Xiaomi recently announced a new phone under the Redmi series, the Redmi Note 7. The phone is very interesting and has gotten a lot of people excited. The main attraction of the phone is its stunning 48-MegaPixel camera. Surely, such a phone should cost a lot, but the price tag is what’s blown everyone away despite the camera. The Redmi Note 7 will only cost $150, talk about value for money!
The line between a “budget” smartphone and a premium device became very thin in 2018. The trend in 2019 should be no different. Companies like Huawei, Xiaomi, OnePlus, and Oppo are giving the bigger brands like Apple and Samsung a run for their money by coming up with innovative, good looking, and overall decent phones that don’t cost a lot but have the premium feel to them.
Although the Redmi Note 7 is still an entry-level device, it won’t feel or look cheap in your hands. The phone’s design resembles that of the Mi Play which was also a budget Xiaomi phone. The back panel of the phone is beautiful as it comes with many color options. The gradient color scheme in one of the color options of the phone makes it look amazing, it doesn’t look like a $150 phone at all.
The Camera
The phone’s main talking point apart from the price is the camera. The Redmi Note 7 can take huge 48 MegaPixel photos with its camera provided there’s good lighting. The camera setup on the phone consists of dual sensors, one is the aforementioned 48 MegaPixel sensor and one is a standard 5 MP sensor for depth information. The camera can also give you 12 MP photos by combining neighboring pixels. The resulting photo would then have larger pixels than the 48MP photo, both modes have their own uses, it’ll come down to your preference.
Another cool thing about this phone’s camera is that its physical size is a bit larger than your typical phone camera as well. At about a difference of 0.5 inches which may not seem much, but that’s a considerably larger camera sensor than we typically see. What difference does it make? A larger sensor means that the camera is able to allow in more light for the photos it takes. Therefore, if used correctly, this camera has the potential to take great low-light shots.
Other Features
The phone, despite its low price, is shaping up to be really decent. The Redmi Note 7 will have a Snapdragon 660 processor, a 6.3-inch 19.5:9 1080p screen, a 13 MP front camera, and a 4000 mAh battery. Surprisingly enough, the phone will also come with USB Type-C charging, which means you’ll be able to top up your device fairly quickly.
Another great thing about this phone is the inclusion of the headphone jack. A lot of companies have moved away from the headphone jack, especially with their flagship devices. A lot of people still use wired earphones and it’s also a fact that wireless audio can never beat wired audio quality-wise. Therefore, the inclusion of the headphone jack will likely please a lot of people.
The phone also includes a fingerprint scanner on the back. The scanner is placed at a convenient position, it’ll be easy to unlock. Another interesting aspect about the phone is the O-shaped notch. It’s a very minimalistic notch, one that many people will like. The original notch is something that divides a lot of people. Some hate it, some love it. This notch is a better implementation as most people are fine with it.
Redmi will now be an Independent brand
Xiaomi has announced that Redmi will be an independent brand now which will focus on e-commerce and cost-efficient products. Xiaomi will focus more on their high-end devices like the Mi Mix 3 and the Mi 8. The Redmi phones will still continue to come, but now they’ll be referred to as “Redmi by Xiaomi”, similar to the Pocophone.
This is great news for people who like Xiaomi phones. Xiaomi has all sorts of phones from budget, to mid-range, to high-end devices. They recently launched the Pocophone too which tries to bring a flagship device at a budget-friendly price. Making Redmi its own brand will help Xiaomi focus more on its other devices. Therefore, we can expect the same, budget-friendly but good Redmi phones but we can expect better “Mi” branded phones as well in the future.
Conclusion
The Redmi Note 7 has the potential to be a huge hit. Starting at $150, which is roughly 10,000 Indian Rupees, it’s perfect for the market it’s intended for. Redmi phones and Xiaomi, in general, is highly popular in India. The Pocophone was originally made for the Indian market as well. The general population in India looks for a cheap device, and the Redmi Note 7 is exactly that.
However, we shouldn’t get too excited about the $150 price tag as the company must have made some compromises to get this low. Hardware is only half the story. How the software is able to use all that hardware is what makes a phone great. MIUI is not the best Android skin out there. However, it does the job.
The base $150 model will have 3 GB RAM and 32 GB of storage. A $200 version of the Redmi Note 7 will have 6GB RAM and 64 GB of storage. If your goal is to future-proof your phone, the $200 version will be a lot better. The Redmi Note 7 will launch first in China, but it will make its way to India and other countries shortly after.