Xiaomi Redmi Pro Review

[Scorpus]

One of the most interesting companies in the smartphone market is Xiaomi. While the Chinese smartphone manufacturer largely sticks to selling devices in its homeland, people around the globe import significant quantities of Xiaomi products due to their low, competitive prices.

The Xiaomi Redmi Pro is one such product that immediately caught the eye of many budget smartphone hunters. It packs a 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED, a dual-camera system for refocusing and creating bokeh effects, a massive 4,050 mAh battery, and a decent MediaTek Helio X20 SoC with 32 GB of storage. All of this can be had for just under $250.

While the hardware can seem great on paper, I’ve seen my fair share of Chinese devices that fail to live up to their specs, or include software packages that aren’t localized or butcher Android itself. The Redmi Pro falls in the latter category, so prepare yourself: if you want a decent experience outside of China, you might need to tweak a few things.

Read the complete review.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

65? Seems like a big chunk of score was cut off for a Chinese phone being setup for China locale.

 

[Puiu]

65? Seems like a big chunk of score was cut off for a Chinese phone being setup for China locale.

even the software isn't as bad this review makes look. it's fast and it has no problems with loading any app. you can also remove the bloatware with custom ROMs.

 

[DelJo63]

The Amoled Wiki says
Disadvantages
Red and green OLED films have longer lifespans compared to blue OLED films. This variation results in colour shifts as a particular pixel fades faster than the other pixels.[8]

AMOLED displays are very prone to screen burn-in, which leaves a permanent imprint of overused colours represented by overused images.[8]

 

[Puiu]

The Amoled Wiki says
Disadvantages
Red and green OLED films have longer lifespans compared to blue OLED films. This variation results in colour shifts as a particular pixel fades faster than the other pixels.[8]

AMOLED displays are very prone to screen burn-in, which leaves a permanent imprint of overused colours represented by overused images.[8]

you don't have to worry about something like this on a phone.

 

[treetops]

Strange that it "main competitor" isn't in any of the bench marks. Motorola’s Moto G4 Plus. For the price what phone has better hardware?

 

[DelJo63]

you don't have to worry about something like this on a phone.

Interesting - - how did you determine that?

 

[Puiu]

Interesting - - how did you determine that?

in general the bottom 3 android navigation buttons sometimes have this problem if they are displayed on the screen as they appear the most (it's how nexus 6 has them). this isn't an issue here since you don't have them placed on the screen.

the rest of the screen changes the colors and brightness often enough to avoid burning. if you really are afraid of having problems you can go in the settings and invert the colors and leave it like that for an hour and then revert back about once a week. (this can also fix minor ghosting that might have already appeared, but I doubt that you would get ghosting unless you try really really hard to break your screen)

 

[DelJo63]

in general the bottom 3 android navigation buttons sometimes have this problem if they are displayed on the screen as they appear the most (it's how nexus 6 has them). this isn't an issue here since you don't have them placed on the screen....

So you really mean there's a circumvention to the problem.

Thanks for the reply, but I'll stick with the wiki. I don't need a $1.95 device with a $0.25 solution and a lifetime measured in the manufactures warrantee period. The last phone I had I kept for 6 years and was very happy with it.

 

[Johnnyblaze1957]

I have the Redmi note pro 3 from this company and love it it is the first Android phone I have really enjoyed and had it delivered to my door for $248. Before I had this phone I was using win-phones which I still like but the battery packed it in and living in the country was easier to get a new phone. I too feel that the score for this phone is about 20 points to low these are great all round units and I highly recommend them.

 

[Bigtruckseries]

If not for the embarrassing, devastating failure of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, phones like the Google Pixel and this Xiao Mi wouldn't even have been noticed - at all.

iPhone 7 Plus, Xiao Mi and Google should send a thank you to Samsung...

 

[Johnnyblaze1957]

If not for the embarrassing, devastating failure of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, phones like the Google Pixel and this Xiao Mi wouldn't even have been noticed - at all.

iPhone 7 Plus, Xiao Mi and Google should send a thank you to Samsung...

