Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro

Redmi Note 6 Pro is another excellent instalment from Xiaomi’s budget flagship Note series Starting from Rs. 13,999, this phone is breaking boundaries with its quad camera set-up and 19:9 full-screen Display, with a notch.

Without boosting up its already fantastic processor and battery, Note 6 Pro goes for an improved camera that captures detailed images with snappier focus and improved HDR mode. Partnered with a brighter edge-to-edge display and elegant style, the flagship product fits comfortably in your hand and delivers brilliant display quality for a great cinematic experience.

Xiaomi chose to stick to its signature design and does not make any significant changes in Redmi Note 6 Pro. It looks similar to Redmi Note 5. It comes with a notch which is a bit large but houses some fantastic equipment, especially the dual selfie-camera. The phone gets an elegant look with the plastic covering which keeps it smooth and grippy. Fitted on the back panel, there are a fingerprint reader and a dual AI camera. Redmi Note 6 Pro has retained the headphone jack, microSD slot and IR blaster – mainstream gems desired by the phone’s target audience.

Note 6 Pro comes with a 6.26″ IPS LCD unit of 1,080 x 2,280 pixels that provide a brilliant screen-to-body ratio, with thinner bezels and a shrunk bottom chin. The pixel count is bigger at 403ppi. Colour reproduction is accurate, and the phone provides bright colours, capping the brightness at a whopping 480 nits. However, sunlight legibility is not up to the mark with a sunlight contrast ratio at 2.966 which is badly defeated by Oppo R15 Pro at 4.251 and Redmi’s own Note 5 AI Dual Camera at 3.393. Covered with a flat piece of Gorilla Glass, Note 6 Pro is protected against scratches or cracks. A real setback is the lack of AMOLED display, but at this range, it is an unfair demand.

Like the Redmi Note 5 Pro, Note 6 Pro is powered by Qualcomm octa-core Snapdragon 636 chipset partnered with variants of 3GB, 4GB, or 6GB RAM, and paired with Adreno 509 to tackle graphics. Performance-wise, it is snappy and can run multiple apps without a hitch. Note 6 Pro keeps a neck-to-neck performance battle with its flagship rivals. Benchmark scores placed multi-core performance above Note 5 (4,918), P20 Lite (3,756), and Realme 2 (3,881), with a whopping 4,933, and single-core tests placed it above P20 Lite’s 938 and Realme 2’s mere 790 at a competitive 1,342. Adreno 509 GPU is capable of handling FullHD+ resolutions and doesn’t have any problem running the 1080 x 2280 panel. Graphics tests put it at 10 points, higher than Nokia 5.1 Plus’ 9.6 and Realme 2’s 6.1.

The Redmi Note 6 Pro houses a familiar primary 12MP and secondary 5MP camera for depth sensing. It comes with the same f/1.9 lens and same dual-LED flash. Phase Detection AutoFocus is snappy and accurate in detecting subjects. One of the significant improvements is the AI toggle on the main interface – it recognises scenes quite accurately and doesn’t go overboard with the beautification process. Daylight images capture good details with little noise and good contrast. However, the photos may appear soft, has limited dynamic range, and edge-to-edge sharpness is not that great.

Low-light photos are reasonable and the large sensor and apertures help in image stabilisation. However, there is some loss of detail and captured noise. Portraits are moderate with improved edge detection, but the aggressive blur effect makes images look artificial.

In front, the phone boasts an impressive 20MP main snapper with f/2.0 aperture and a 2MP camera for depth sensing. While 20MP is huge, it does not capture great detail though the colours and contrast are satisfying. The 2MP depth sensor is suitable for clicking portrait images but is not better than the main camera.

Packed with a similar 4,000 mAh battery, it comes with the increased screen size which does require extra juice than the Note 5 AI Dual Camera. It lasts for 10 hours 33 minutes on continuous web surfing lasting and 11 hours and 42 minutes for continuous video playback. It replenishes the battery up to 28% within 30 minutes – one of the fastest in this range.

Redmi Note 6 Pro does not come with groundbreaking upgrades over its predecessor, but it has some reasonable changes that provide snappier performance and a much improved display. It has a great, desirable camera but the notch might be controversial and depend on personal tastes. If you are in for a killer performance at a budget range, this is the phone you need. However, Realme 2 Pro has better performance and a special notch-bearing design, which is a close alternative to consider at a similar range.