It really took a while for me to gather my thoughts to complete one of my most exquisite smartphone reviews this year which you might not gonna see in other local tech reviews. Here is my review of the Xiaomi Redmi 2.
Interface
It was my first time that I experienced the MIUI 6 and I really had fun on using it on the Redmi 2. One of my most loved features is you can swipe halfway at the home button to appear the "control center" and notifcations of the device.
One thing that I don't like sometimes is when checking your apps in a folder which are appearing as instant as you wanted to be. The UI is really not that friendly for it's 1 GB RAM as even I'm always wiped off my unused apps, I only always get around 300+ B of free space to it's RAM which is such huge difference compared to some 1 GB RAM smartphones that I played before with stock ROM
Calls and Messaging
I got no issues on sending and receiving texts and calls either inside an establishment or outside. No signal drop or dropped calls at all during my 2 week encounter with this device.
Gaming
I played Riptide GP for this device and I got no issues while I played for around an hour. The heat at the back cover is a-ok for me but I got some doubts on pushing it for a few more hours mainly for it's RAM management which can be a little better.
Benchmarks
No surprise for me when I got it's verified Antutu score of 19,567 from it's Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor. The memory inside was from Hynix and it has an impressive 7 out of 9 available sensors including, accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyro, sound and magnetic sensors.
Camera
The fast shutter speed that I loved in Redmi 1S returns at this newest budget smartphone from Mi. Both rear and front camera really doing a great job. I only had less 8 MP rear camera samples on day as I really had fun that I shoot some pics at night. It even has a unique 6.1x digital zoom which you can use if your subject is still readable at your preview before you'll gonna press that shutter button.
6.1x digital zoom camera sample
Xiaomi Redmi 2 front camera sample
Battery:
I ran a number of MP4 HD videos on this device using MX Player with 1 sim on 3G, no Bluetooth, WiFi or mobile data, earphones on with 50% phone brightness, 11 on MX Player brightness and 12 on earphones and I got an impressive 9 hours of 26 minutes of run time from 100% to 2% battery. In my real-life with an average of 5 1/2 hours of screen time on photo editing, 3G mobile surfing, texting, calls - I can get an average of 23 to 26 hours on single charge. That's more than a day and this device is better in terms of power management over the Redmi 1S
Saving this segment for a reason. I had this Redmi 2 review unit with the MIUI before this version that you saw above (screenshot from the OTA update). Before I had this review unit, I already knew that the Redmi 2 here will not gonna support Smart LTE (as detailed from its box.) I'm happy that Redmi 2 has an "4G only" mode which is missing to my upcoming international smartphone review. I got no issues on Globe LTE when you're with a 4 yo 5 signal bars but in my hub with 1-2 Globe LTE signal bars comes a sad truth from this device based from my experience. It can connect on 4G but after less than 30 seconds, it will gonna throttle back to 3G which is pain for me if I gonna watch a livestream or download a big file. The network or my sim card have no problems as I'm also using the same LTE mobile number iwith my one-year old Cherry Mobile Ultra with an older Snapdragon 400 processor and it can connect even to a signal bar of LTE signal without dropping to 3G. I already did some fix on Redmi 2 either choosing manual or auto select for connection and I got the same disappointing results. When I returned my review unit to the PR behind Xiaomi PH, I already forwarded this issue which I'm still waiting for Xiaomi's response. My review unit can't even accept my downloaded OTA update via LTE which another minus points to the phone. I brought up this issue as this might happen to you.
Pros: Camera, MIUI 6, audio, simple design, battery life
Cons: No support on Smart LTE, can only use Globe LTE on very strong signal, quite poor RAM management
Verdict
My current target right now for a nice midrange LTE phone - camera, battery life and reliable LTE connecitivity. Others like design and overall user experience can be an easy adaptation for me with a good consideration to it's price tag. Xiaomi Redmi 2 scores big for me for the camera and battery life and some qualities but my disappointing LTE experience really took some minus points to my score card which I though can be my co-main daily driver/back-up LTE smartphone in the next few months or at least this year. I'll gonna give 3.75 out of 5 to Xiaomi Redmi 2
Xiaomi Redmi 2 can be availed via Lazada Philippines for Php 5,999
