Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Unboxing: The Ultimate Budget Phone For 2019?

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Unboxing: The Ultimate Budget Phone For 2019?


We unbox the Redmi Note 7!

Xiaomi Philippines is finally bringing over the hotly anticipated Redmi Note 7 to our country a few months after the phone was launched in China.

The launch of the Redmi Note 7 is notable for a few things, namely, it’s the first phone launched under Xiaomi’s new Redmi sub-brand.

As the ambassador of things to come for the Redmi brand, Xiaomi equipped the Note 7 with a high-resolution 48-megapixel camera, as well as a Snapdragon 660 octa-core processor.

Before we dive into the unboxing further, know that the Redmi Note 7 that we’re using for this article was sourced from China, and is not equipped Xiaomi’s Global ROM. There might be a few differences in hardware/packaging contents for the local version of the device, so keep that in mind while reading this unboxing.

Packaging and contents:

Since Redmi is now a sub-brand, it gets new branding and packaging for its phones compared to Xiaomi’s other offerings. The Redmi Note 7 comes in a very sleek white and red box, with the phone’s name splashed on the front.

Inside the phone, you’ll find a silicone case, documentation, the phone itself as well as a USB charger and cable. No headphones are included for this phone, which is pretty much par for the course for Xiaomi devices.

It’s hard to believe this phone is a budget device

Xiaomi knows how to make a cheap phone feel, well, not cheap. They’re the masters at making extremely affordable phones feel more expensive than they actually are, and the Redmi Note 7 is no exception.

The phone is sandwiched between two glass panels, which is a surprise given that most companies usually cheap out and use clear plastic for the rear of budget phones.

The frame of the Redmi Note 7 is plastic though, and without the rigidity that a metal frame gives, you’ll probably shatter the display and glass panel on the rear if you accidentally sit on it.

Our review phone is boring black, but you can get the Redmi Note 7 in two other colors: Blue and Red.

There’s a fingerprint scanner on the rear, as well as a 3.5mm jack, a USB Type-C port, and an IR blaster on the top. The SIM tray is a hybrid one, so you’ll have to choose between an extra SIM or extra storage – you can’t have both.

The display is a 6.3-inch, full HD+ IPS display with a small, dew-drop (or water drop, whichever marketing brochure you want to reference) which looks bright, vibrant and pleasant to the eyes.

The highlight feature of the Redmi Note 7 is that 48-megapixel f/1.8 aperture rear camera, paired with a secondary 5-megapixel f/2.4 depth sensor.

Now the allure of taking 48-megapixel shots is almost irresistible, but know that the Redmi Note 7 takes 12-megapixel shots by default.

The 48-megapixel camera on the Redmi Note 7 works a lot like the 40-megapixel one on Huawei’s P20 Pro. The 48-megapixel camera sensor uses a Quad Bayer arrangement, where four pixels are grouped in a square under a filter of the same color. Once the pixels are combined and processed, the resulting photos, while only at 12-megapixel, look far sharper than regular 12-megapixel sensors, with less noise even at higher ISOs.

You can force the phone to take 48-megapixel shots, but we wouldn’t recommend it since it won’t be detailed as a processed 12-megapixel photo.

The phone packs pretty impressive hardware for the price – a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset, paired with either 3GB/4GB/6GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of storage. Our review unit is the highest end, 6GB/64GB variant, running on Android Pie with MIUI 10.

As with any non-global China ROM, we had to sideload both Google Play store and Google Services, which you won’t be dealing with when you buy it officially from Xiaomi Philippines.

There’s a 4000mAh battery inside of it, which means the phone will be able to run for a long time before it’ll need a charge.

All that’s left now is the price – in China, the Redmi Note 7 retails for CNY 999(~Php 7.7k) for the 3GB/32GB variant, and at CNY 1399(~Php 10.8k) for the 6GB/64GB variant. Obviously, local pricing will be different since taxes and other costs will be added on top of the cost when it’s officially sold in the Philippines, but even with a slight price increase, we’d still wholeheartedly recommend the Redmi Note 7 to anyone looking for a powerful phone, for cheap.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 specs

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 octa-core processor
  • 3GB/4GB/6GB RAM
  • 6.3-inch Full HD+ display
  • 32GB/64GB internal storage
  • 48-megapixel f/1.8 Samsung ISOCELL GM1 primary rear camera, 5-megapixel depth-sensing camera
  • 13-megapixel front camera
  • Dual SIM
  • 3G, LTE
  • WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
  • Fingerprint scanner, face unlock, USB-C
  • 4000mAh battery
  • Android Pie with MIUI

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