Xiaomi Redmi Note review: Warning note

3. Display, battery life, connectivity

Display

Xiaomi Redmi Note relies on a 5.5" IPS display of 720p resolution, which makes up for a pixel density of 267ppi. There is no special protection for the display, just a regular glass. You should be more careful while handling the Redmi Note as it might accumulate scratches faster.

The 5.5" IPS display of Xiaomi Redmi Note

Here is the display matrix of the Xiaomi Redmi Note shot with our digital microscope. Taking a closer look at it reveals a standard RGB arrangement of the sub-pixels that make up the Xiaomi Redmi Note LCD panel, not that we've expected anything else.

Xiaomi Redmi Note

The display on the Xiaomi Redmi 1S is decently bright at 100% with great contrast and colors. Unlike the Redmi 1S, the Redmi Note remains nicely bright at its 50%, setting. The color reproduction is the same as on the 1S, but the contrast is somewhat worse. The major difference is visible only in completely dark rooms though.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
Display test	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo	0	142	∞	0	389	∞
Xiaomi Redmi Note	0.3	305	1001	0.52	536	1016
Xiaomi Redmi 1S	0.08	158	1437	0.45	615	1370
Sony Xperia M2	0.33	325	989	0.64	643	1000
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra	-	-	-	0.49	634	1287
Huawei Ascend Mate	0.23	222	982	0.67	711	1053
Nokia Lumia 1520	0.22	263	1174	0.43	522	1207
Xiaomi Mi 3	0.18	142	809	0.61	557	907

The sunlight legibility is a lot better than on the Redmi 1S as the screen glass is notably less reflective. You should be OK seeing what's on the display in the bright sunny days even if it won't be a pretty sight. The far superior sunlight legibility has another meaning too - while the Redmi 1S panel has higher contrast in complete darkness, the Redmi Note quickly catches up when the ambient light increases. So while the smartphone might be better in your bed, in your house or office the phablet offers better contrast and in turn image quality. .

Sunlight contrast ratio

Nokia 808 PureView
4.698
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
3.997
Apple iPhone 5
3.997
Apple iPhone 6
3.838
Samsung Galaxy K zoom
3.675
Nokia Lumia 930
3.567
Apple iPhone 5s
3.565
Samsung Galaxy S5
3.549
Alcatel Idol X+
3.527
Apple iPhone 5c
3.512
Samsung Galaxy Alpha
3.509
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
3.487
Motorola RAZR MAXX
3.42
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
3.419
Nokia Lumia 925
3.402
Gionee Elife S5.5
3.386
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4
3.352
Samsung Omnia W
3.301
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
3.174
Samsung I9000 Galaxy S
3.155
Samsung Ativ S
3.129
Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 mini
3.127
Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom
3.118
Nokia N9
3.069
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
3.023
Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97
Samsung Galaxy Premier
2.958
Sony Xperia Z1
2.95
HTC One S
2.901
Samsung I8730 Galaxy Express
2.861
BlackBerry Q10
2.856
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II
2.832
Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
2.801
BlackBerry Z30
2.79
Sony Xperia ZR
2.672
Huawei Ascend P1
2.655
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
2.616
Sony Xperia T3
2.609
Nokia Lumia 900
2.562
Motorola Moto G 4G
2.546
HTC One Max
2.537
Nokia Lumia 720
2.512
HTC One
2.504
Motorola Moto G
2.477
Sony Xperia Z
2.462
Xiaomi Mi 4
2.424
Samsung Galaxy S III mini
2.422
LG G Flex
2.407
HTC One (M8)
2.371
Motorola RAZR i
2.366
Sony Xperia ZL
2.352
Samsung Galaxy Note II
2.307
Oppo Find 7a
2.279
Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272
Apple iPhone 4S
2.269
HTC Desire 600 dual sim
2.262
Nokia Asha 311
2.25
LG Nexus 5
2.228
Nokia Lumia 820
2.193
HTC One (E8)
2.185
Nokia Lumia 920
2.17
HTC One X
2.158
Nokia N8
2.144
Nokia Lumia 620
2.142
Nokia 515
2.134
HTC Desire 500
2.129
Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119
Sony Xperia acro S
2.119
Nokia Lumia 1020
2.103
Oppo Find 5
2.088
Sony Xperia SL
2.078
Nokia Lumia 630
2.056
BlackBerry Z10
2.051
Samsung I9295 Galaxy S4 Active
2.022
Apple iPhone 4
2.016
HTC One mini
2.003
Xiaomi Mi 3
2.001
Huawei Ascend P7
1.992
LG G2
1.976
OnePlus One
1.961
Oppo R819
1.957
Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
1.955
Sony Xperia Z2
1.944
Nokia Lumia 1320
1.941
HTC One mini 2
1.94
Samsung Galaxy Camera
1.938
Sony Xperia J
1.932
Acer CloudMobile S500
1.931
LG Nexus 4
1.926
LG G Pro 2
1.922
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
1.913
Nokia Asha 308
1.911
Sony Xperia T
1.894
HTC Desire X
1.878
HTC Windows Phone 8X
1.873
HTC Butterfly
1.873
HTC Butterfly S
1.867
Huawei Ascend P6
1.865
Huawei Ascend Mate
1.845
LG G2 mini
1.838
LG G3
1.82
Nokia Lumia 1520
1.813
HTC Desire 616 dual sim
1.797
Sony Xperia V
1.792
HTC Desire 816
1.783
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
1.772
HTC Desire 700 dual sim
1.769
Sony Xperia U
1.758
Meizu MX3
1.754
LG Optimus G
1.753
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra
1.74
Sony Xperia SP
1.733
LG Optimus 4X HD
1.691
Oppo Find 7
1.691
HTC One V
1.685
BlackBerry Q5
1.682
LG Optimus Vu
1.68
Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.9
1.672
LG Optimus GJ
1.666
LG Optimus 3D Max
1.658
HTC Desire V
1.646
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
1.632
Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
1.622
Jolla Jolla
1.605
Sony Xperia Z Ultra
1.578
Sony Xperia go
1.577
Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 I8160
1.566
Samsung Galaxy Core
1.563
LG Optimus G Pro
1.552
Motorola Moto E
1.545
LG Optimus 3D
1.542
Nokia Asha 302
1.537
BlackBerry Curve 9320
1.488
Sony Xperia M
1.473
Oppo N1
1.47
Meizu MX 4-core
1.462
Nokia Lumia 610
1.432
Samsung Galaxy S Duos
1.4
Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo
1.393
Sony Xperia M2
1.393
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
1.38
Sony Xperia E1
1.372
Nokia Lumia 625
1.371
Gigabyte GSmart G1355
1.361
Sony Xperia L
1.351
Xiaomi Redmi 1S
1.35
Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8
1.35
Sony Xperia M2 Aqua
1.331
Sony Xperia miro
1.324
Samsung I9082 Galaxy Grand
1.321
Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam
1.315
HTC Desire C
1.3
Nokia X
1.291
Sony Xperia C
1.283
Nokia Asha 503
1.281
Nokia Asha 501
1.27
LG Optimus L7
1.269
Nokia Lumia 510
1.268
Samsung Galaxy Fame
1.245
LG Optimus L9
1.227
Meizu MX
1.221
Samsung Galaxy Young
1.22
Sony Xperia E
1.215
Nokia XL
1.204
Sony Xperia E dual
1.203
Asus Memo Pad 7 ME176C
1.198
Samsung Galaxy Pocket
1.18
Nokia Asha 305
1.178
Nokia Asha 306
1.175
Sony Xperia neo L
1.169
Sony Xperia tipo
1.166
Nokia Lumia 520
1.161
Samsung S6802 Galaxy Ace Duos
1.148
Samsung Galaxy mini 2
1.114

