Redmi Note 7 Pro Review: Is It Worth The Money?

The Redmi Note 7 Pro is performing quite well in the smartphone market. Similar to OnePlus’s market strategy, Redmi is also trying to become the king of the pertinent budget segment. On the hook, the Redmi Note 7 Pro baits fascinating features such as the 48MP Camera, a shiny gradient glass back, dot notch display, and more.

On the contrary, the Samsung Galaxy M30, from Samsung’s budget M series, is catching up real fast. This brings me to the important question — Is the Redmi Note 7 Pro worth buying?

Before we get down to it, the Redmi Note 7 Pro comes with heavy specs under a budget price. Our Redmi is a 4GB variant which starts at INR 14,000, but there is also a 6GB option which is priced at INR 17,000.

Performance

In terms of sheer performance, the Redmi Note 7 Pro is a blockbuster. The device packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 Octa-core that allows games to run buttery smooth. In order to test the performance, I tried PUBG mobile on the device and the results were extraordinary. The Redmi phone smoothly runs the game, in spite of maxed out graphics.

However, the real pain in the neck was the glitches that I faced in general. Beyond the annoyance, I was, in fact, stunned because Redmi phones are usually fast. It seems like the 4 GB RAM, in the Redmi Note 7 Pro, isn’t inadequate to handle the Snapdragon 675.

Adding more to this, the Redmi phone also slows down at multitasking, particularly when a heavy game is running on one end. With that being said, it still has one of the latest Snapdragon processors. To put in a nutshell, if a person wants a seamless gaming experience in this budget, there is simply no better option than the Redmi Note 7 Pro.

My best guess is that if I remove the bloatware or the blood-sucking MIUI altogether, the lags might be gone for good. For now, it’s safe to say that the Redmi phone lacks the expected speed.

Design

Wait! Before you jump to conclusion, note that the Redmi Note 7 Pro is a budget phone. Besides, it has the contemporary glass back which is quite the aesthetic pleaser.

The Xaomi device has a shiny gradient glass back that is not just beautiful but also easily recognizable. Redmi calls it the new “Aura design” and comes in three variants — Neptune Blue, Space Black, and a Nebula Red. I hate to say this but the Nebula Red looks more elegant, if only it wasn’t out of stock at the time of purchasing.

Anyways, there are these small little things in the Note 7 Pro design which could have been more refined; For instance, it feels a little heavy, because of the all glass build. Aside from that, the infuriating camera bump on the device.

With that being said, it’s still a reformed design, and I just can’t get my eyes off it. While there are the usual smudges on the glass back, for me, a definite thumbs up for the design. 

Display

Yet, nothing has really put me off except the ridiculously large chin. For a point of reference, here is the difference between the chins on the OnePlus 6T and Redmi Note 7 Pro. Of course, it’s nothing major so you can keep your chin up!  

Talking about the black bars, let us not certainly miss the Redmi Note 7 Pro’s dot-shaped notch. As you will notice, Redmi has a little different notch than we have been seeing on the OnePlus or the Galaxy M series. The Redmi phone has a more circular shaped notch, OnePlus, on the other hand, has smooth curves on the notch edges. 

Moving forward, the Redmi Note 7 Pro has a 6.3-inch Full HD+ LCD display with a resolution of 2340×1080. Redmi calls it a “flagship display.” However, Samsung Galaxy M30 has an AMOLED display and the device is priced at INR 15,000. I have reviewed two Samsung Galaxy devices back to back — Samsung Galaxy S10+ and the Samsung Galaxy M20. On that merit, I can vouch that Samsung has the best displays on their devices, not to mention they are the biggest display manufacturers.

As for the Redmi Note 7 Pro display, it inclines towards the good ones in the price segment. It is solid in the sunlight, the color tones are fairly differentiated and it is also sharp. You also have the option of increasing the contrast or applying a warmer tone in the Redmi phone’s display settings. But bear in mind — the display goes toe-to-toe with the Samsung Galaxy M20 that is priced at INR 11,000.

Camera

Now, let’s talk about the USP of the device — Redmi Note 7 Pro 48 MP Camera. The Redmi phone houses a 48 MP Sony IMX586 sensor on the back, along with a 5 MP depth sensor. In order to test the reality of 48 MP, I went on a little field trip and here is what I discovered.

The 48 MP captured images are slightly more detailed than the images captured from the default 12 MP. It is not something that you will notice right away. However, the distinction will get clearer upon a closer look. Apart from that, the colors looked pretty natural.

I was impressed with the AI scene recognition, particularly because it easily understands the scene and fills in the color tones.

Also, the AI interestingly does wonders in the portrait mode as well; for instance, the edge-detection was quite refined in nearly all the live-focus images.

Other than that, there is a separate night mode on the Redmi camera app. One of the advantages of Redmi’s camera mechanism is churning good low-light images which you can discern in this image.

One major issue with the Redmi Note 7 Camera is the 48 MP is not set to default. It’s like 48 MP is a separate mode altogether. Hence, it gets extremely frustrating switching it again and again. Also, you’ll notice sluggish performance when switching from one camera mode to another.

Also Read: Don’t Be Fooled By Redmi Note 7 Pro’s 48MP Camera

On the front, there is a 13 MP single camera which clicks fair and sharp images. Though, they felt a little saturated. Again, the live focus did wonders like the back camera as well.

Overall, the camera is good. However, the 48MP which people are hyped about does not add a substantial amount of change. On top of that, Xiaomi didn’t keep it default so maybe it’s a gimmick after all.

Here is a blind test for you — Tell me which one of the below pictures is captured in 48 MP.

System UI

Now you know Samsung’s story, right? They had this miserable software which never got updates. Then came the  Samsung experience and the OneUI for premium devices and changed everything. Looking at the Xiaomi MIUI, it seems like Redmi is becoming the old Samsung. 

Using MIUI is like the worst nightmare of a stock Android user. It’s blatantly un-intuitive, lags all the time, and comes loaded with lots and lots of bloatware. Also, you get ads inside the pre-installed apps, which is quite upsetting.

The only good thing about MIUI on the Redmi Note 7 Pro is that it is updated to Android Pie. So there is the adaptive battery, gesture navigation and some other features of the Android Pie. 

Battery

One of the best features of the Redmi Note 7 Pro is the massive 4000 mAh battery. I, generally, am a heavy smartphone usage; I like to play hard-core games, play music most of the time, and Facebook scrolling has become my life.

In spite of all this, the Redmi Note 7 Pro does not disappoint — even a bit. It gives around 6 hours of screen time in my normal usage, which is quite good. Also, the device supports fast charging, so, you can expect a 100 percent charge in around 90 minutes.

Conclusion

All in all, the Redmi Note 7 Pro is a brilliant device. I might have gone over the top a few places but there is no denying that the device is priced at INR 14,000. To put it in other words, you are getting a 48 MP camera, a huge battery, shiny eye-catching design and a Snapdragon for gaming — all of this under 15K.

So, should you still buy it? That would be a yes because the Redmi Note 7 Pro looks like an all-rounder. There are things which keep it back such as the MIUI and the system lags but overall, it’s packed with more-or-less everything that you would want in a budget smartphone.

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy M20 Review: Can It Be The New Budget King?