Performance
After using the RedMi Note for about 5 days, I never had to charge the battery during the day at all. At the time when I took the photo of the phone (pictures above), you’ll notice that the time is around 12.00 midnight. Now see the battery percentage…about 45%. So, from the morning at 8am when I pulled the battery out from the charger and actively using the phone for WhatsApp, Line, Twitter and other social based apps on the phone, it only goes down 55%. So that means the 3200mAh battery can really last that long. Yay for battery life.
Let’s take a look at the benchmark score on Antutu.
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The MediaTek Octa-core 1.7GHz CPU inside the RedMi Note really helped and pushed the device to its limit. Even when the GPU is not an Adreno, it still performs well with Mali-450 GPU. But I notice that the Frames Per Second (FPS) count at 22FPS is lower than my dual-core Xperia SP, which is using an Adreno 320 at 31FPS. So in terms of graphics, the GPU really have an important role in producing good results.
But to have a mid-range smartphone like the RedMi Note to sit above the higher end Galaxy S4 and HTC One in the result is really good. In fact, all the other devices that we see in the result is powered by the latest Snapdragon processors. To me, this particular Xiaomi has potential to beat the bigger players. On the upper hand, its cheap!
Gaming performance
Playing games on RedMi Note is a breeze. Too bad I didn’t get to do some screenshots of the game that I play, which is WeChat Speed. But as for the performance, no lagging or whatsoever. The large 5.5 inch screen is awesome. The display is very clear and vibrant. The touch screen is very responsive and I can easily maneuver the game without any noticeable lag. The 2GB of RAM suits the device really well. As I said in my previous posts, 2GB of RAM should be the standard now.
System UI Look and Feel
To see how beautiful MIUI is, take a look at the screenshots below.
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MIUI (which stands for Mobile Internet User Interface) has a very clean look and feel. It is mainly focused on simplicity and yet having an attractive eye candy. MIUI is similar to CyanogenMod, which is a group of people or company that creates a robust Android OS that looks and feels different. What MIUI and CyanogenMod did was create an alternative Android OS that is still using the core API and kernel, but removed all the unnecessary memory hogging apps and tweak the system to run much smoother. Most of the device that are using either MIUI or CyanogenMod are rooted, which means that a user or developer can access the core system files or kernel and make some modifications to it. Yes, this is probably too technical for some of you so I better stop talking about the deep end of the pool here.
The responsiveness of MIUI is really good. Much faster than some of the standard UIs that we’ve seen out there. Keep in mind that Samsung’s TouchWiz, HTC’s Sense, Lenovo’s Le Phone and other “launchers” are in a different category altogether. MIUI is not just a launcher, it is also an OS based on Android. A launcher is an additional app installed in the phone to standardize the look and feel across the same brand of devices.
New users of MIUI will either love or hate the look. First obvious difference is that the MIUI does not have an app drawer. You know, that icon whereby when you tap on it and it shows all your apps in a “drawer”? This interface is more like an iPhone. All the apps are shown in the main area through multiple screens. Those who love or used to an iPhone’s interface might love the MIUI feel, and those who are familiar with the normal Android look that has the app drawer may feel weird at first with the MIUI. So this is entirely up to you and your preferences. If you wish to have an app drawer, you can still install a 3rd party app for launcher such as Nova, Go Launcher, Smart Launcher and many others.
Next: Camera >
Looks cool tho – it’s quite a hype these days! But I’ll still stick to my S4. 😀
The phone is good for daily use. Nothing fancy but it gets the job done.
the price sir? do u know where i can get 1???
Price is rm759 according to my friend who bought it. Can get it at DirectD. Google that name, sure can find.
found it..hope u can do review about the xiaomi mi 3 also
I don’t know how I can get the Mi3 yet. Hahaha. But I will review it when I get that phone.
Hi Azwan, this is Kate Zhao from Xiaomi (MIUI) forum. I find your article very interesting. Can you contact me via my email. Thank you and look forward to hearing from you.
Email sent. Cheers.
i bought it from directd last week…..not rooted with MIVI 5 …facebook crashed ….took it back but either i talk to the wrong person (a young punkster) or they clean their hands of this matter…..make me so piss off
If you want to use the rooted version, you have to download and install the beta version of the MIUI. Facebook crashed on my end too simply because this OS is China version. Remember, China doesn’t allow any access to Facebook. What you can do is install the international version of MIUI in order to use Facebook. I will try and find a guide for you to do that and post the link here. Stay tuned.
Hi azwan, can explain more details or perhaps provide a guide how to install international version of miui? Tq
hi Azwan ,
can u share the 3G connectivity of this redmi note, how its d/l speed does it shows H+ ,u can add in more ur finding on the network
Hello.
The 3G network here in Malaysia is good. The phone has a good receiver and it shows H+ most of the time when I was in the office in KL and also at home in Sunway. The signal is still strong when I’m in a building. Very seldom I see it goes to EDGE.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for the info,its very helpful.
Greetings Azwan,
I really want this phone so badly and I want to use it for reading lecture notes and e-books as I’m a student. So, would you mind to do a review by opening a big pdf files, maybe around 400-500 pages and see the response time for the pdf file completely open and ready for reading? Then try to skip to the next few pages and see if the phone can open the pages smoothly. Sorry for so much things. Really glad if you could do that.
Cheers
Hi Bro, I can borrow u my mi3 if you want to do review. Where is ur location?
Hello. My location is at Sunway. Nearby Sunway Pyramid.
hyepp.let join redmi note malaysia group https://www.facebook.com/groups/671670342886901/
Hi so once I buy it how can I root it? I also wanna buy from directd
There are a lot of forums out there giving you a tutorial or step-by-step approach on how to root the phone. Just Google about it. Best is to join the MIUI/Xiaomi forum for that.
