Xiaomi Redmi 7 Review - Inexpensive, but also good?

Foreword: Redmi 7

The 7th generation of the Redmi smartphone has arrived. Like the previous models, the Redmi 7 also tries to offer the best possible equipment at a low price. Nevertheless, a lot has happened at Redmi. Instead of high-quality metal housing, there is only plastic. The size difference to the Redmi Note models has also disappeared. Instead of being handy and compact, the Redmi 7 is a 6.26 inch phablet.

Design, workmanship and delivery

Small and light was yesterday. The Redmi 7 is a real phablet with a size of 15.87 x 7.56 x 0.85 cm and a weight of 180g. Except for the front, which is also protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, the housing is made entirely of plastic. The frame is matt black, while the back is available in glossy black, blue and red.

 The smartphone is set up as follows: 

The 6.26 inch IPS display is located on the front. Following the trend, a teardrop-shaped notch that surrounds the 8 megapixel front camera is used. The narrow but wide receiver is located above the front camera.

The smartphone is operated using virtual display buttons or gestures. A white notification LED is available and is located on the right on the lower edge of the housing. The display bezels are 3 mm on the sides and 8 mm on the bottom edge of the case.

The housing frame includes a power button and volume rocker on the right. The dual SIM slot is on the left. At the bottom there is a MicroUSB socket, the mono speaker and a microphone. At the top, the smartphone is equipped with a 3.5 mm audio jack, another microphone and an IR blaster.

The back of the Redmi 7 is glossy and offers an interesting gradient at least in the colors red and blue. Unfortunately, the back is not made of glass, but of plastic. This makes them particularly prone to scratches, which is why you should definitely use the protective cover supplied. But the back is also very susceptible to fingerprints and dirt in other ways. Further features of the back are a vertically arranged main camera with LED flash and a fingerprint scanner in the middle.

The processing quality is good for the price. However, the smartphone feels cheap to the touch, which in turn is due to the large amount of plastic and the extremely thick housing. In addition to the smartphone, the scope of delivery includes a silicone protective cover, a charger, a charging cable, a SIM needle and an information sheet.

Display

Xiaomi has opted for a 7 inch IPS display for the Redmi 6.26. The resolution is 1520 x 720 pixels, which corresponds to 269 pixels. Despite the comparatively low point density, individual pixels are only visible when you look very closely. The aspect ratio for a notch smartphone is typically 19: 9.

display measurement

Xiaomi specifies the display with a maximum luminance of 450 cd / m². A display measurement carried out with the colorimeter showed a maximum display brightness of 415 cd / m². The brightness deviation distributed over the display is a maximum of 20 cd / m². The black value is 0.29 cd / m². The contrast ratio is 1: 1454.

The color deviations from the sRGB color space measured in standard color mode are an average Delta E of 4.35 and a maximum Delta E of 7.37. The Redmi 7 displays the grayscale with a slight blue cast.

Display in everyday life

In view of the price, the Redmi 7 is equipped with a very good display. Despite the low resolution, no pixels can be seen at normal viewing distance. The color rendering looks pleasantly natural to the naked eye. Colors are neither too warm nor too cold. Only black looks rather dark gray.

The viewing angle stability is also impressive. Slight changes in brightness are visible when the smartphone is tilted. The color fastness is largely retained. The Redmi 7 is easy to read outdoors. Readability is only impaired by the reflective display glass in direct sunlight.

Display settings and functions

The display settings include various settings for brightness, colors, and contrast. There is an automatic brightness mode, three color profiles including a manual color mode and an automatic contrast mode.

The font size can be adjusted in several stages. A reading or night mode filters blue light, which is much more pleasant on the eyes. The mode can be activated according to the schedule and the intensity of the filter can be adjusted according to your own needs.

Touchscreen

The touchscreen recognizes up to 10 simultaneous inputs. Unfortunately, inputs are registered with a bit of a delay, which is particularly noticeable when typing quickly. The recognition accuracy is good. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The display glass is easy to clean thanks to the anti-fingerprint coating.

Performance

Qualcomm Snapdragon 632

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 built into the Redmi 632 is a mid-range processor that was released in mid-2018. The chip manufactured in the 14 nm process replaces the Snapdragon 2017 released in 630. Qualcomm promises an additional performance of almost 30%. The CPU is divided into 4 Kryo 250 gold cores (Cortex-A73) and 4 Kryo 250 silver cores (Cortex-A53), which clock with up to 1.8 GHz. The GPU is an Adreno 506.

The System-on-Chip (SoC) uses an LPDDR3 memory controller. Accordingly, the Redmi 7 is available with an optional 2GB, 3GB or 4GB (CN version) memory. For the data storage (eMMC) you can choose between 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. Memory expansion using a microSD memory card is supported up to 512GB. Fortunately, it is a triple slot that does not affect the dual SIM capability.

Benchmark

The Redmi 7 performed well in the benchmark tests we ran. In the AnTuTu benchmark, which tests the overall system, a score of 103.788 is achieved. In Geekbench, a processor benchmark, the Snapdragon 632 achieved a single-core score of 1.245 and a multi-core score of 4325. Wacker also beats the smartphone in 3D applications, especially the 3DMark benchmark, which tests graphics performance. In the demanding Sling Shot Extreme Test, 514 or 547 (Vulkan) points are achieved.

The built-in memory of the tested 3 + 32GB model reaches RAM speeds of 5.233 MB / s. The data memory moves within a write speed of almost 90 MB / s and a read speed of about 280 MB / s.

