Xiaomi Redmi Note 4's hardware is market-dependent - you can either get it with MediaTek Helio X20 or Qualcomm's Snapdragon 625 chipset. We already reviewed the Helio model and we acknowledged its great performance and battery life.
Today we are turning our attention towards the Snapdragon version, which will probably make it to more markets than the Helio X20 variant. Unfortunately, Snapdragon 625 is not as powerful - it has an octa-core Cortex-A53 processor clocked at 2.0GHz and Adreno 506 GPU. So far, so good. But it lacks the Helio X20's powerful A72 cores, which made Android operations buttery smooth.
The Note 4 may come with 2, 3, or even 4 gigabytes of RAM, depending on which storage option you get. We'd strongly suggest a model with at least 3GB of RAM if you will be relying heavily on Dual Spaces.
Let's look at the processor performance starting with a single core. The Redmi Note 4 (S625) has one of the most powerful Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2.0GHz and it will do great for system tasks. However, it is a no match for the A72 processor within the Helio X20 version, or the one inside the Snapdragon 650-powered Redmi Note 3.
Higher is better
Higher is better
Moving on to the multi-core performance the things do get better. The deca-core Helio X20 squashes the competition with the huge help of its A72 cores, but the Snapdragon 625-powered Redmi Note 4 handled Geekbench pretty well, too.
Higher is better
Higher is better
The Adreno 506 GPU is perfectly capable to handle 1080p resolution. The Helio-powered model has a Mali-T880MP4 GPU, which is a solid midrange performer.
The GPU tests confirmed that while the Adreno 506 GPU in our Redmi Note 4 does well, the Mali unit inside the Helio model easily outperforms it though you probably won't be able to spot a sizeable difference in real life use.
Higher is better
Higher is better
Higher is better
We have already established that the Helio X20 is the better chipset. Compound benchmarks such as AnTuTu and BaseMark can help us describe the actual performance gap. Indeed, the Helio model came on top of the competition, but our Snapdragon version is on par with competing phones and demonstrates adequate performance for the class.
Higher is better
Higher is better
Here is the thing - while the Redmi Note 4 with Helio X20 is better, its availability is rather scarce and you may end up with a Chinese model cram-full with bloatware. If you are not a dedicated mobile gamer, there should be no difference for you which model you'll get. And if you are, you should be jumping to a higher tier anyway.
The Snapdragon model is intended for international markets and it does a very good job at delivering mid-range performance, while scoring an excellent mark for thermal control and battery efficiency courtesy of its 14nm manufacturing process.
Tip us
1.7m 126k
RSS
EV
Merch
Log in I forgot my password Sign up