Xiaomi recently launched three Redmi 6 series smartphones in India including Redmi 6, Redmi 6A and Redmi 6 Pro. Out of which, the Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro is the only one that sports a notched display. This is also one of the most budget-friendly smartphones to sport a notched display like the Realme C1. Apart from the notch, other key features of the device include a dual camera setup and a 4,000mAh battery. Do these highlights make this phone a compelling option? Let's find out:
Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro Review: Specifications
Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro features a 5.84-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1080x2280 pixels and an aspect ratio of 19:9. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor coupled with Adreno 506 GPU. The device packs 4GB of RAM and 64GB onboard storage. All of this is backed by a 4,000mAh non-removable battery.
Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro Review: Design
Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro comes packed in an aluminium chassis, which makes it feel premium in hand. However, the metal back is quite slippery. The accompanied clear case inside the retail box can help in increasing the grip.
The right edge is equipped with a volume rocker and the power button. Left edge houses the SIM card tray. On the bottom edge, you will find the microUSB port, speaker grill and the primary microphone while the top edge houses a 3.5mm headphone jack, secondary microphone and an infrared sensor. As much as I appreciate the IR blaster, I was quite disappointed to see a microUSB port instead of a USB Type-C port on a phone which was launched in 2018. However, considering the price this might not be a big problem for many.
Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro Review: Display
The Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro features a 5.84-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1080x2280 pixels, a 19:9 aspect ratio and a pixel density of 432ppi. The notch on the top houses the front-facing camera, the earpiece and a couple of sensors. The display has a good viewing angles and it is easily visible outdoors. Even in low lighting situations, brightness can be pushed all the way down easily getting into the comfort zone for the eyes.
Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro Review: Software & UI
Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro runs Android 8.1 Oreo based MIUI 9.6 operating system. The company’s custom UI has gotten much better over years and is quite fast and reliable now. The UI is snappy and we did not experience any lags or stutters during our time with the device. However, the custom UI does have a bit of a learning curve to it, meaning that you might struggle a bit due to the lack of an app drawer and a messed-up settings menu.
Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro Review: Performance
Xiaomi has launched a lot of phones under the Rs. 15,000 price bracket with the same processor. The Redmi 6 Pro is powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset found on the Redmi Note 4 from last year. However, the processor still manages to perform most of the tasks thrown at it quite easily.
Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro Review: Camera
Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro comes with a dual-camera setup at the back consisting of a 12-megapixel primary and a 5-megapixel secondary sensor. The cameras perform quite well in outdoor conditions. The level of detail is quite good and even the dynamic range comes out to be well enough. However, low-lighting scenario is where Redmi 6 Pro really tends to struggle.
As for the selfie camera, Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro sports a 5-megapixel selfie shooter with a f/2.0 aperture. It does not do quite well at capturing the details but does some software based sharpening instead. There is also an option for portrait mode which totally relies on the software as there is no depth sensor involved here.
Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro Review: Battery
Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro is backed by a 4,000mAh battery, which the company claims will provide around two days of battery life on a single charge. Thanks to its humongous battery and optimisations made by Xiaomi, it is able to keep up to the promise. We were easil able to get around 1.5 to 2 days of battery life with light to moderate usage. However, with heavy use, we were usually left with around 30 percent battery at the end of the day.
When it comes to filling the juice back in, Redmi 6 Pro certainly takes more than 2 hours due to the lack of fast charging as well as the 4,000mAh battery.
Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro Review: Verdict
Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro has quite a lot to offer for the price. It also has its own set of pros and cons but the pros heavily overshadow its cons. Lack of USB Type-C and fast charging was quite disappointing, considering we are now in 2018. Considering most phones in this price bracket still come with microUSB, we cannot really complaint. Also, while MIUI has improved over years, we would have loved to see the Android One variant, Mi A2 Lite, make its way to India.
At a starting price of Rs. 10,999, the Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro offers a lot, which makes it look like the most compelling option at this price point. However, the current competition by the likes of Asus, Nokia and RealMe will make you think twice before you lock down on your choice.
