Review | Redmi Note 4 for Social Media Junkies

Review | Redmi Note 4 for Social Media Junkies

• 4.06.2017

The phone does look sexy in this color

Say hello to this new sleek baby from Xiaomi, their newly launched Redmi Note 4! Comes in 3 colors,gold, black & dark grey, this is an upgraded design from the previous Redmi Note series that has been well received by the local market for it's affordable price point and impressive functions that can easily put an expensive phone brand to shame. 

Here's a funny story:

In a way i am somewhat cringing at the fact that i bought my new phone earlier this year because my faithful old HTC phone couldn't be used anymore after serving me since 2015 till the end of 2016, so for the next 12 months i am somewhat RM250 poorer paying off 12 months installment when i could have waited 4 months for this phone model to come out instead because the Redmi Note 4 costs less than RM1000 only. Dang.

*flips table*

Hope you guys had a good laugh at my "unfortunate" situation. 😑

Oh well, life just messes with you in any way possible but nonetheless i am going to share more about this phone in a non technical manner as i am not a tech blog where you go to read about the specs and all, i'm writing in a user's perspective so you guys can relate more if you are considering to purchase this unit.

5.5" screen

Though i have worked in a tech/gadget related company before but i can say at times i'm rather outdated with what's new in the market till it's time for me to replace something, pretty sure most of us are like that as well unless you are the type who constantly chases for the newest gadgets available, for that kind of dedication you have my salute lol. The last time i checked phones were running fine on battery capacity of 2100mAh but fast forward a year later now there's even 4100mAh? Yep, apparently for phones released in 2017 they have somewhat set the battery bar record that high so if other phone brands are looking to beat current ones just make sure the battery is higher than 4100mAh lol.

Why we need an 4100mAh battery?

Putting the battery lifespan to the test, as a blogger and with my full time job i tend to rely on my phone 90% of the time when i am on the go. This includes taking and editing photos, uploading, sharing files, sending emails, occasional drafting blogposts (that's why big screens are awesome, Redmi Note 4 is in 5.5"), replying clients to updating various social media platforms regularly that can easily drain your 100% battery in half a day! 

That's why you'll always see some of us with our phones attached to power-banks most of the time, it's not that we want to but our phone batteries can't keep up with our lifestyle and work life. The worst is whenever we forgot to charge our power-banks the night before or left it at home with our phone is down to its last 10% and we have an important work email to reply before the phone shuts off. I'm getting cold sweats at just the thought of that and i'm sure most of you can entirely relate to that scene lol.

So far i've mostly used the Redmi Note 4 for Facebook and instagram with occasional camera usage the battery surprisingly lasted me for 4 whole days, that's  96 freaking hours people.

WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?😲 

So hands down to the Redmi Note 4 for the impressive battery life span.

Since we are talking about usage, the heating of the phone is noticeably lesser compared to the previous Note 3.

Separating your Personal, Kids & Work accounts 

This phone is also duo SIM, so for those of you who uses 2 numbers; one for work and the other for personal it's easier to just use one phone rather than carrying 2 phones around. You have no idea how a women's bag works, it's like an infinite hole in there and everything that goes in won't probably see the daylight again so if you have 2 phones bid your 2nd one adieu. 

Thanks to it's second space with MIUI 8 function, you can actually separate your personal and work information/ data. A rather handy function for some of us who manages client's social media accounts from our phones and it definitely reduces the risk of accidental post updates on the wrong account *opps* 😝

For parents this is also a good function to use so your kids won't get access to your work accounts and sending weird baby language emails to your boss lol, i've seen how 2 year olds use a phone these days, it's scary but at the same time amazing because an old fart like me still struggles with the phone every now and then.

You can learn more about the MIUI 8 function by watching this video i found rather useful on YouTube

Other specs of Redmi Note 4

• Snapdragon 625 processor, 14nm FinFET
• 2.5D curved glass
• 13MP BSI CMOS camera with PDAF

It comes with the fingerprint sensor at the back which works very well to make the phone only accessible to you even when it's been stolen (choi touchwood) unless someone chops off your fingers or do those mission impossible duplicating finger print methods with baby powder and tape like in the movies then that can't be helped dy la.


