Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro review: Bigger screen, quad-camera, pocket-friendly

The Redmi Note 6 Pro is the first Xiaomi midrange offering with dual cameras -- one at the back, the other in front

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi, known for its affordable handsets, launched yet another value-for-money device on November 22 -- Redmi Note 6 Pro. And the very next day, the company announced that it sold 600,000 units of Redmi Note 6 Pro smartphone during its first Black Friday sale on e-commerce site Flipkart and its own platform Mi.com.

The smartphone has a modern design, powerful processor, quad-camera set-up and mammoth battery. The phone is priced at Rs 13,999 for the 4GB+64GB variant and Rs 15,999 for the 6GB+64GB. 

Business Standard reviewed the Note 6 Pro to test its overall performance. Here are the observations:

WHAT’S NEW IN THE REDMI NOTE 6 PRO

Compared to Redmi Note 5 Pro, which was launched earlier this year, the Redmi Note 6 Pro has two improved features. It has a bigger screen with a notch on top and a quad-camera module – two cameras in the front and two at the back, making it the first midrange offering from Xiaomi with quad cameras.

DESIGN

The Redmi Note 6 Pro comes is quite long, which doesn't make it a great piece for one-hand usability. The smartphone is quite narrow due to its 19:9 aspect ratio screen. Although the screen is covered with a 2.5D curved Gorilla Glass, because of its ultra-wide display, the phone is difficult to operate and can often lead to accidental dropping. The front is covered with glass, curved from the sides, while the back looks too shiny. In terms of usability, the phone feels heavy but is comfortable to carry in the pocket or pouch. 

DISPLAY

The Redmi Note 6 Pro sports a 6.26-inch fullHD+ screen, stretched in a 19:9 aspect ratio. Compared to its predecessor, the phone also has a bigger screen with a notch on top, accommodating dual front cameras, earpiece and sensors. The Screen has an IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen but lacks the maximum brightness levels. The notch is small, compared with other smartphones in the same segment. The rounded corners of the screen look better than pointed edges, and the curved sides of the glass are easy to operate. A fairly good resolution and the large screen make it a good buy for multimedia nerds who like watching videos on the go.

CAMERA

The Redmi Note 6 Pro has a dual-camera module at the back and in front. The rear camera module has a 12-megapixel primary sensor of an f/1.9 aperture, mated with a 5MP depth-sensor of a f/2.2 aperture. The phone is also assisted with a single tone dual-LED flash, fixes autofocus quickly and takes detailed shots in all light conditions. The enhanced low-light photography in this smartphone offers great output. Face recognition feature is available both in the rear and the front cameras and enhances the image output using artificial intelligence-based scene-selection modes.

The selfie camera module, on the other hand, has a 20MP primary sensor of an f/2.0 aperture, mated with a 2MP depth-sensing lens of f/2.2 aperture. The front camera doubles up as a biometric unit for the face-unlock mechanism. The selfie camera module supports portrait mode, which utilises the company’s AI algorithms to create the bokeh effect for artificial blurs and beauty mode 4.0. However, the strong post-processing tends to make images look artificial. For millennials and social media enthusiasts, the imaging in the phone offers almost a complete package – including beautification, filters, etc. However, serious photographers might not appreciate the image output for its unnatural output.

PERFORMANCE

The phone boots Android Oreo-based MIUI 10 operating system with a support for gesture navigation. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 system-on-chip (SoC), which is an octa-core SoC built on 14 nanometres (NM) process. The Note 6 pro has quite high performance and is consistent with no sign of lag. The device also allows you to multitask quite easily and efficiently for extended hours, and without consuming too much power.

BATTERY

The phone has a 4,000 mAh battery. With moderate use, the battery lasts for one and a half day, while with extensive use it would last for 12 hours. But the phone does heat up slightly while charging and if used extensively, but not to the point that it is rendered unstable. The phone takes more than one-and-a-half hours to replenish its battery from zero to 100 per cent. Multimedia playback, especially online video streaming apps, drains the battery much faster. The phone would get paired with either 3GB or 4GB of RAM and 32GB and 64GB of storage, respectively. 

VERDICT

The Redmi Note 6 pro is a capable smartphone with quad cameras, a big screen and good resolution. With a price tag of Rs 13,999 for the 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage, the phone is worth your penny and is certainly the most efficient smartphone in its category. It’s a modern-day device designed for multimedia enthusiasts but lacks the overall dynamism and looks identical to the Redmi Note 5. However, with high performance that ticks almost all the right boxes, Note 6 pro is a considerable option.