Xiaomi has been making a move in the budget smartphone market with its successful Redmi Note series, the Redmi Note 7 Pro yet seems to be another winner after the Redmi Note 6 Pro. The main features include its Dot notch glass design, faster Snapdragon 675 CPU, a massive 48 MP camera, and a battery that looks reliable, here’s our Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro review.
What’s in the Box
- Redmi Note 7 Pro with built-in battery
- USB Type-C cable
- Charger (5V, 2A)
- Transparent TPU case
- User manuals & warranty card
- SIM tray ejector pin
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro Specifications
- Display: 6.3-inch LTPS LCD Dot Notch display, Full HD+ resolution (2280 x 1080 pixels, 409 PPI), 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 450 nits brightness, 15,000:1 contrast ratio, Corning Gorilla Glass 5
- Software: MIUI 10 based on Android 9 Pie
- Fingerprint Scanner | Face Unlock: Yes, on the back | Yes
- CPU: Up to 2.0 GHz octa-core Kryo 460 processor, Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 SoC, 11nm, 64-bit
- GPU: Adreno 612
- Memory: 4 GB OR 6 GB RAM, LPDDR4X
- Storage: 64 GB OR 128 GB internal, eMMC 5.1, expands up to microSD card (SIM2 slot)
- Main Camera: Dual cameras 48 MP + 5 MP, AI support
48 MP (Sony IMX586) 1.6μm large pixel (4-in-1 Super Pixel), PDAF, f/1.79 aperture, Steady handheld night photography, AI Portrait mode, background blurring, Single-tone flash, Low light enhancement, Standard HDR, Auto HDR, Video stabilization (EIS), Face recognition, AI Dynamic bokeh, AI Studio lighting - Selfie Camera: 13 MP, AI Portrait mode, background blurring, AI Beautify, Face recognition, AI Studio lighting
- Connectivity: USB Type-C, 3.5mm jack, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS
- Cellular: 4G LTE, 2x SIM (GSM), microSD card on SIM2, dual VoLTE support
- Battery: 4,100 mAh, Qualcomm QuickCharge 4.0
- Price: Rs 13,999 (4 GB RAM & 64 GB Storage), Rs 16,999 (6 GB RAM & 128 GB Storage)
Design, Build, & Ergonomics
Xiaomi has moved to a new design, finally a design that you will fancy. The Redmi Note 7 Pro offers glass on both sides, it is covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on both sides and a noticeable Dot notch design to give full-screen experience. The design looks refreshing as compared to the previous Redmi Note series phones.
The back has a bulge of dual cameras, a fingerprint scanner at the center, and Redmi branding at the bottom. The phone is also spash proof meaning it can survive water spills or light rains, however, it is not recommended to submerge underwater.
Xiaomi did it, now there’s a USB Type-C port incorporated instead of the old micro USB that adds to its design ergonomics. The bottom also carries loudspeakers while the top has a 3.5 mm audio jack, microphone, and an IR Blaster.
The left side has a hybrid SIM tray, it’s time Xiaomi should offer a triple slot SIM tray with a dedicated microSD slot. The phone supports dual nano SIM cards with microSD card on SIM2 slot and dual VoLTE feature. The right side has the power and volume keys.
Display
The Redmi Note 7 Pro sports a 6.3-inch LTPS Dot notch display with a resolution of Full HD+ (2280 x 1080 pixels, 409 PPI) and an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. While it’s not an AMOLED display, the quality of the display is decent for this price.
The display offers a good amount of 450 nits brightness and 15,000:1 contrast ratio. It also supports the Widewine L1 certification for those who watch Netflix in HD.
It has MIUI display enhancements that you have seen on the previous MIUI devices, you get reading mode, set the contrast and colors, change the text size, and some features like double tap to wake, and raise to wake.
Software & User Interface
On top, the Redmi Note 7 Pro runs the Android 9 Pie layered with the MIUI 10. The MIUI is still among the best interfaces when it comes to the features and customizations. Unless you prefer stock Android phones, the Redmi Note 7 Pro will give you good user experience, the UI looks neat and there are plenty of features MIUI has to offer.
Samsung’s new M series is still based on the Android Oreo OS, the Galaxy M20 runs on the Android Oreo out-of-the-box and that gives an advantage when we compare the Redmi Note 7 Pro to the competition.
Although it has some bloatware added but can be ignored if you use replacement apps, for instance, third party Music players, video players, browsers and others.
Also added is a feature called Glance that shows you stories on the lockscreen whenever you press the power button to wake the phone. It shows you stories from different categories you choose with a nice wallpaper along with a story title.
