On paper, the new Redmi Go phone looks a bit weak. Especially when compared to the recently launched Redmi Note 7 (Review) and Redmi Note 7 Pro (Review) smartphones from the company. But also remember that the phone was launched for less than Rs 5,000. The biggest drawback of phones in this segment is the low-resolution screen. These processors also have no power and the cameras are useless. Phones in this range also have very weak build quality.
Can Xiaomi repeat its feat in the entry-level smartphone segment? Is the Rs 4499 Redmi Go made for users upgrading from a feature phone to a smartphone? let’s know…
redmi go design
The Redmi Go is a very simple looking phone. But it seems more premium than its price. You wouldn’t guess it’s so affordable just by looking at it. The body is plastic. The back is curved. Does not turn. It does not give the feeling of being weak.
There is a 16:9 screen on the front panel of Redmi Go. It is equipped with Android capacitive buttons. But the borders are very wide. It will remind you of the old phone. Because as of today, budget phones have been upgraded to an 18:9 screen or larger. We have no complaints with the design of the phone. But the capacitive buttons aren’t backlit, so they’re not easy to find in the dark.
The screen is 5 inches. Despite having wide edges, the Redmi Go is very compact and using one hand is not easy. The phone is light due to the weight of 137 grams. It will appeal to those users who like small phones.
There are two trays on the left side. One has space for Nano-SIM and microSD card and the other for Nano-SIM. The funny thing is that even the most expensive Xiaomi phones come with a hybrid SIM slot. But this phone has a separate microSD card slot. The power and volume buttons are on the right side. There is a micro-USB port at the bottom. There is also a speaker grill here. There is a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top. There is a camera setup at the rear. There is no notification LED on this phone.
Redmi Go has been launched in Black and Vibrant Blue trim colors. We got the black unit for review and it doesn’t leave fingerprints easily. Xiaomi has struck the perfect balance between price and design in this phone.
Redmi Go Specifications and Software
The processor and the screen are in favor of the Redmi Go considering the price. In this one, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor has been used, which is quite old. It has been a part of many phones in the Rs 7,000 to Rs 10,000 price range of late. Like Infinix Hot 6 Pro, 10th D2 and Nokia 2.1. Samsung launched the Samsung Galaxy J6+ last year for Rs 15,990. The processor clock speed given in the phone is 1.4 GHz.
The screen resolution of the Redmi Go is 720×1280 pixels. In this price range, you can usually see screens with a resolution of 480×854 pixels or 540×960 pixels. The 5-inch screen is very sharp. The colors are a bit off. Viewing angles are excellent.
On the other hand, the 1GB RAM and 8GB built-in storage is a disappointment. Low RAM even though it is optimized for the Android Go UI. But many applications require more RAM. Speaking of storage, the separate microSD card slot eliminates this shortcoming. It has support for 128 GB of storage. It doesn’t take time to run out of 8 GB of storage.
It has been given a 3000 mAh battery. Who will get along. Because the hardware is not very powerful. There is no support for fast charging. You can use two 4G SIM cards, but only one SIM will work on a 4G network at a time. It has support for Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.1, FM radio and GPS.
There is an 8-megapixel sensor with an F/2.0 aperture at the rear. A 5-megapixel camera with F/2.2 aperture has been placed on the front panel. You will be able to record videos of up to 1080 pixels with both cameras.
Xiaomi has incorporated ambient light, accelerometer, and proximity sensors into the phone. But there is no gyroscope and compass. There is no fingerprint sensor or facial recognition on the phone.
Xiaomi has used Android Go on this phone, but the version is Android 8.1. This means that it works with less RAM and also consumes less storage on the phone. Google has also optimized many of its applications. You’ll find apps like YouTube Go, Maps Go, Gmail Go, and Assistant Go. But you will find the generic versions of Chrome and Google Photos.
Redmi Go performance, camera and battery
The Redmi Go’s hardware is very basic for general use. The processor is decent, but only 1 GB of RAM is a hindrance. Many times the phone stops even after opening the menu in an app or scrolling through the Google Play Store. Sometimes the app takes longer than necessary to load. Overall, the experience of using this phone is similar to other phones available for less than Rs 5,000.
Go apps have many fun features. In YouTube Go, you are told how much data will be consumed when you play each video. You can choose the video quality according to your requirements. You can save some videos. Which can be played over and over again later.
Out of the box, only 58 per cent of the 8GB storage was available for use in our Redmi Go review unit. This means that you will not be able to store graphics-heavy games on this phone. By the way, we suggest all our readers to use microSD in this phone.
We have tried playing PUBG Mobile and Asphalt 9: Legends on this phone. Both games were not made for this phone. Asphalt 8: Airborne ran, but the effects were disabled. But the game was playable. Games with less powerful graphics work just fine on the phone.
Generally, the camera of low cost phones does not have power. Redmi Go is no different either. Not many features are provided in the app. There’s an HDR facility and some basic color filters. In manual mode, you can control white balance, ISO, shutter speed, and focus. There isn’t even a panorama mode, let alone a portrait mode.
The photos we took in daylight turned out fine, except for the phone screen. The photos were not as vibrant as we had hoped. After testing at full size on a computer, we found that the colors popped a bit more. But the lack of quality was clearly visible. The textures look artificial. The edges of the object do not always appear to be perfectly defined. There was also a lack of detail. The camera works well shooting against the light. But HDR isn’t automatic and there are complaints of shutter lag. Even low-cost phones released in recent times do a decent job in close-ups. But this is not the case with Redmi Go.
When it comes to photos taken in the dark, most of the shots we took came out noisy and grainy. Objects were not well defined and motion blur was also a complaint. The good thing is that the objects in the shot are easily identified. Even if they don’t look good. You can use the photos taken with the Redmi Go camera on social networks and messaging applications.
Videos are choppy and focus is not stable. The quality is satisfactory at 1080p. Don’t rely on Redmi Go to capture the important moments of your life on camera. Beautification is available on the front camera. But the quality is very basic.
The 3000 mAh battery easily lasted a whole day. We charged the phone the next morning. The battery lasted 9 hours and 50 minutes in our HD video loop test.
our decision
The Redmi Go doesn’t draw as much attention as Xiaomi’s slightly more expensive phones. But considering the price, it comes with decent hardware. This is good news for those people whose budget is very less. We wish it had had a variant with more RAM and storage.
The phone doesn’t have many challenges at this price. But the ZenFone Lite L1 cannot be ignored. It was launched for Rs 6,999. But it is generally available for sale on Flipkart for Rs.4,999. By spending just Rs 500 more, you get a powerful Snapdragon 430 processor, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of storage and many more features compared to Redmi Go.
In the end, we would say if you can spend more then buy Redmi 6A (Review) which will give better performance and also last longer.