Xiaomi Redmi 7 review: Strong build and sleek design, but camera a dampener

If you seek a phone that can last long on one charge and endure falls, Redmi 7 is the right choice

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi unveiled its latest budget offering -- the Redmi 7 -- last month. It is priced at Rs 7,999 and is available in three colour variants: eclipse black, comet blue and lunar red. 

The Redmi 7 sports a 6.26-inch HD+ IPS LCD screen with a waterdrop notch, accommodating a selfie camera. The phone is reminiscent of the Redmi Note 7 Pro, but with a plastic back instead of glass. Powering the phone is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 SoC. The phone comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The Redmi 7 features two slim card slots and a dedicated microSD card slot.

Redmi 7 now features palm shutter gesture functionality, so you need to gesture towards the lens and the picture is taken without you having to touch the screen.

Business Standard reviewed the Redmi 7 for its overall performance. Here are the observations:

Design and display

The phone has a plush look and feel in your hands. As the name goes, it is one of the few phones in the budget category that comes with a dot notch, but is not bezel-less. The phone is equipped with a 6.26-inch LCD  display and has an HD+ screen resolution of 1520 x 720 pixels. The phone supports colour temperature adjustment in the standard mode. The reading mode has a yellowish tinge and does not really make a difference to the reading experience. It might feel a bit heavy at 180 grams, but its 8.47-mm thickness lends the phone sturdiness. 

Performance

There's no lag during day-to-day use of Redmi 7. With 3 GB RAM and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 processor, the smartphone packs a powerful punch. However, native MIUI apps running in the background, are irritating and eat up quite a lot of processing power. 

Camera

Redmi 7 has a dual camera set-up of 12MP + 2MP in the rear and an 8MP AI Beautify camera for selfies. The cameras click just about fine pictures in daylight, but the colours are not as sharp as one would like. The selfie camera's low-light pictures have a lot of noise. 

Battery

The 4,000 -mAh battery packs a lot of punch for the average user who doesn't click a lot of pictures or indulge in gaming. It takes more than an hour to charge up to 100 per cent and could last for almost two days on light use. The Palm Feature functionality is a welcome addition to the sub- Rs 10,000 phone.

Verdict

At Rs 7,999, Redmi 7 has the feel of a phone that costs way above its price. If you are looking for a great camera, this is not a buy for you. However, if you seek a phone that can last long on one charge and endure falls, this Redmi phone is the right choice.