Hardware, Performance, & Gaming
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro comes with a strong processor, the Snapdragon 675 is an upper midrange SoC that is equally powerful as a flagship chip can be. On the performance note, Redmi Note 7 has one of the best chips available in the midrange segment, it easily takes down its competitors.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 is further paired with either 4 GB RAM with 64 GB of onboard storage or 6 GB RAM with a whopping 128 GB of internal storage that can be expanded via a microSD card but on SIM2 slot. The overall performance of the phone is smooth, lag free, and fast when multi-tasking.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro Key Specifications
- Display: 6.3-inch IPS LCD Dot Notch display, Full HD+ resolution (2280 x 1080 pixels, 409 PPI), 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 450 nits brightness, 15,000:1 contrast ratio, Corning Gorilla Glass 5
- Software: MIUI 10 based on Android 9 Pie
- CPU: Up to 2.0 GHz octa-core Kryo 460 processor, Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 SoC, 11nm, 64-bit
- GPU: Adreno 612
- Memory: 4 GB OR 6 GB RAM, LPDDR4X
- Storage: 64 GB OR 128 GB internal, eMMC 5.1, expands up to microSD card (SIM2 slot)
- Battery: 4,100 mAh, Qualcomm QuickCharge 4.0
Benchmarks below indicate that the Redmi Note 7 Pro is clearly ahead in its class outdoing its competitors, the numbers are higher than most phones in this price range which hints you are getting a powerhouse at a lower price, take a note gamers and multi-taskers.
AnTuTu benchmark scores 1,58,552 points, Geekbench 4 scores 2,382 points (single-core CPU) and 6,027 points (multi-core CPU), and 6,006 points in GPU benchmark. Storage benchmarks show that it’s fast, however, not as fast as you see on POCO F1 and other similar flagships.
Gaming shouldn’t be a problem, the phone has enough raw power to play games at high settings, take PUBG Mobile, for instance, you can play it on full settings without any major lags. Similarly, for other games, the phone should handle it smoothly.
Games Tested On Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro
- PUBG Mobile
- Asphalt 9: Legends
Cameras
Speaking of the camera specs, the front camera on the Redmi Note 7 Pro is a 13 MP that fits in the Dot notch while the rear side has a dual setup that carries a whopping 48 MP main camera and a 5 MP secondary camera for depth sensing.
Digging more into the cameras, the 48 MP main camera with an aperture of f/1.79 uses a Sony IMX596 sensor alongside the 5 MP camera for Portrait mode. The 48 MP camera uses a 1.6μm large pixel (4-in-1 Super Pixel technology) which creates a 48 MP photograph.
While the camera takes photos normally in 12 MP, you need to select the 48 MP mode from the camera modes to get the 48 MP shot from the phone. The 48 MP adds more detailing and doesn’t pixellate the image when you zoom.
The Portrait mode does a great job in adding bokeh, it blurs the background brilliantly making the photo look like it is taken from a DSLR. You can also add the amazing studio lighting effects and light trails when taken in Portrait mode.
There are a host of camera modes on the phone like Pro mode, Panorama, HDR, AI Studio lighting with 8 unique effects, light trails with 6 dynamic bokeh effects, Steady handheld night photography, and the AI multi-scene detection in 33 categories. The recent OTA update has also added Holi filters and animations for the Holi festival.
The camera supports EIS which helps to reduce the shaky videos and make them steady. The slow motion is capped at 120 fps, not 240 fps which is usually found on higher-end phones. But at this price, there’s nothing to complain about, you are still getting 4K video recording feature which many phones can’t offer in this range.
Talking about the picture quality, the phone does take great shots in the daylight as well as in the low light. Selfies turn out to be good enough for social media sharing. The overall camera performance is exceptionally deserving if this is the price. There’s no need for a 48 MP camera if you are using it for social media like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp or any other apps.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro Camera Samples
Battery Life
Xiaomi has managed to pack a large 4,100 mAh battery which has a great potential to last longer than expected, thanks to the MIUI optimizations. We took the phone and tested it out with normal usage as a normal human being does.
Using it for surfing, watching videos on YouTube and TikTok, spending time on social media like Instagram and clicking some shots and recording a few clips using its camera does offer more than 2 days battery life with more than 6 hours of screen-on-time. You can easily get up to 2 days of battery life on average use.
For the charging, the battery supports Qualcomm QuickCharge 4.0 fast charging, however, doesn’t ship with a fast charger. You get a normal 10W (5V, 2A) charger that takes about 2.5 hours to charge the phone completely. If you are not using the stock charger, using a fast charger won’t take much time to charge since it has QuickCharge 4.0 support.
Verdict
There’s no denying that the phone has everything in one package, the glass design, solid performance, impressive battery life, commendable cameras and a few more things like full-screen Dot notch display, USB Type-C port, and IR Blaster. In the end, this is the smartphone you shouldn’t miss if you are carrying a budget of Rs 15,000, the Redmi Note 7 Pro is a value-for-money phone and is highly recommended.
Strength
- Glass Design | Premium Looks
- Solid Performance | Snapdragon 675
- Great Battery Life
- Decent Camera Package
- QuickCharge 4.0 Support
- Value For Money
Weakness
- Hybrid SIM slot
