In Redmi Note 7, you will not 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 a 4 GB RAM variant of Redmi Note 7 available for review, which is priced at Rs 11,999 in India.
Design of Redmi Note 7
Contents
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 changes in the design of its new Redmi Note 7-series. Redmi Note 7 comes in three striking color variants. The back of the Redmi Note 7 has a glass back panel, which is not seen in this price range.
Xiaomi has used Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back of the phone which is quite impressive in this price range. Its sides are made of plastic but it gives a premium look when you hold the device in your hand. The body of Redmi Note 7 has been coated with P2i nano coating, which means this Xiaomi brand phone is splash-proof.
Redmi Note 7 is a big phone but still the grip is good when holding the phone in hand. We have the Ruby Red variant of Redmi Note 7 for review. Its back panel has a glossy finish. Redmi Note 7 is a bit heavy phone as it weighs 185 grams. But when you use the phone, you will not feel it heavy at all. The power and volume buttons are 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 either two nano-SIMs or one nano-SIM and one microSD card. The hybrid dual-SIM tray may disappoint you a bit, especially when many phones launched recently in this segment come with a dedicated microSD card slot. In our review unit, the SIM-tray did not seem to fit completely in the body, according to us this is a flaw in the design.
The 3.5mm headphone jack is placed on the top of the phone while the USB Type-C port is placed at the bottom of the phone. It is good to see that Xiaomi has finally started offering USB Type-C connectivity in its budget segment phones.
There is an IR blaster on the top of the Redmi Note 7. With its help, you can control infrared home appliances through the Mi Remote app. Redmi Note 7 has a white notification LED below the screen. The border around the 6.3-inch display is easily noticeable, especially the dewdrop notch for the selfie camera.
The LCD panel comes with full-HD+ resolution. For the convenience of the user in daylight, the 6.3-inch screen comes with 450 nit brightness level and the color reproduction is also good. Apart from this, you will also be able to control the contrast and color temperature, which is a good thing. Especially with this color variant, the glass back panel gives a striking look. The index finger easily reaches the capacitive fingerprint sensor. For your information, let us tell you that the dual camera module is slightly raised. The retail box contains a transparent case, standard 10 watt power adapter, Type-C cable and SIM-eject tool.
Redmi Note 7 Specifications and Features
The Redmi Note 7 has a Snapdragon 660 processor. This chipset is now common in the Rs 15,000 segment. It is not as powerful as the Snapdragon 675 processor in the Redmi Note 7 Pro. It is worth noting that you are getting a Snapdragon 660 processor in the base variant of Redmi Note 7 for less than Rs 10,000, which is a big deal.
The Redmi Note 7 is priced at Rs 9,999 for the 3GB RAM and 32GB storage variant. We have the 4GB RAM and 64GB storage variant for review and this model costs Rs 2,000 more, 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, three satellite navigation systems, FM radio, USB-OTG and many sensors.
The Redmi Note 7 phone runs MIUI 10.2 based on Android 9 Pie. The handset we had for review was running on the February 2019 Android security patch. There is a lot of bloatware pre-installed on the phone. As soon as we set up the handset, ads and promotions from stock Xiaomi apps such as the music and video player started appearing in the notification shade. However, there is a way to fix this.
Most pre-installed third-party apps can be uninstalled and some cannot be uninstalled. For such apps, there is an option to disable spammy push notifications in the app 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
The Redmi Note 7 is equipped with better specifications, so it is not surprising that this phone can easily handle all the tasks of the day. The processor is so powerful that it can easily handle social and productivity apps, it is also good for gaming. There is no heating problem in Redmi Note 7. But of course when we play PUBG Mobile for some time, it gets hot. But the phone does not get so hot that you have to take a break for some time in between.
The Redmi Note 7 is a big phone but MIUI does offer a one-handed mode. It can be activated using a swipe gesture on the home button. But sometimes it doesn’t work properly. The fingerprint sensor is fast, and the phone also comes with AI face recognition support. It works fast in adequate light and there is also a raise-to-wake gesture but it doesn’t work properly in low light.
In our tests, the Redmi Note 7 played back media files quite well. Videos looked sharp and colours were impressive, although black levels could have been better. The phone is Widevine L1 certified, meaning you can stream TV shows and movies from Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
The single speaker grill produces a loud sound. The speaker is at the bottom of the phone but it is placed on the right side, so the speaker is not blocked even if you hold the phone in landscape mode. The Redmi Note 7 does not have a 48-megapixel primary sensor like the Redmi Note 7 Pro. The Redmi Note 7 has a 12-megapixel primary sensor and a 2-megapixel depth sensor at the back. The aperture of the main lens is f/2.2, so don’t expect to click good low-light shots.
The camera app has AI scene detection feature along with shooting modes like Panorama, Portrait, Pro and Square. Redmi Note 7 takes good pictures in daylight. Colours and details were captured well but we found a slight lack of sharpness. Chromatic aberration was visible with bright background and HDR is not always able to handle the exposure of bright areas.
The camera app’s AI system can detect buildings, plants, flowers, etc. correctly. In macro mode, the camera AI boosts colours, which makes the subject look artificial. You should turn this off before taking a shot. The depth sensor helps in taking good portrait shots. Edge detection for objects and people is also good. Low-light performance is good but not the best. Colours were captured well in adequate light and details were also captured well in landscape mode. The device received a system update during the review. With the update, a new night shooting mode has been added to the Redmi Note 7.
The 13-megapixel front camera takes good selfies when there is enough light. The AI beautification is not too aggressive. You can shoot selfies with bokeh effect if you want and edge detection is also not bad. Selfies came out well even in low light. The video quality is not very impressive. When shooting in daylight, bright areas seem overexposed.
Electronic stabilization is applied when you finish recording, so you won’t be able to preview how your video will look while shooting. The phone doesn’t have a 4K option, you get 1080p, 60 frames per second mode. Apart from this, you will also get shooting modes like time lapse and slow-motion which work well.
Redmi Note 7 is powered by a 4,000mAh battery and comes with Qualcomm Quick Charge 4 fast charging but only if you use the right charger. You will find a standard 10W charger in the retail box. The charger that came with the phone charged the phone up to 57% in one hour. The battery life of the phone is good. In our HD video battery loop test, Redmi Note 7 provided a backup of 12 hours and 52 minutes. It is worth noting here that Redmi Note 7 Pro also has a 4,000mAh battery but this phone lasted for 19 hours.
Our verdict
The base variant of the Redmi Note 7 is priced at Rs 9,999, we have not tested this variant. The phone looks quite good and its build quality is also good. The phone has a good display, decent camera, strong app performance and good battery life. If you want to use two SIMs and a microSD card simultaneously, then this phone is not for you as the Redmi Note 7 has a hybrid dual-SIM slot.
You can also consider the base variant of the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2. Its base variant is available online for less than Rs 10,000. The Redmi Note 7 has pre-installed bloatware, below-average low-light camera performance and you won’t even get a fast charger in the retail box.
We have tested the 4GB RAM variant of the Redmi Note 7 which is priced at Rs 11,999. If you want a phone with better camera performance, we think the Realme 2 Pro (Review) or the Xiaomi Mi A2 (Review) can prove to be better options for you. There are many good and powerful smartphones available in India under Rs 15,000 and the Redmi Note 7 is one of them.
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