Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625) review: Take Note!

3. Display, battery life, connectivity

Display

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 has a 5.5" IPS LCD screen of 1080p resolution (401ppi) with no color shifting at an angle. The company promises 1000:1 contrast ratio and 72% coverage of NTSC color spectrum.

The Snapdragon-powered unit of Redmi Note 4 exceeds the display scores of both Redmi Note 3 and Redmi Note 4 with Helio X20. It has improved black levels and higher maximum brightness of 484 nits. These new tweaks have led to an excellent contrast ratio of 1503:1.

There's an Increased contrast mode, but that only changes the dynamic contrast on a per-image basis. It makes the photos look punchier and doesn't affect color accuracy.

Automatic brightness is available, but it doesn't boost the screen - 484nits is the highest you get.

When you drag the brightness slider all the way down, the Redmi Note 4 screen drops to just 2 nits. This is great for using the phone comfortably in the dark, and you can enable the Reading mode to reduce the amount of blue light in the evening. This mode can be set to trigger automatically for select apps - say, Amazon Kindle or other apps that involve a lot of screen time.

Display test	100% brightness
Display test	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio
Xiaomi Redmi Note	0.52	536	1016
Xiaomi Redmi Note 2	0.492	467	953
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)	0.42	403	953
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (X20)	0.38	439	1158
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)	0.322	484	1503
Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime	0.475	528	1112
Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime	0.43	518	1205
Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus	0.44	441	998
Lenovo Moto M	0.3	425	1417
Xiaomi Mi 5s	0.51	660	1294
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus	0.44	637	1448
Meizu M5 Note	0.614	463	754
Meizu m3 note	0.52	425	816
Meizu m3 note (int)	0.52	459	883
Meizu m3 max	0.46	449	976
Meizu M5s	0.426	407	955

Sunlight legibility is okay on the Redmi Note 4 Snapdragon Edition, and surprisingly much better than the Helio X20 model. It suffers from washed-out colors in the sun, but other than that you will be able to see what's happening on the screen quite well.

