The Redmi Note is Xiaomi’s 5.5-inch smartphone that is slated to arrive soon in the Philippines. It sports a MediaTek octa-core CPU, 13 megapixel camera, dual-SIM capabilities, and a large 3,100mAh battery. We just got our hands on one so read our first impressions to find out what it has in store for us.
At 5.5 inches, the Xiaomi Redmi Note easily falls under what we call the phablet territory. It’s a fairly large device that would most of the time require two hands for easier navigation. At 154mm tall, 3.11mm wide, and 9.45mm thick, it’s larger and chunkier than the 5.7-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3 mm).
At the front of the Redmi Note is the 5.5-inch HD IPS display with a pixel density of 267ppi. Right above it is the 5 megapixel front-facing camera, notifications light, and earpiece, while down below are three red illuminated capacitive buttons.
One the right-hand side are the volume rocker and power/lock button, right on top are the headphone jack and microphone, and down at the bottom is another microphone and the microUSB port. Flip it on its back and you’ll find the 13 megapixel rear camera, LED flash, the MI logo and the speaker.
Unlike its metallic flagship brother, the Mi 3, the Redmi Note features a plastic body with a glossy finish. It’s a bit hefty though at 199g but feels solid and well-made.
On the software side, the Redmi Note comes with Android 4.2.2 Jellybean right out of the box. We bought this unit in HongKong so the software is customized for the Chinese market. This means that you have the Mi Market as your default app store, Baidu as your default search engine, and comes with pre-installed apps like Weibo and QQ.
The good news is we were able to install Google Services Framework and the Google Play Store through a Google Installer found in the Mi Market so we got that part sorted out.
Xiaomi Redmi Note specs:
5.5-inch HD IPS display, 267ppi
1.7GHz MTK MT6592 octa-core CPU
2GB RAM
Mali-450 MP GPU
8GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD
13 megapixel rear camera w/ LED flash
5 megapixel front camera
Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
HSPA+, 3G
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0 LE
GPS, A-GPS
MIUI V5.0 (Android 4.2.2 Jellybean)
3,100mAh battery
154 x 78.7 x 9.5mm
199g
The Xiaomi Redmi Note currently retails in Singapore for S$199 or approximately Php7,000USD 119INR 10,112EUR 114CNY 869. We expect the price tag to be at that range when it launches here in the Philippines. Check back on us in a week or two for the full review.
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AA says:
Check nyo sa phonearena at gsmarena. Xiaomi caught sending user data to a chinese govt server. Tsk tsk. Kaya pala mura..
archie says:
Wala pang official reply ang Xiaomi sa issue na ito. Kailangang galingan ni Hugo Barra ang sagot or else, masisira ang goal nilang mapenetrate ang Western market.
Easy E says:
Yes they will sell it at about 7k here. Eto na yung kinakakakaba ng CM, SM, T, O+, etc..
lex says:
This phone sends personal data back to a chinese server w/o authorization imagine that kahit nga daw root ay hindi pa rin matigil……espionage !
patrick says:
no to chinese bullying and espionage. don’t patronize xiaomi phones if they violate our privacy.
anobei says:
So Mi 3 vs. this one. Everything looks pretty standard.
parkaerin says:
This! ???? only that it sends your data to their home.
parkaerin says:
This! ???? only that it sends your data to their home.
tubongzalzal says:
you honestly think xiaomi is actually spying? and who the f**k do you think you are for people to give a f**k about what you are doing.LOL.
evollove says:
The Chinese gov’t can have all the scat and vore porn, YouTube videos and top-secret alcoholic drink mix formulas (Hint: They all contain Jaegermeister AND/OR Absinthe) that I keep on my phone. I’ll take my Xiaomi, thankyouverymuch! Conspiracy theorists, keep convincing yourselves. At least we’ll have more in stock once they’re on sale.
Moony says:
Haha true that! It’s either conspiracy theories or just local companies sending out rumors because they feel so threatened how cheap yet competitive xiaomi’s phones are
AA says:
They probably already have your online banking account passwords as well. Tapos pag biglang may transaction na di ginawa, sisisihin yung bangko.
ral says:
it’s actually true. My friend in Singapore bought one, and he did found out that all data in his Xiaomi phone is being sent involuntarily to a China Cloud Server. I won’t say he is a stupid idiot just pretends to know something about technology. He is a Senior Programmer and knows how these things works. It may seem useless or funny for some, but China has a way to filter that massive amount of data and separate those which are useful and which are not. But if there is nothing to fear or care about for the user, then this feature should not be an issue.
Hmm says:
Antagal nito kaya napilitan ako mamili ng fonepad :/
Sa mga bibili wag na lang kayo coconect sa wifi, dapat 3g connection palage para di makapagspy ang tsina :)
Ngangot says:
Gunggong! Walang pinagkaiba ang wifi connection sa 3G! Mabagal lang ang 3G, pero same shit parin, so mase-send parin information mo sa mga Chinese servers! Shunga ampf!
Hmm says:
Tanga ka pala eh, di ka marunong magbasa kapag nakawifi connection lang daw nagsesend! Magbasa ka nga gunggung n to!
james says:
sayang, maganda na sana tong unit na ito.
mark says:
saka na ako maniniwala na nag sspy tlga sila kung may nag rereklamo na nawala yung mga bank accounts nila or etc.. technique lng ng mga competitors to dahil alam nilang isang malaking threat ang xiaomi sa kanila dahil sa strategic business na ginagawa nang xiaomi…
AA says:
Its a risk vs reward thing. If you think that the cheap price and great specs are worth the risk of giving away your personal data, then by all means buy it. Kanya kanyang trip yan.
mark says:
SUGO ata ng China si Hugo Barra eh, nagpapakalat ng wiretapped phones (dko lam tawag pag wireless hehe) para malaman nla lahat, di ntn alam unti-unti nang sinasakop ng China ang mundo,, actually naisip ko na to dati pa ..
none says:
parang may mga paid hack na ata na nagkakalat dito yung mga mobile producers na umaaray na dahil sa ginagawa ng xiaomi.
x says:
Binasa nyo ba yung article talaga? Messaging app lng yung na screet shot at nka ON cloud services nya. Malamang mag sesend ng sms data yun. Basahin nyo nga muna yung totoong source ng arcticle. For sure sa gsmarena nyo kunuha yun noh. Paki analyze ng maayos yung post. Clearly the blogger did not know what he was talking about.