Generally, Xiaomi uses the name ‘Pro’ to indicate powerful hardware. There is no doubt that Redmi 6 Pro comes with the most powerful processor compared to the other two handsets of the Redmi 6 series. But this device has got its distinct identity because of the display notch. This is also the first Redmi phone to come with this feature. Many important specifications of the new model are similar to Xiaomi’s existing ones. redmi y2 ,review) And Redmi Note 5 ,review) match the smartphone. In such a situation, we also have a question in our mind that apart from the notch, what other features does Redmi 6 Pro come with? We will find the answer to this question through the review.
Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro Design
Being the flagship phone of the Redmi 6 series, an attempt has been made to make the Redmi 6 Pro look a little premium, such as the metal backplate on the rear. However, the overall design is not much different from other Xiaomi devices in this price range. The phone is quite thick. It also feels big in hands. But it is managed. The buttons give good response. On the left side you will find a tray, which has separate slots for two SIM cards and a microSD card. One thing to note is that Redmi 6 Pro does not have dual 4G VoLTE support, which means only one SIM can connect to the 4G network at a time.
The placement of the port is correct. The mono speaker grill is at the bottom right. In such a situation, the chances of the phone getting blocked while using it in landscape mode are very less. The headphone socket is on the top. There is also an infrared emitter with the help of which the phone can also work as a remote control.
We received the black variant for review which comes with a matte finish. Fingerprints do not fall easily on it. You will be able to buy Redmi 6 Pro in Blue, Red or Gold colors. The fingerprint sensor is easy to access and works well. There is a vertical dual camera setup on the back. It protrudes slightly from the surface, but is not uncomfortable.
The most important feature of Redmi 6 Pro is its 5.84 inch full-HD+ display. Contrast and brightness levels are adequate. Xiaomi told us that the display also has a layer of toughened glass. Which company is this from? Didn’t tell this. The display area has increased due to the notch. But the bezels on the edges are still quite wide. The chin is quite wide at the bottom. According to us, the notch design of this phone is not very attractive. At the same time, for some reason Xiaomi has placed the notification LED in a strange place. It is in the bottom left corner of the chin, while there is a lot of space in the notch.
The retail box will include a cover of Redmi 6 Pro handset, SIM ejector tool, USB cable and 10 watt power adapter.
Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro specifications and software
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 625 processor has been used in the phone, which is two years old, but is still fully capable for common tasks. Gaming performance is not great. PUBG game runs at the lowest graphics settings by default. Despite this the gameplay is not very smooth. Our review unit was running a pre-release version of the MIUI software. For this reason we could not do most of the benchmark tests. Xiaomi did inform us that the software will remain more or less the same.
Two variants of Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro have been made available. One has 3GB RAM with 32GB storage. The second one has 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage, which we have reviewed. The phone has support for Bluetooth 4.2, dual-band 802.11 Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, GPS, USB-OTG, and GLONASS. Gyroscope, ambient light sensor, compass and accelerometer are part of the smartphone. It also has FM radio, but no NFC support.
Our review unit was running MIUI 9.6 based on Android 8.1 Oreo. Also the phone had the security patch of July. According to Xiaomi, all the phones of Redmi 6 series will get MIUI 10 update in future.
Many gestures and customizable functions in MIUI are also provided in Redmi 6 Pro, which we have already come across. Xiaomi has also provided the facility to hide the notch. The system may not always scale properly to reduced aspect ratios. We found that due to masking, some menu buttons and some content in many apps were also being cut off. Face unlock is also provided which works fine in most situations, except in pitch darkness.
Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro performance, camera and battery life
Redmi 6 Pro is very smooth in general use. The interface doesn’t look awkward. Face recognition would have been faster. The phone does not heat up. Casual games play well. But games with more powerful graphics have to be played in medium or low settings. We found that load times for games were longer than expected, despite having 4GB of RAM. Multi-tasking between apps isn’t always extremely smooth. The touch response of the display is good. The colors are vivid and punchy. Because of this, the experience of watching videos on Redmi 6 Pro is great.
Audio performance is also good when using headphones. But the speaker does not produce very loud sound. The stock music player comes with Hungama Music integration. At the same time, apart from local files, the default video player also shows trending music videos of YouTube as suggestions.
In the dual rear camera setup given in vertical position, one camera is of 12 megapixels. It is equipped with F/2.2 aperture and phase detection autofocus. Autofocus works very quickly in adequate lighting. There’s also auto HDR which does a good job of balancing exposure. There was no lack of detail in landscape shots in daylight and the colors were also attractive. The primary sensor lags a bit in taking macro shots. In close up shots the white balance is sometimes correct, sometimes not. We were often forced to tap to focus to get the white balance correct. HDR photos also took some time to save. Because of this, it was not easy to take blur free shots at night.
Tap to see camera samples of Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro
Autofocus speed drops significantly in low light. It takes more time to save regular images. It would be suggested to keep HDR off, otherwise it will take more time to save the photos. Detail is lost due to the noise reduction process. Colors also look dull.
The camera app is simple and easy to use. Portrait mode is also available which is possible due to the secondary 5 megapixels. However, edge detection is very average. You can’t set the level of background blur before or after taking the shot. The 5-megapixel selfie camera takes decent selfies in adequate lighting. But due to no screen flash, pictures appear grainy in low light.
Video performance is also fine. Stabilization works well. You will be able to record videos of maximum 1080 pixels.
Battery life is one of the important features of Redmi 6 Pro. The 4000 mAh battery easily lasted for a day. Some battery remains for the next day also. Battery consumption is not very high while playing games with powerful graphics. In our video loop test, the battery died after 16 hours and 45 minutes, which would be considered very good. There is no support for fast charging in the phone. But the 10 watt charger provided with it gives 55 percent battery life in one hour. It took about 2 hours 35 minutes for the battery to be charged from zero to full.
our decision
If we look at the current phones of Xiaomi’s Redmi series, Redmi 6 Pro does not present a very strong claim. There are no major shortcomings, but it doesn’t offer anything terribly new or different compared to the Redmi Note 5. And the variant of Note 5 with the same RAM and storage is also cheaper by Rs 1,000. You also have the Redmi Y2 at the price of the Redmi 6 Pro which has a better front camera. But you have to compromise in display resolution and battery capacity. If seen, Xiaomi has created a situation of confusion regarding its own portfolio.
However, notches are in demand these days. We think many people will want to buy Redmi 6 Pro just for this feature. If you are not too interested in the notch then we recommend you to buy Redmi 6 Pro instead. Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 Or would you suggest buying Redmi Note 5?