Red Mi Note will launch in Malaysia on July 22nd and cost a whopping cheap RM509 link to their website below… Will get one to replace my alcatel 997D where battery KO and hard to get replacement…
http://www.mi.com/my/note/
Thank you for your review. I finally got one of those RedMI Note after buying the MI3. Both of them are quite impressive for that price ! I have installed quite a lot of applications, and 8 GB does not seem to be much of a problem with the Note.
But I have a problem with a French simcard that is recognized by the MI3 bot not by the RedMI Note. Any idea how to solve it, anyone ? Thank you.
Redmi note aku 10% dah habis dalam masa setengah jam. Kenapa eah?
Mungkin ada backgroup app yg running atau GPS dok cari location non stop. Banyak hal jugak kena check.
Bro, like you said, MIUI simply just not an interface but an OS that had been modified. So, just want to know wether all the official xiaomi(MALAYSIA) phone that sell by them in our market had been rooted or non rooted phone. Mohon pencerahan. Tq.
That is the usual question that people ask. But those who bought the phone from the official website will get the phone unrooted. It is safer for them to sell the phone when it is locked rather than selling it away as a rooted phone.
can you do a GPS test please? i’ve heard that mediatek devices don’t do well with GPS
I’ve tested the GPS and its working fine. I use Google Maps and Waze, both also got GPS locking in less than 10 seconds.
salam bro, i wanna asking, is this hp works well with pdf and office stuffs, i am a student and it is exciting to have a hp with very affordable price .. answer me 🙂
Salam. Fon ni mmg sesuai kalau nak guna untuk office stuffs sebab screen dia besar. Install je app Adobe Reader untuk PDF dan Kingsoft Office untuk Words dan sebagainya.
Kat directd sja ke yg jual….ada tempat lain yg harga sama mcm ori
Tempat lain ada jual cuma tak tahu ori atau tak je.
Been using it for a few days. For a mid-range phone, the Redmi Note has solid build. The MIUI interface is a beauty. For the first time ever, I am not tempted to install any other launcher. The 13MP back camera is a killer. I took some pictures using the auto settings and I am amazed at the picture quality.
The only downside is that it only comes with a white back cover. More colour choices would have been better.
Bought it for RM699.00 at Prangin Mall, Penang.
My rating: 4 out of 5
Glad you liked it. Have you updated to the latest version?
Bought this phone for relatives in Cambodia. I actually bought the Octa Core version and then the LTE version. They are happy with both of the phone so thank you Xiaomi for making a good quality phone with great specs at good price. I myself in Canada am using the Nexus 5 and OnePlus 1 🙂
That’s awesome. Good to know that.
Salam bro..sy pkai fon ni jugak..tp ad msalah sikit..knapa bila play lagu dekat music sound bunyi okey jer..tapi bila mmbe send lagu kat whatsaap sy play kat whatsaap sound dia bunyi macam speaker pecah..knpa yea?
W’salam. Bukan sebab fon tu. Yg tu sebab whatsapp. Selalunya kualiti file mcm audio atau video akan dikurangkan sikit bila hantar dari whatsapp. Cuba kalau audio tu hantar dari Bluetooth, mesti ok nyer. Satu lagu kemungkinan ialah file tu mmg kualiti rendah. Dah cuba main file tu kat fon lain? Mcm mana bunyi dia?
Kalau hantar melalui bluetoot oke je xde masalah pon…bila send kat fon lain pon xde masalah..bunyi oke..cuma bunyi lagu kat whatsaap sy je yg xoke..so..whatsaap la yg masalah kan..bukan speaker fon sya?
Does this has the heating issue which we have seen in earlier phones of Xiaomi? Also any update on when these devices will get Android 5.0 update?
So far this phone does not have any heating issues. The lollipop update will not be available yet. Probably available by Q3 of 2015.
Assalamualaikum bro Azwan,
Saya ada banyak soalan nak tanya ni sbb saya mmg nk beli Xiaomi Note4G.
1: Yang mana bagus, samada beli Xiaomi dari China dr member saya or dari Xiaomi Malaysia?
2: Apa problem dan kelemahan bila pakai Xiaomi kat Malaysia? Sbb saya baca comments dari gsmarena, xiaomi ni banyak sgt problem dia.
3: Macam mana nak tahu original dgn clone since phone ni kan dari China?
Harap Bro Azwan boleh reply ASAP la yer. Thanks 🙂
W’salam
Sori lambat reply sebab dok busy 2 minggu ni dan takde kemudahan internet.
1. Xiaomi kalau nak beli lagi bagus kalau beli online tapi ada sesetengah dealer kat Malaysia jual versi original. Kalau dapat versi Taiwan pun ok jugak sebab baseband dia sama dengan Malaysia.
2. Problem yang saya nampak, cuma software problem je. Kita boleh “flash” ROM yang baru dari website MIUI. Semua senang nak buat. Tapi saya lagi suka kalau guna Xiaomi Mi3 atau Mi4. Mahal sikit tapi boleh “flash” developer ROM. Lagi stabil dan ada update setiap minggu.
3. Nak tahu ori atau clone, kena tengok kotak yang diaorang guna. Tengok hologram sticker dan kalau boleh, tengok spesifikasi phone tersebut. Kadang2 RAM 1GB je walhal dalam website cakap 2GB. Akhir sekali, tengok MIUI OS versi berapa. Kekadang clone mmg tak guna MIUI OS pun. Diaorg guna Android biasa. So dari sana boleh tahu clone atau tidak.
Sekali lagi, sori lambat reply. Salam.