It's worth mentioning that the Redmi Note offers an option to prevent pocket dials. If enabled, you won't be able to unlock the screen while something is covering the proximity sensor.

Battery life test

Xiaomi has put a 3,200mAh battery inside the Redmi Note and it is removable, so you can replace it anytime you want or carry a spare if you need to. We ran our battery test and the Xiaomi Redmi Note scored an endurance rating of 55 hours, which means you can count on over two full days if you do an hour each of calling, web browsing and playing video per day.

The phablet showed great endurance during the 3G call and standby tests, but the big screen took its toll on web browsing and video playback performance bringing the overall score down. This suggests that heavy users will actually be getting rather limited power autonomy, while those who mostly use their phones for calling will be able to get more than our rating suggests.

For a more detailed breakdown of the Xiaomi Redmi Note battery performance check out our blogpost.

Our proprietary score also includes a standby battery draw test, which is not featured in our battery test scorecard but is calculated in the total endurance rating.

Our battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you want to learn more about it.

Connectivity

The Xiaomi Redmi Note is a dual-SIM phone with dual stand-by. It works with mini-SIM cards, but 3G data speeds are only available on the first SIM. Here's the list of supported standards:

Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz (SIM1 & SIM2)
Dual band WCDMA/HSPA 1900 / 2100, 21 Mbps (SIM1)

LTE is the obvious thing missing here, but that's hardly a frequent occurrence among the phones as affordable as the Xiaomi Redmi Note. In fact this one has an LTE version, but that's single-SIM only and is only available in China.

The rest of the connectivity features include Wi-Fi b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct and hotspot. There is also support for Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and GLONASS, plus an FM radio with RDS.

There is a microUSB 2.0 port for charging and data connections. Media transfer mode is supported for accessing the phone's built-in memory and microSD card over the USB cable. The microUSB 2.0 port can also be used in USB On-the-go mode for connecting USB peripherals such as pen drives, keyboards or real USB hard drives.

Next Page » 4. User interface

3. Display, battery life, connectivity

Reviews Xiaomi Redmi Note reviewPage 3