Note 4G to get a MIUI 6 update. So if you’re considering buying this phone because you’re a MIUI fan, don’t expect an upgrade anytime soon. Still, Xiaomi will continue additional vital updates of MIUI 5.

MIUI 5 has been around for a while now, so I won’t go into too much detail. Suffice to say it’s one of the better Android ROMs on the market today, with a slew of customization and theme options. Keep in mind that I tested the Chinese version of this phone, which doesn’t easily allow for the installation of Google services and apps exclusive to Google Play. The international version on sale in the rest of the world, however, will come with Google services installed, so it’s probably worth waiting for an official launch in your country if the Note 4G hasn’t been released there yet, rather than buying a mainland China version from a third-party vendor.

Conclusion

The Note 4G might not be able to boast the same premium-feel-for-half-the-price bragging rights as Xiaomi’s flagship line, but it’s still among the best sub-$200 smartphones out there. Buy a decent case to make it less slippery and more protected, and my main complaints will be moot (although then it might indeed be too big). If a cheap phablet with 4G is what you want, and you buy it knowing that it could bite the dust in a year or less, then the Xiaomi Note 4G is right up your alley.

Pros

• Excellent battery life

• 4G connectivity

• Apps and games run smoothly, loading times are fast

Cons

• Camera is grainy in low light, not sharp enough

• Stuck on MIUI 5 indefinitely

• Feels cheap, too slippery

See: Inspired by Xiaomi, the budget Himax Polymer is ready to shake up the market (REVIEW)

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