In Redmi Note 7, you won’t get a 48-megapixel rear camera like Redmi Note 7 Pro, but still this phone will compete with other phones in this price segment. We have the 4GB RAM variant of Redmi Note 7 available for review, which costs Rs 11,999 in India.
design redmi note 7
The Redmi Note 6 Pro (Review) was not much different from the Redmi Note 5 Pro in appearance. But this time, Xiaomi has made a lot of design changes to its new Redmi Note 7 series. The Redmi Note 7 comes in three eye-catching color variants. The glass back panel was placed on the rear of Redmi Note 7, which is not seen in this price range.
Xiaomi has used Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back of the phone, which is pretty impressive at this price range. Its sides are made of plastic, but once you hold the device in your hand, it gives it a premium look. P2I nano coating has been done on the body of Redmi Note 7, which means that this Xiaomi branded phone is splash proof.
Redmi Note 7 is a very large phone, but still the grip is good when holding the phone in hand. We have the Ruby Red variant of the Redmi Note 7 available for review. It has a glossy finish on the rear panel. The Redmi Note 7 is a bit heavy as it weighs 185 grams. But using the phone, you will not find anything heavy. The power and volume buttons have been placed on the right side of the phone.
There is a single tray on the left side of the Redmi Note 7, in which you can put two nano-SIMs or one nano-SIM and a microSD card if you want. The hybrid dual-SIM tray may leave you a bit disappointed, as many of the recently released phones in the same segment come with a dedicated microSD card slot. In our review unit, the SIM tray didn’t seem to fit perfectly into the body, which is the only drawback in our opinion.
The 3.5mm headphone jack sits at the top of the phone, while the USB Type-C port sits at the bottom of the phone. It’s good to see that Xiaomi has also finally started offering USB Type-C connectivity in its budget segment phones.
There is an infrared emitter on the top of the Redmi Note 7. With its help, you can control infrared home appliances through the Mi Remote app. The white notification LED is displayed under the screen on Redmi Note 7. The border around the 6.3-inch screen is easily noticeable, especially the dewdrop notch for the selfie camera.
The LCD panel comes with Full-HD+ resolution. The 6.3-inch screen comes with a brightness level of 450 nits for user comfort in daylight, and color reproduction is good too. Apart from this, you will also be able to control the contrast and color temperature, which is nice. Especially with this color variant, the glass back panel gives it an eye-catching look. The index finger has easy access to the capacitive fingerprint sensor. For people’s information, let us tell you that the dual camera module is slightly elevated. The retail box contains a transparent case, a standard 10W power adapter, a Type-C cable, and a SIM eject tool.
Redmi Note 7 Specifications and Features
Snapdragon 660 processor has been included in Redmi Note 7. The presence of this chipset in the Rs 15,000 segment has now become common. It is not as powerful as the Snapdragon 675 processor of the Redmi Note 7 Pro. The thing to keep in mind is that you are getting the Snapdragon 660 processor in the base variant of Redmi Note 7 for less than Rs 10,000 which is a big deal. .
The price of the 3GB RAM and 32GB storage variant of Redmi Note 7 is Rs 9,999. We have a 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage variant for review and the price of this model is Rs 2000 plus i.e. this variant is available for Rs 11,999. The Redmi Note 7 smartphone is equipped with dual 4G VoLTE, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth version 5, tri-satellite navigation system, FM radio, USB-OTG, and various sensors.
The Redmi Note 7 phone runs on MIUI 10.2 (MIUI 10.2) based on Android 9 Pie. The phone we have for review runs on the February 2019 Android security patch. There are a lot of bloatware pre-installed on the phone. As soon as we set up the phone, the notification shade started showing ads and promotions for Xiaomi apps like music and video players. However, there is also a way to fix it.
Most of the pre-installed third-party apps can and cannot be uninstalled. For such apps, there is an option to disable spam push notifications in the app’s settings page. After these changes, you will have a spam-free experience on Redmi Note 7 than before. We talked about MIUI 10 shortcuts and gestures in our Redmi Note 7 Pro review.
