What is sleek smart and a steal at that price? hint – its this Redmi Note 2 phone

Xiaomi handed The Techie Guy their Redmi Note 2 to give it the once over. But is it yet another phablet in a long line of phablets ? Clare Matthes  gives it a once-over to see if the new comer to South Africa can really deliver on its “affordable but good quality” promise.

Look and Feel

At just over 8mm thick and weighing 160g, the Redmi Note 2 is a conservative, neat and clean looking device with a two-part construction. A plastic shell clips onto the main body of the device and covers the removable 3060mAh battery, dual Micro SIM card slots and microSD slot.

The front of the phone is completely black, with three red buttons that would be used to control the Android functions, while the back panel clips on and off and comes in a range of colours. The buttons on either side of the phone control power and volume.

With a 5.5-inch IPS LCD and full HD resolution of 1920×1080 pixels, the detail, colour and contrast on the Redmi Note 2 are brilliant. Powered by Helio X10 MediaTek 64-bit Octa-core processor, the Redmi Note 2 also comes with 2GB of RAM. Available in 16GB, an added microSD card slot allows you to expand the phone’s storage. In terms of software, the Redmi Note 2 sports Android 5.0.2.

Battery

Battery life was pretty impressive, especially when making use of the Redmi Note 2’s “balance mode”. This decreased the drain on the battery by using less of the internal hardware and slowed things down a little but not too much. On the other hand, the device’s “performance mode” puts the phablet into overdrive and uses up battery power rapidly. The “balance mode” works perfectly fine though and one charge should last a day.

Camera

Unfairly, I expected the camera to be the run of the mill – but that old saying is true: “don’t judge a book by its cover”. I was stunned. The 13-megapixel camera in the Redmi Note 2, I later discovered, is made by Samsung. It’s got phase detection autofocus for quick snaps and comes with filter options, HDR, panorama mode, face detection and impressively, a manual mode, where you’re really able to play around with the kind of photos you want to take.

What about the price ?

So, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, I have avoided mentioning the price. I thought I’d leave that for last. Phones and phablets comparable to this one are expected to cost a pretty penny and can go for double or even triple the price of a Redmi Note 2. For those in the market for a phone/phablet and on a tight budget, the Redmi Note 2 just might be the one to go for at only R2900.

In short, I was quite struck by the standard of the Redmi Note 2. Sleek design, beautiful display, powerful camera, great performer, all in an Android operated phone. Honestly, had some difficulty giving it up.

About Clare Matthes:

Clare’s father swears she was born waving spirit fingers and singing tah dah in an oh-so-dahling-showbiz-esque manner. Nicknamed “Schnauze” because of her smart mouth and quick whit, Clare enjoys putting the world in words. This sarcastic eye roller extraordinaire has a passion for all things gadget, technology and social media. She sees the humour in everything and never shies away from a good old égoportrait (selfie).