Hands-on Review: Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime

by Abhi

Hello folks, I am back again with a smartphone review this time. Today I'll give hands-on review of Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime, released in November 2016, so it's a latest device in Xiaomi's Redmi series of smartphones. For long time Xiaomi has been a big player in world's smartphone market. Currently they are 5th smartphone brand (just below Lenovo and Huawei) according to several market research conducted in 2016. They are mainly known for their mid-range devices which can keep a balance between your budget and requirements nicely. This year (2016) they have announced several such devices including Redmi 3S, Redmi 3S Prime, Note 4 etc. Redmi 4 Prime is latest inclusion in this line. Now lets move to review, shall we?

Basic Configuration
  • Display - 5 inch IPS FHD (1920x1080 at 441 ppi)
  • SIM - dual SIM (supports 2G/3G/EVDO/LTE)
  • CPU - Octa-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53 with Qualcomm MSM8953 Snapdragon 625 chipset
  • OS Platform - Android 6.0.1 (with MIUI 8 interface)
  • RAM - 3 GB, ROM - 32 GB
  • Camera- 13MP (back), 5MP (front), dual tone flash
  • Battery - Non-removable Li-Ion 4100 mAh


    Photo Source: GSMArena
Design

This phone sports a diamond-cut unibody design, not round shape, which makes the phone looks trendy and very compact. This phone weights only 156g, so despite of a relatively large sized display, it's not much heavy. Moreover this phone not feels slippery while in hands, which is a good factor. Although you can always use a backcover with this device if you want to.

Display

In case of display, main benefit of this device is - it has full-HD display with resolution of 1920x1080 at 441 ppi, a very quality display within budget price. Pictures/videos looks lively and crisp on this display. I have tested 1080p videos (both normal and 360 degree) over Youtube and those looks simply superb. Good viewing angle and sunlight readability are added bonus. But this device has no gorilla glass protection, even Xiaomi didn't disclose which type of screen protection they have used. Although seller told me that it's a corning gorilla glass 2.5, I have doubt though. So it's better to use extra screen protector to save the display from possible damages in long run.

Hardware

If you are looking for a device which can fit into your budget and at the same time comes with good RAM and chipset, then Redmi 4 Prime is best buy for you! because it not only comes with a Snapdragon 625 chipset (2.0 GHz Octa-core CPU), but also it has 3 GB RAM, huge, eh? It has Adreno 506 GPU for intensive graphics related tasks. In short, a perfect device if you are tend to use a lot of apps and games in your device. You don't need to compromise with speed or processing power in this phone. I don't play games or use massive amount of apps though, but I have tested some resource hungry apps already, performance is satisfactory so far. Phone not falling into common performance pitfalls (which may happen in long run, not sure) or not lagging while trying some games which made for high-end devices. So far I'm not facing any over-heating issue while using the device for long time. One of the special feature I like to mention is fingerprint sensor, which is a common feature these days in high-spec phones. This phone's fingerprint sensor seems good and it can unlock the device within 0.1s.

Interface

Xiaomi use their own custom UI in their devices, known as MIUI. This device has latest MIUI 8.0 on top of Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow). According to online sources, Xiaomi has plan to bring Android 7.0 (Nougat) for this device, may be along with MIUI 9.0. MIUI is an impressive interface with lot of features and customization options.


Although not everyone is a fan of this interface, some users still prefers stock Android look and feel. From my personal point of view, MIUI is not feeling that bad, I didn't find way too much differences with general Android UI. Moreover, it's responsive and not seems sluggish. If you don't like default MIUI look, You can always change themes and wallpapers by downloading those from online store.

Camera

What's the point in buying a smartphone without good quality camera? I know camera quality may not a key concern for most users, but being a photography enthusiast, quality of camera is my prime requirement. Good thing is that Redmi 4 Prime comes with a 13MP rear camera with f/2.2 and 0.1s auto-focus, video capture capacity at 1080p@30fps, dual tone flash and bundle of features, like- HDR, Panorama, face detection, touch focus and everything. Although I'll not say it's an impressive shooter like iPhone, but still far better than some mid-range devices available in market now. For selfie lovers, it sports a 5MP wide angle front camera, which can take good quality photos as well. In daylight, it can take significantly good quality photos, details are sharp and not much saturation, but not performs well under low light, i.e. during night.

Battery Backup

Now lets talk about battery. Yes, an important fact for most Android users. Running short of battery backup is more like a daily scenario for them. Xiaomi has reputation for endurance of battery in their devices. Redmi 4 Prime is no difference, it has 4100 mAH Li-ion battery which can give you support for at least 3 days with light to medium usage. In case of heavy use, 1-1.5 days. This device supports quick charging, although 5V/2A adapter which comes with this device don't have this capacity. You can use any Qualcomm certified quick charger with it if needed. With normal charger this device takes almost 3 hours to charge fully (from 0%).

Cons
  • No display protection
  • Hybrid SIM-slot. So you can't use 2 SIM with an external SD card. Although with 25 GB usable internal memory some people may not need extra memory card.
  • Poor camera quality while shooting under low light.
  • No quick charging facility in given adapter.
  • No NFC
  • Battery is non-removable.

Verdict

Considering all the factors, we can easily say that this device is best buy within budget price, which costs 14,500 BDT (price may vary depending on stores). Within this price tag, this device has so many features to offer. Even better than it's superhit predecessor Redmi 3S Prime, which costs almost same price. Despite of some shortcomings, I'll highly recommend this phone to users who want to invest his/her money into an quality device. The saying 'mid-range phones can't be good' is not always true, this phone is an example of that.



Ratings:
(scale of 10)
Design = 8.5, Display= 8.5, Hardware= 8.0, Camera= 7.0, Battery= 8.5, Value for money= 8 (overall 8/10)