We got sometime to quickly check the new Xiaomi Redmi 2 from Xiaomi that was launched in India for the price of Rs. 6999. This smartphone has a lot to talk about, and for the price it is going to be sold, the Redmi 2 can be called simply one of the best smartphones in budget range. The phone has a 4.7-inch HD display, and this time too it has the Dragontrail glass which is capable of resisting scratches.
Talking about the design first, it is similar to what the Redmi 1s last year was, so there is no reason to hate it. To add to it, Xiaomi has this time added some finely textured matte finish, and there is a fingerprint and grease resistant back cover provided. The Redmi 2 is very comfortable to hold and it is not heavy too for the screen size. The display is neat and colourful with good sharp resolution, not hurting the eye.
On the right panel, there is a power button and just above that, the volume rocker keys. Below the display on the front, there are three touch sensitive navigation buttons and on the back, we see the camera with LED flash on the left, while speaker grill is on the right of the camera. The back cover is removable and under that, we see the removable battery and the two SIM cards as well as MicroSD card.
Now, Xiaomi has announced a new phone, Redmi 2A in China. You can check the comparison of Redmi 2 and Redmi 2A.
The big difference this time is the inclusion of Android 4.4 KitKat with MIUI version 6, which is much different from the MIUI v5 on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean in Redmi 1s, and the processor is upgraded as well. It is a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor clocking at 1.2 GHz, and we are looking at a 1GB RAM version, which comes with 8GB internal storage and there is MicroSD card slot and USB OTG support as well. The speed seems better in this phone compared to its predecessor and that could be because of the newer version of MIUI as well. We also checked the Theme store in MIUI and this has got just bigger with more themes available now, and we are being told it is about 5000 themes available.
There are some beautiful options given in this new UI, and some are useful such as the data restriction based on the application, and recording calls and such. We also see an option to bulk move and delete apps from the home screen, and there is no app drawer as always in the MIUI.
The best part about the connectivity is that the Redmi 2 has Dual SIM connectivity, both supporting 4G, 3G and 2G network connectivity. Apart from that, we could also change the name for each SIM, making it easy to remember. Based on the history, the Redmi 2 calls or messages using a particular SIM, and Xiaomi calls it the smart calling feature.
The camera seemed not much different than the Redmi 1s camera as it is the same 8MP camera but there is BSI sensor, F/2.2 aperture and that is along with Beautify features and although the results were not convincing, we are told it is good in low light capturing. On the front, there is a good camera provided with a 2MP BSI sensor, but the results were not good.
The battery in the Redmi 2 is a 2200 mAh one, and the battery has QuickCharge 1.0 technology support for a faster charging of the phone, much faster compared to the Redmi 1s battery which had a capacity of 2000 mAh. We cannot comment much on the battery already, but are sure that the new MIUI version has more battery optimisation and the Redmi 2 will run for more time on single charge.
Xiaomi Redmi 2 Pros
- Dragontrail glass, Fully laminated screen for the HD display
- Both the SIM cards can have 4G LTE connectivity
- The labels of SIM card can be changed, and Smart calling feature
- USB OTG support
Xiaomi Redmi 2 Cons
- Not a good front facing camera
- Low light captures not good on initial use
- MIUI doesn’t have app drawer, and has bloatware
Quick Review of Redmi 2: Summary
The Redmi 2 although has some cons as mentioned above, we would still say that this will be one of the best smartphones for this price of Rs. 6999, because the lone recent competitor Moto E 2015 is low on specs compared to this, and even the Lenovo A6000 isn’t the best in comparison, especially for the SIM management features provided in the Redmi 2.
Best mobile phone in this price