Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 review: A hidden gem

Performance

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 is powered by the MediaTek Helio X20 chipset. It's a pretty impressive chipset, it and the X25 version (which differs only by higher clock speeds) are used in several affordable high-end phones.

The old Note 3 had two versions - one with Snapdragon 650 and one with MediaTek Helio X10. Compared to the S650 model, the Redmi Note 4 keeps the two powerful Cortex-A72 cores (but clocks them higher), the four mid-range Cortex-A53 cores and adds another block of four A53 cores for low-power use. Compared to the X10 chipset, it has the A72 duo that brings massive improvements to single-core performance.

Let's look at single core performance. The Redmi Note 3 (S650) has its Cortex-A72 cores clocked at 1.8GHz, while the Meizu m3 note only has Cortex-A53 cores, the "big" ones are also at 1.8GHz. You can see that clock for clock, an A72 is worth about two A53s. But also that the A72 cores in the Redmi Note 4 are clocked higher, 2.1GHz.

GeekBench 3 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Huawei P9 Plus
  1892
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  1596
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  1543
• Meizu m3 note
  807

The two Redmi Note 3 versions aren't quite on par in the multithreaded test - the Helio X10 chipset is clocked at 2GHz, so it has an advantage. Yet the new Redmi Note 4 beats it and is much faster when it comes to single-threaded tasks.

GeekBench 3 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Huawei P9 Plus
  6660
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  5166
• Meizu MX5
  5110
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  4537
• OnePlus 2
  4429
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  3695
• Huawei Mate S
  3475
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  3375
• Meizu m3 note
  3028

Year-old flagships like the OnePlus 2 and Huawei Mate S can't quite compete and those had flagship (at the time) chipsets. Consider that most phones in the Redmi Note 4 price range have a Helio X10 or a Snapdragon 617 (which lags well behind).

Surprisingly, the Note 4 edges out even its sibling, the Redmi Note Pro. The Note Pro we tested also used the Helio X20 chipset (but there's a pricier X25 version too).

AnTuTu 6

Higher is better

• Huawei P9 Plus
  97392
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  85162
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  77442
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  76186
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  45474
• Meizu m3 note
  44898

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• Huawei P9 Plus
  2099
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  1728
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  1696
• OnePlus 2
  1622
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  1426
• Meizu MX5
  1252
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  1089
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  1018
• Huawei Mate S
  914
• Meizu m3 note
  852

The Helio X20 chipset uses a Mali-T880 MP4 GPU, the same GPU as in the Kirin 955 that powers the Huawei P9 Plus flagship and the more affordable Honor 8 ("more affordable" but still double the Note 4 price).

And while those have four Cortex-A72 CPU cores at a higher clock speed, these devices are very close in graphics performance. Qualcomm put a solid GPU in the S650 and the Redmi Note 3 remains quite competitive, the Helio X10 leaves plenty to be desired.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  16
• Huawei P9 Plus
  10
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  9.5
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  9.5
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  9
• Meizu MX5
  4.8
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  4
• Huawei Mate S
  3
• Meizu m3 note
  2.5

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  16
• Huawei P9 Plus
  11
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  9.5
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  9.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  9
• Meizu MX5
  4.7
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  3.9
• Huawei Mate S
  3.4
• Meizu m3 note
  2.5

GFX 3.1 Car scene (offscreen)

Higher is better

• Huawei P9 Plus
  6.2
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  5.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  5.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  5.3

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Huawei P9 Plus
  6.8
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  5.5
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  5.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  5.4

The faster CPU does help the benchmark score a little higher but not that much, certainly not proportional to the cost of these phones. The OnePlus 2 meanwhile demonstrates the one redeeming quality of the Snapdragon 810 chipset - an awesome GPU.

Basemark X

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  21937
• Huawei P9 Plus
  15058
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  14717
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  13666
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  12190
• Meizu MX5
  10403
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  8838
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  8540
• Huawei Mate S
  5368
• Meizu m3 note
  4567

Basemark X (medium)

Higher is better

• Huawei P9 Plus
  27158
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  23846
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  23643
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  23300
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  15359
• Meizu m3 note
  11604

We were blown away by the performance the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 offers in a sub-€200 package. The CPU tangles with recent flagships well above its price point and blows away anything in its category. Even betting on a year-old flagship is no guarantee of better performance.

The GPU impressed in comparison with the Kirin 955 phones, though that's largely because Huawei's chipsets are weak in the graphics department. You can get similar benchmark scores with the Snapdragon 650-powered Redmi Note 3.

That's, of course, assuming that the game isn't CPU-bound (like games that feature a lot of AI-controlled opponents). Even then, the price delta between Note 3 and Note 4 is so small that betting on Note 4's superior CPU performance is money well spent.