Redmi Note 7 performance, camera and battery life
Given that the Redmi Note 7 packs decent specs, it’s no surprise that the phone can handle a daily task with ease. The processor is powerful enough to handle productivity and social apps with ease, and it’s great for gaming too. The heating issue has not come to the fore on the Redmi Note 7. But sure, it gets hot when we play PUBG Mobile for some time. But the phone doesn’t get so hot that you have to take breaks in between.
Redmi Note 7 is a big phone, but MIUI has given it the one-handed mode. It can be activated with the help of a swipe gesture on the home button. But sometimes it doesn’t even work properly. The fingerprint sensor works fast apart from this the phone also comes with AI facial recognition support. It works fast in the right light and apart from this there is also a get up to wake gesture but it doesn’t work properly in low light.
In our tests, the Redmi Note 7 performed well with multimedia files. Video sharpness and colors were also impressive on the Redmi Note 7, though black levels could have been a bit better. This phone is Widevine L1 certified, which means it can stream TV shows and movies from Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
The sound is loud from the single speaker grill. The speaker is at the bottom of the phone but has space on the right side, so the speaker doesn’t get blocked even after holding the phone in landscape mode. Like the Redmi Note 7 Pro, the 48-megapixel main sensor has not been included in the Redmi Note 7. The rear of the Redmi Note 7 has a 12-megapixel primary sensor and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. The aperture of the main lens is F/2.2, so you shouldn’t expect better low-light shots.
Shooting modes like Panorama, Portrait, Pro, and Square will be available in the camera app with the AI scene detection feature. The Redmi Note 7 takes decent photos in daylight. Colors and details were captured well, but we did lack sharpness a bit. Chromatic aberration was noticeable with bright backgrounds, and HDR doesn’t always handle exposure of bright areas.
The AI system of the camera app correctly detects buildings, plants, flowers, etc. In macro mode, the camera’s AI boosts the colors, so the subject starts to look artificial. Turn it off before shooting. The depth sensor helps to take good portrait photos. Edge detection is also good for objects and people. Low-light performance is good, but not the best. Colors in adequate light and details in landscape mode were also captured well. The device received a system update during the review. The new Night Shooting mode has been added to Redmi Note 7 with the update.
The 13MP front-facing camera takes decent selfies when there’s enough light. The AI beautification is not overly aggressive. You can also take Bokeh effect selfies if you want and the edge detection isn’t bad either. Selfie came out well even in low light. Video quality isn’t particularly impressive. Bright areas appear overexposed when shooting in daylight.
Electronic stabilization is applied when you’re done recording, so you won’t be able to preview what your video will look like as you record. There’s no 4K option on the phone, you’ll get 1080p, 60 frames per second mode. Apart from this, you will also get shooting modes like Time Lapse and Slow-motion that work better.
To power the Redmi Note 7, a 4000 mAh battery has been provided and this phone comes with Qualcomm Quick Charge 4 fast charging, but only if you use the correct charger. You will get a standard 10 watt charger in the retail box. Using the charger that came with the phone, the phone can be charged up to 57 percent in one hour. The phone’s battery life is good. In our HD video battery loop test, the Redmi Note 7 managed a battery life of 12 hours and 52 minutes. The thing to note here is that a 4000mAh battery has also been provided in Redmi Note 7 Pro but this phone ran together for 19 hours.
our decision
The base variant of Redmi Note 7 costs Rs 9999, we have not tested this variant. The looks of the phone is very good and its build quality is also good. The phone has a decent screen, decent cameras, solid app performance, and decent battery life. If you want to use two SIMs and a microSD card simultaneously, then this phone is not for you because the Redmi Note 7 has a hybrid dual SIM slot.
If you want, you can also consider the basic variant of Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2. Its basic variant is available online for less than Rs 10,000. The Redmi Note 7 comes with pre-installed bloatware, below-average low-light camera performance, and you won’t even find a fast charger in the retail box.
We have tested the 4 GB RAM variant of Redmi Note 7, which costs Rs 11,999. If you want to get a phone with better camera performance, we think the Realme 2 Pro (Review) or Xiaomi Mi A2 (Review) may be the best option for you. There are many good and powerful smartphones available in India for less than Rs 15,000 and the Redmi Note 7 is one of them.