Performance in everyday life

In everyday life, the Redmi 7 can be used fluently. The user interface responds quickly to inputs, animations are mostly run smoothly and the loading times of individual apps are appropriate according to the equipment. Multitasking is possible to a certain extent. Depending on your storage configuration, sooner or later you may experience a limitation of the apps in memory.

Rendering web pages takes a bit longer compared to high end models, but does not affect the user experience. Scrolling succeeds without annoying jerks.

Gaming

Casual gaming is no problem for the Redmi 7. Especially the low display resolution allows most mobile games to play smoothly. However, if you prefer sophisticated titles (eg PUBG), you must reduce the graphics settings accordingly. A reduction in system performance due to thermal throttling does not occur.

user interface

The tested Redmi 7 is the global version (M1810F6LG). The smartphone comes with MIUI 10.2 Global Stable. The operating system is based on Android 9 Pie. The security updates are as of March 01.03.2019st, XNUMX. Future updates can be conveniently received over-the-air (OTA).

In the global version, MIUI is adapted to the western market. The system is multilingual and can be used entirely in German. In contrast to the Chinese counterpart, the Google Play Store including the Google Apps is already preinstalled. Chinese bloatware is not used. As third-party apps, Facebook, Opera and Aliexpress are located on the device. If you don't need the apps, you can uninstall them using the app manager.

MIUI can be loved or hated. The user interface deviates from the structure and visually strong from Stock Android. The system offers a wealth of additional features, such as a security manager, the use of dual apps or a Mi-Cloud integration.

Camera

The dual main camera of the Redmi 7 uses a 12 megapixel OmniVision OV12A10 main sensor with f / 2.2 aperture and PDAF autofocus. The secondary sensor is a 2 megapixel OmniVision OV02A10, which is only responsible for a visual depth effect. The front camera uses an 8 megapixel Samsung S5K4H7 image sensor.

Practical test of the main camera

Photo mode

Measured against the price range, the main camera of the Redmi 7 impresses with its decent recording quality. In good lighting conditions, brightly colored images are created with an appropriate dynamic range and good detail representation. A slight blurring becomes noticeable towards the edges of the image. The PDAF autofocus reacts quickly and focuses precisely. HDR is available in an automatic mode.

The camera AI recognizes up to 27 scenes and adapts the recording according to the respective scene. For example, plants are recognized by the AI ​​and colors are slightly raised for an even more juicy green. The bokeh mode works surprisingly well and extracts objects and people for the most part cleanly. The Redmi 7 reaches its limits when it comes to complex contours.

The recording quality decreases with increasingly poor lighting conditions. Colors fade a little, the image noise increases and the autofocus also reacts a bit sluggishly.

 All full-resolution test shots can be found under this one Link 

video mode

The MIUI camera app records videos with a maximum resolution of 1080p at up to 60 frames per second. The autofocus also works extremely well in video mode and the exposure is continuously adjusted. Unfortunately, the camera does not offer optical or electronic image stabilization. With alternative camera apps, such as OpenCamera, videos can also be recorded in high-resolution 4K resolution.

Practical test of the front camera

The 8 megapixel front camera delivers good results. As with the main camera, the recordings are convincing in good lighting conditions with adequate reproduction of details, but the quality quickly deteriorates in increasingly poor lighting conditions. The color reproduction could be a bit stronger.

A bokeh mode is available and extracts people precisely. Various beauty filters can be activated via the MIUI camera app. The front camera records videos in 1080p at 30 frames per second.

connectivity

The Redmi 7 Global is ideally equipped for local mobile communications. The dual-SIM smartphone supports the usual mobile radio frequencies in this country. VoLTE and HD Voice are available. VoWiFi, however, does not. The smartphone offers the following bands: 

•  GSM: B2, B3, B5, B8
•  WCDMA: B1, B2, B4, B5, B8
•  TDD-LTE: B38, B40
•  FDD-LTE: B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B7, B8, B20, B28

The voice quality is decent. What is said is transmitted clearly and understandably in both directions. Due to the strong noise reduction, spoken words can easily be distorted. The signal strength is very good. The housing made entirely of plastic contributes to this above all.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

The smartphone only supports single-band WiFi (802.11 b / g / n). Bluetooth is available in version 4.2. The smartphone gives a strong signal in the WLAN. The data throughput is about 50 Mbit / s on average.

GPS and sensors

GPS tracking works both outdoors and indoors. The Redmi 7 quickly finds a GPS fix outdoors. The location accuracy is around 3 meters. Inside, it takes significantly longer to find a GPS fix. Here the accuracy varies between 8 and 15 meters. The navigation with Google Maps ran smoothly in the test.

The other sensors include a brightness sensor, a gyroscope, a proximity sensor and an e-compass. NFC is not available. As a special feature, there is an FM receiver on board. An IR blaster enables televisions and other IR receivers to be controlled via an app.

Fingerprint scanner and face unlock

There is a circular fingerprint scanner on the back of the smartphone. This unlocks the smartphone reliably and quickly. Face-Unlock is integrated into the system as a further unlocking method. Face recognition takes place with the help of the front camera. The unlocking process via face recognition is a bit slower, but it could not be tricked with a photo in the test. However, good lighting conditions are a prerequisite.

Battery

The battery has a capacity of 4.000 mAh. The generously sized battery brings the user safely through the day. With a little surfing on the web, watching videos on YouTube, WhatsAppen and telephony, the runtime is a good 2 1/2 days. The smartphone is also very economical in standby and only loses 1-3% overnight. Unfortunately, the Redmi 7 only comes with a MicroUSB socket. Qualcomm's Quick Charge is not supported. The battery is charged with 5V 2A in approx. 2 hours.