Friends+Design
- Looks stunning, with an all-glass design - Xiaomi has gone the extra mile here and really knocked it out of the park in terms of an exquisite design
- Excellent, flagship-worthy, premium build quality
- Great hand feel
- The front and the back are fitted with Corning's Gorilla Glass 5 with an additional 0.8mm-thick layer for extra durability
- The LED notification light sits comfortably on the chin - it can only be seen when it lights up, it's really subtle
- Splash resistant body
- The capacitive fingerprint sensor is easy to reach with your index finger and it also has a different texture, so it's hard to miss - plus it's quick
- Apart from the quick fingerprint sensor, the phone also has decently quick AI face recognition (under good light)
- At 186g, it's a bit on the bulky side
Display
- Big, sharp 6.3inch LCD screen with a small, unobtrusive notch
- Good overall display quality, with especially good brightness levels
- You also get software tweaks to adjust the contrast and colour temperature, which is nice
Software
- Xiaomi's custom skin overlay, MIUI, has come a long way and the latest version takes a more simplistic and clean approach
- There is also an option to chose between the standard navigation buttons and navigation gestures
- There continue to be pesky ads in the MUIU interface these days, and these do somewhat diminish the experience of using an otherwise excellent smartphone (there are ways to disable these through settings, but not a lot of people who buy the phone are going to be technically aware enough to know how to do that)
Performance
- The excellent Snapdragon 660 SoC makes sure that the device runs smooth without thermal throttling or performance drops even with complex games
- Unlike the Redmi Note 7 Pro, the Redmi Note 7 also doesn't have any heating issues
Camera
- Decent set of dual rear cameras, especially in daylight - colours and details are good, and the camera app's AI system does a good job in detecting objects such as buildings, plants, flowers, etc, and boosting the image accordingly
- The depth sensor helps in capturing good portrait shots - edge detection is good for objects and people
- The front-facing 13-megapixel camera too captures good selfies under good lighting - the AI beatification isn't too aggressive thankfully
- You can also shoot selfies with a bokeh effect too, and the edge detection is not bad
- Low light performance of both the rear cameras and the front camera is average
- Video quality isn't too impressive either - when shooting outdoors in daylight, bright areas are often overexposed
- Overall, the camera performance is decent, but this is not the best camera package in this price range - if you are looking for that, look at the Realme 2 Pro, or Xiaomi A2 instead
Audio
- Despite having just a single bottom-firing loudspeaker, the handset impresses with a loud sound - and it sounds clean at high volumes as well
Connectivity
- Gets the modern USB Type-C port - a rarity in this price bracket
- Like other Redmi phones, the Note 7 also packs a handy IR blaster, which can be used for remote controlling home appliances via the Mi Remote app
Battery
- Very good battery life - the 4000 mAh battery paired with the fairly efficient Snapdragon 660 SoC means you will comfortably get over a day of use - it's not as amazing as the Note 7 Pro though, which does significantly better, thanks likely to an even more efficient processor
- While the smartphone supports Quick Charge 4.0, the included adapter maxes out at 5V/2A, and though it has a decent charging speed (about 57% in 1 hour), you will have to look for a QC 3 or QC 4-capable brick to enjoy true 'fast charging'
Verdict
- The Redmi Note 7 is another great device from the Xiaomi camp, and gives a great bang for the buck, especially in terms of performance
- If you are looking for the best camera in this price bracket though, then you'd be happier with the Realme 2 Pro or even Xiaomi's Mi A2