Ah no I had a win phone and got this phone in August when the battery died Samsung were not on the radar like many brands way too dear so no I think this is noticed by many people but as it isn't sold here in Australia. If they sold in other countries they would sell very well.

 

[Bigtruckseries]

Ah no I had a win phone and got this phone in August when the battery died Samsung were not on the radar like many brands way too dear so no I think this is noticed by many people but as it isn't sold here in Australia. If they sold in other countries they would sell very well.

People in Europe, Australia and Asia will buy anything.

Americans don't want Hua Wei or other Chinese named phones.

They want the highest advertised product: iPhone or Samsung...and they know based on build quality, price and ownership cost that iPhone is #1.

 

[Mike89]

A US user Xioami story. I own an Xioami Redmi Note 2. It's turned out to be a decent phone for me but it was quite the adventure to get it there. To start, if you live in the US like I do, and you are planning on getting a Xioami phone, be prepared to crack your knuckles and do a lot of work.. Getting this phone for US use is not for the faint of heart user. I had to completely switch mine over to a rooted aosp rom and recovery to get it acceptable for me to use. I completely got rid of anything miu/chinese in this phone (and that was no easy feat). Also if you live in the US, no Xioami phones have any 4G compatible bands that will work. One 3G band that will work is all you get (besides 2G). For a US user, don't think you are just going to turn this thing on and use is straightaway and be happy as a clam. Ain't happening. It's clear that Xioami has no interest in the US segment of the marketplace. Guess they just don't need (or want) it. I'm not even going to talk about all the obtrusive software/malware that this phone came loaded with (that had me pulling my hair out) from Gearbest. Holy moly, I would have to spend all day on that alone. As I said, it's been working fine for me, it's my only cellphone, and I'm generally happy with it NOW, (after all the work I put into it). The lack of 4G is not a deal breaker for me personally as I just use wifi for my needs. It will be a deal breaker for some though. Just commenting for US users to be prepared if a Xiaomi phone is in your future.

 

[Jon Tseng]

65? Seems like a big chunk of score was cut off for a Chinese phone being setup for China locale.

even the software isn't as bad this review makes look. it's fast and it has no problems with loading any app. you can also remove the bloatware with custom ROMs.

Not sure if bootloader is unlocked. On my Redmi3 I had a to wait a couple of months after release before they allowed it...

 

[Alecg]

Thank god, this biased review almost changed my mind. But I've finally bought this great device, 200 Euros well spent, my best purchase for 2016. The reviewer masterfully uses irrelevant numbers from tests which other devices are producing fake results. (Ask Samsung, they know the benchmark faking game well).
The Redmi Pro has great everyday usage performance and the build quality is exceptional for the price range.
And about the Chinese bloat, any person which knows enough about computers to type in an email, can follow the easily found instructions to update the firmware and get an international ROM, without any chinese apps. And should one join one of the numerous and localised global Xiaomi communities, there are excellent custom Roms to be used as well. Enough with the shallow reviews without any basic research done.
All of the above can be found easily should one spends 5 minutes using Google search, no extreme geekness required, not at all.
My best regards to the reviewer.

 

[Taiji2078]

One year after I bought a Redmi Pro the battery is dead. It lasts 2 hours top in standby ... and guess what, I cannot remove it unless I open everything to replace the battery and likely break the amoled ... Also, a new battery costs like 30 euro. Conclusion ? Do not buy this model ... Not sure about other Xiaomi products but their flag ship is a failure.

 

[Puiu]

One year after I bought a Redmi Pro the battery is dead. It lasts 2 hours top in standby ... and guess what, I cannot remove it unless I open everything to replace the battery and likely break the amoled ... Also, a new battery costs like 30 euro. Conclusion ? Do not buy this model ... Not sure about other Xiaomi products but their flag ship is a failure.

just because you had a problem doesn't make it common. with all of the xiaomi phones I've imported none had problems even after years of torture. the original redmi still works great after 4 years. (and I don't remember the Redmi Pro being a flagship phone. are you thinking of the Mi5/6?)