Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G [First impressions]

Xiaomi had developed a special ‘Made for India’ device Redmi Note 4G which they had announced along with the Redmi Note at the same event in November 2014. Due to some legal conflicts, Xiaomi had to pause the sales of MediaTek chipset powered Redmi Note in India but got an approval to resume the sales of Snapdragon chipsets powered smartphones here. Redmi Note 4G being powered by Snapdragon 400 chipset got clearance and hence initiated its sales in December 2014. We have already reviewed the Redmi Note which we actually liked it for its offerings. Though these two have a lot in common but they still are not the same.

The Redmi Note 4G differs from the Redmi Note primarily by an add-on to its name which is 4G. This is because the later supports 4G LTE frequency spectrum whenever they arrive in India. But what’s here for being India specific? In India we are known to have TDD-LTE and FDD-LTE frequency bands with 2300MHz and 1800MHz spectrum respectively which shall be supported by Redmi Note 4G. This actually cuts down a very useful dual SIM standby from Redmi Note thereby just supporting single SIM. It features a Snapdragon 400 1.6GHz Quad-core processor with same 2GB of RAM and 8GB on-board storage. It also features the same display and camera as of Redmi Note, 13MP rear and 5MP front-facing. The part which was bothering me personally was the MIUI V5 based on Android 4.2.2 JellyBean on the Redmi Note is better handled on Redmi Note 4G running MIUI V5 based on Android 4.4.2 KitKat. The design and build remain the same with the same 3,100 mAh battery.

The dispute which halted Redmi Note sales in India actually pushed Redmi Note 4G now. The smartphone is selling for Rs. 9,999 exclusively via Flipkart every Tuesday in a similar flash sale model. For the first time, Xiaomi is also selling this smartphone offline with an partnership with Airtel being its telecom partner providing easy accessibility of 4G network where they have already launched while preparing the rest. We shall be reviewing this device to find out more differences and comparing the results with the original Redmi Note in the coming week.