Sunlight contrast ratio

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
4.439
OnePlus 3
4.424
Samsung Galaxy S7
4.376
HTC One A9
4.274
Samsung Galaxy Note7
4.247
Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241
OnePlus 3T
4.232
Google Pixel XL
4.164
ZTE Axon 7
4.154
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
4.124
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124
Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09
Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019
OnePlus X
3.983
Vivo Xplay5 Elite
3.983
Oppo R7s
3.964
Apple iPhone 7
3.964
Huawei P9 Plus
3.956
Meizu Pro 6 Plus
3.935
Lenovo Moto Z
3.931
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
3.918
Samsung Galaxy C5
3.911
Samsung Galaxy C7
3.896
Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895
Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879
Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873
Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859
Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
3.817
Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
3.804
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
3.802
Xiaomi Redmi Pro
3.798
LG V20 Max auto
3.798
Sony Xperia XZ
3.795
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
3.789
Apple iPhone 6s
3.783
Meizu Pro 5
3.781
Microsoft Lumia 650
3.772
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
3.756
Oppo F1 Plus
3.709
Vivo X5Pro
3.706
Sony Xperia X Compact
3.694
Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
3.688
Apple iPhone SE
3.681
Huawei Mate 9
3.68
Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679
Meizu PRO 6
3.659
BlackBerry Priv
3.645
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3.588
Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53
Motorola Moto Z Play
3.526
Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
3.523
Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
3.523
Acer Jade Primo
3.521
Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512
Oppo R7 Plus
3.499
nubia Z11
3.466
HTC U Ultra
3.453
Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422
Meizu MX5
3.416
LG V20
3.402
Huawei P10
3.379
Oppo R9s
3.352
Oppo R7
3.32
Lenovo P2
3.316
Xiaomi Mi 5s
3.276
Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235
Sony Xperia X Performance
3.234
Xiaomi Mi Note 2
3.228
Motorola Moto X Play
3.222
Huawei Mate 9 Pro
3.206
Huawei P9
3.195
Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113
Motorola Moto X Force
3.105
LG Nexus 5X
3.092
Huawei Mate S
3.073
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065
Sony Xperia X
2.989
Huawei Mate 8
2.949
Xiaomi Redmi 3S
2.913
Sony Xperia XA Ultra
2.906
LG G5
2.905
HTC One S
2.901
Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
2.893
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2.884
Sony Xperia Z5
2.876
Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851
Lenovo Moto M
2.813
Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
2.803
Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784
Meizu MX6
2.751
LG V10
2.744
Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
2.714
Meizu M5
2.71
Sony Xperia M5
2.69
Huawei P9 Lite
2.679
Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
2.679
Vivo V3Max
2.659
Xiaomi Mi Mix
2.658
Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641
Sony Xperia XA
2.609
Motorola Moto G4 Plus
2.582
Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
2.582
Meizu M5s
2.58
Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574
LeEco Le Max 2
2.567
Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
2.563
Lenovo Moto G4
2.544
Lenovo K6 Note
2.544
Oppo F1
2.528
Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525
Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
2.506
Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503
Oppo F1s
2.481
Motorola Moto G
2.477
Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
2.473
Huawei G8
2.471
Huawei nova
2.467
Sony Xperia Z
2.462
Lenovo Vibe K5
2.459
Meizu m3 max
2.447
HTC 10 evo
2.407
Huawei Honor 7
2.406
Sony Xperia E5
2.386
ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
2.382
Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
2.378
HTC 10
2.378
vivo V5 Plus
2.371
Meizu m1 note
2.362
Huawei nova plus
2.329
HTC One E9+
2.305
Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272
Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
2.254
Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
2.253
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
2.249
Sony Xperia C4 Dual
2.235
Xiaomi Mi Note
2.234
Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233
Huawei P8
2.196
Meizu M5 Note
2.189
Huawei Honor 6
2.169
Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
2.166
OnePlus Two
2.165
HTC One X
2.158
LG Aka
2.145
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (X20)
2.145
Archos 50 Diamond
2.134
Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119
Acer Liquid X2
2.084
Huawei P8lite
2.078
vivo V5
2.059
Moto G 3rd gen max manual
2.026
Xiaomi Mi Max
1.996
Sony Xperia E4g
1.972
OnePlus One
1.961
Meizu m3 note
1.923
BlackBerry Leap
1.892
Meizu m2 note
1.892
ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
1.759
Sony Xperia U
1.758
Asus Zenfone Selfie
1.68
Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
1.675
ZTE Nubia Z9
1.659
Jolla Jolla
1.605
Motorola Moto E
1.545
Sony Xperia M
1.473
Sony Xperia L
1.351
HTC Desire C
1.3
Sony Xperia C
1.283
Meizu MX
1.221
Sony Xperia E
1.215

The colors themselves are fairly accurate by default with an average deltaE of 5.2 and a maximum of 9.8. The whites and grays have a bluish tint, but other than that, the default Auto mode offers a good color presentation.

We tried setting the white balance slider and found that the Standard screen mode is the most accurate. The average deltaE drops to a very good 3.6 and the maximum to 6.8. This mode introduces a slight yellow tint, though, and shifts the white point towards warmer tones.

Battery life

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 has a 4,100mAh battery, the same as the Helio model, but the energy efficient Snapdragon 625 should help it achieve a better battery endurance. The Note 4 supports regular 5V/2A charging, which restores 25% of the battery in 30 minutes of charging, 95% in 2 hours, and 100% in 3h.

Indeed, the Snapdragon 625 chip lived up to our expectations. Combined with the large battery, the Redmi Note 4 easily scored one of the best results in our battery test with a 119-hour Endurance rating. It did a fabulous job in all tested scenarios - video, calls, web browsing and even stand-by performance.

The rating of 119 hours means you can rely on the Redmi Note 4 to last that long if you do an hour of 3G calls, web browsing, and video playback each day.

Our endurance rating denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Redmi Note 4 for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.

Connectivity

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 can be a dual-SIM phone if you'd like it to be - it really depends on whether you need extra storage.

If you do have two SIMs, a toggle in the settings selects which card will provide data over LTE. VoLTE is supported, soon it will replace 2G voice in busy city centers as it supports many more calls per cell.

Locally, you get fast Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac on 2.4GHz and 5GHz. Wi-Fi screen sharing is available too, also Bluetooth 4.1, but no NFC.

The IR blaster gives the Redmi Note 4 control over your equipment at home - including things like cameras (some DSLRs have IR remotes), fans (Xiaomi makes a smart fan, believe it or not) and others.

Finally, the Redmi Note 4 comes with FM radio, but it lacks RDS support.

Next Page » 4. Software overview

3. Display, battery life, connectivity

Reviews Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625) reviewPage 3