Xiaomi Redmi Note review: Warning note

Unboxing the Xiaomi Redmi Note

All Xiaomi retail boxes look alike - made of recycled paper and said to support up to 300 pounds (136kg) of weight - you know, in case you need to put a fridge on top.

Xiaomi Redmi Note retail box

Unfortunately, the box contents cover just the basics - an A/C adapter and a USB cable. There is no headset in the box.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 360-degree view

Xiaomi Redmi Note spreads at 154 x 78.7 x 9.5 mm - that's 5mm taller and just 1mm thicker than the Galaxy Note 3 Neo. The Redmi Note is a lot heavier though - at 200g it is among the heaviest phablets we've met so far.

Design and build quality

The Xiaomi Redmi Note, being an affordable phablet, isn't expected to be a good looker. Its entire front is painted in black, with nice red accent on the capacitive keys. The removable rear cover is made of glossy plastic, which is prone to fingerprints and smudges.

We never expected high-quality and fancy materials at this price point, but we would have appreciated matte finish rather than glossy plastic. On the other hand, the glossy materials aren't that bad as long as you can keep the device clean of smudges - in this particular case that's not an easy task.

Xiaomi Redmi Note

There glass over the screen isn't boasting a special protection layer (Gorilla Glass, Dragontrail), so you should be extra careful if you want to protect your Redmi Note from scratches. But the all black front looks great indeed and the red keys definitely make the Redmi Note stand out.

Handling the Xiaomi Redmi Note

Xiaomi Redmi Note is a massive and heavy phablet. It is well built, without any squeaks or creaks, but the 200g weight make it a bit unwieldy. The glossy plastic and the extra slippery feel that comes with it don't help either.

Controls

Xiaomi Redmi Note doesn't bring any surprises when it comes to its controls. We've already mentioned the capacitive keys below the display, marked with red icons. Above the massive 5.5" IPS display we find the earpiece, a couple of sensors and the 5MP selfie camera.

A peek below and above the display

There is nothing on the left of the Xiaomi Redmi Note. The power/lock key and the volume rocker are on the right.

The left is completely bare • the lock key and the volume rocker on the right

As usual the top of the Xiaomi Redmi Note houses the 3.5mm audio jack and the secondary microphone intended for active noise cancellation during calls and stereo sound recording for your videos.

The top and bottom of the Xiaomi Redmi Note

The bottom of the Redmi Note has the microUSB 2.0 port and the primary microphone.

The 13MP camera lens is at the back coupled with a LED flash. The loudspeaker grille is also around, at the bottom left corner. The camera module projects about a millimeter.

The 13MP projecting camera module at the back • the loudspeaker grille

The Redmi Note's rear cover is removable and gives you access to the also removable 3,200 mAh battery, the two mini-SIM beds and the microSD card slot. None of the cards is hot-swappable, you'll need to remove the battery if you need to pop up the memory card.

The two SIM slots and the microSD card slot