Fun fact:  You can even use the sensor back part to snap photos, so no more struggling to take a groupfie since your index finger is naturally placed at the sensor spot when you hold up your phone. OR via tapping the screen lightly, there are various ways for you to capture a photo with this phone so have your pick.

In terms of design vs functionality i would say it's a 50/ 50 score from a non tech fella perspective ya, the matte colored body is nicely curved at the edges allowing me to get a good grip especially since it's such a large phone. Doesn't heat up as much as i expected it to especially since it's running 2 sim cards at once while various apps are running at the background, i mean there is heat but not too the point that its burning hot to touch. Haven't experienced any lag so far, seems like the 3GB RAM space is sufficient enough, but as always don't push your luck but turning on every single app and expect it to perform smooth la (lol).

Internal memory of 32GB might be enough to most people however, since i take alot of photos going for the 64GB version (not yet released) would be a better choice for me.

The Redmi Note 4, really reminds me of my favorite ol' faithful Samsung Note 2 (which holds a special place in my heart because i worked so hard to save up for it),  in size comparison but the rest of it is obviously more advanced than my old phone la especially the camera!

And i usually tell people nothing can beat my Note 2 because that was one of the best models ever released by Samsung before their newer models went somewhat "south" (geddit? Lame i know) because of that i started venturing to other phone brands and here i am with my first Xiaomi now.

   

It still uses a micro USB port for charging & data transfer, so no problem getting a replacement cable anywhere compared to the type-c. Has decent charging speed for a battery space that large, takes me about 2-3 hours (more or less) and that can last me for 4 freaking days.

I wasn't a Xiaomi user before this so excuse me if i sound rather jakun upon discovering the Mi drop function lol, it really reminds me of iPhone wei! You can now transfer photos to other Mi users easily with the built-in direct WiFi.

The pin in the box helps you to eject your SIM card slot, comes with a charger set but unfortunately no earphones were included.

The back camera of 13MP is more than good enough for you to leave your digital camera back home and just rely on this to capture your next facebook or instagram hipster update. Right click and open this photo on a new tab and you'll notice that there are some white flecks in the photo (no, your screen isn't dirty), those are rain drops the camera managed to capture lol.

Has decent focus for small objects but it took awhile to actually get a clear shot.

Under low light it does produce crisp photos

Here's another shot taken indoors under dim lighting in a restaurant

Panorama function from my home balcony

Face detection function that can detect your gender and age, not sure about it's accuracy but depending on various angles the phone can't seem to predict my actual age or probably my Asian genes are to blame lol. 

The selfie function comes with a smart beauty option which applies on the beauty filter automatically however you can select "pro" and manage the settings like how smooth you want your skin to be or how slim as well. Pretty sweet huh? Can easily skip processing in those beautifying apps already since Redmi's beauty functions are built in. It does somewhat make my hair looks funny though, not sure if it's the lighting or the sharpness of the camera that make my hair look like dried hay ._.

I'm actually quite impressed with the quality of the front camera despite it being only 5 MP

My verdict is that, this is generally a good phone to consider getting if your budget is below RM1000 and you don't want to compromise on the functions or quality. It's definitely on par with the other latest smart phone brands in the market but what takes the cake is its' attractive price point :)

For the 4GB + 64GB variant of Redmi Note 4 will be available only later this year, details of the release have yet to be confirmed but more info to be announced on their official Facebook page: https://fb.com/XiaomiMalaysia

Official Mi Store on Lazada : bit.ly/mymistorelazada

Retail outlet list to purchase Redmi Note 4 : bit.ly/belimyredminote4

More Product Info : mi.com/my/note4

Disclaimer: This product has been personally tested by yours truly.

XOXO,