Back in January 2017, Xiaomi announced the successor of Redmi Note 3, the Redmi Note 4 in India and it went on to become one of the highest selling smartphones for 2017. Xiaomi had also announced the Redmi 4 Prime, which is basically a smaller variant of Redmi Note 4 with a 5 inch Full HD display, Snapdragon 625 Octa Core processor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage. The phone has a 13MP rear camera and 5MP front camera like the Redmi Note 4. It also runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with MIUI 8. The phone packs a 4100mAh battery similar to Redmi Note 4.
So how good is the Redmi 4 Prime when compared to the Redmi Note 4 and is it a value for money device? Let’s find out in this review.
Related Reading: Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Review
Here is the video review of the device.
Design and Build:
The Redmi 4 Prime is a refined design when compared to Redmi 3S prime. While the predecssor has curved edges on all sides on the rear panel, the Redmi 4 Prime has chamfered edges and a flat back panel. The rear panel is matte finish and is made of unibody metallic construction. The phone feels great to use and is better in terms of design when compared to Redmi 3S prime. The overall fit and finish also feel premium for the price it is offered at.
On the right side, you get power and volume key, while the left side houses the SIM tray. At the bottom, there is micro USB charging slot and a speaker unit. Up top, you have the 3.5mm audio jack and IR blaster. The rear panel comes with the 13MP camera, LED flash and Mi logo. The front panel has 5.0 inches Full HD display and three capacitive touch buttons which are not backlit. A 5MP front camera is positioned on the top of the display along with the sensors. Overall, the Redmi 4 Prime feels great and one of the best budget offering in terms of build quality.
Display
The Redmi 4 Prime comes with a 5 inch Full HD display and comes with 2.5D curved glass. Similar to Redmi Note 4, this device also does not feature any additional protection on the display. The 2.5D glass gives a nice feel using the device and this is one the important changes compared to Redmi 3S prime. The display has good colors and sharpness along with good viewing angles. One of the useful features of MIUI is the reading mode and this is available on Redmi 4 Prime as well and this aids in reading during the night and decreases the strain on eyes.
There is also an option to adjust the color temperature of the display from the settings. The display is easily one of the best we have seen in this segment and is a treat to use. Since it has a smaller display, the pixels per inch is higher compared to Redmi Note 4 and this makes the display a bit more vibrant.
Software:
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 comes with MIUI8 on top of Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. If you have used a Xiaomi device previously you might be knowing that MIUI is a heavily skinned UI provide tons of customization and it does not have any resemblance with stock UI. It comes with multiple home screens and a custom notification center along with settings panel.
The phone comes with a plethora of options to customize, be it in the form of themes, icon packs, lock screen, boot animations, sounds and more. All of these can be downloaded from the Themes app.
The phone also comes with Child mode which was announced with MIUI (more details on Child mode available here) and also the regular Lite mode. The phone also features the security app which comes with cleaner, virus scan, block list, data usage and more.
There are a couple of useful changes to the UI in terms of features and it comes with dual apps and Second space which are new in MIUI 8. The Second space allows you to create a different space on your phone which does not share anything with the first space. You can use the second space as a completely different phone with apps, security and all features included. This means if you want two profiles on your phone like home and work, second space helps in that. Dual apps, as the name indicates, allows users to concurrently run two instances of the app. You can run two WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger etc on the device. MIUI provides option to lock apps using the fingerprint scanner and this provides additional security to your personal apps.
Xiaomi has also added lots of useful apps like FM radio, recorder, Compass, torch and much more. Xiaomi’s attention to smaller details is simply amazing and the UI looks very much polished with no lags or crashes. The phone also comes with IR blaster which means you can use the phone as a remote for your TV, A/C, set top box and other devices. There is a Mi Remote app which you can configure with Indian brands and this comes handy.
Performance
Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime comes with Snapdragon 625 Octa Core processor clocked at 2.0Ghz and coupled with Adreno 506 GPU. The phone comes with 3GB of RAM along with 32GB of storage which is now becoming a standard these days even in budget segment.
The Snapdragon 625 is a good upgrade from the Snapdragon 4XX series which powered the Redmi 3S Prime and it is built on the 14nm process and this makes it highly energy efficient. The phone performs very well in day to day activities and there are no slow down or lags in the device. The processor can handle all tasks including gaming. We played high graphic rich games and there were no issues in the gaming baring a few frame skips. There was no heating on the device even when running intensive games. Probably the only issue in gaming is that the smaller display does not provide a great gaming experience when compared to Redmi Note 4.
The phone also packs an IR blaster similar to Note 4 and you can configure it to use with brands in India which come really handy. The fingerprint scanner is located on the rear panel and it does a really good job in unlocking the phone. You can also use the fingerprint scanner to lock apps. The call quality and the speaker performance of the device is also really good.
The phone has dual SIM and micro SD hybrid slot. The phone comes with 32GB of storage and out of which close to 25.75GB is available to user in first boot.
Camera:
The Redmi 4 Prime comes with a 13MP rear camera with f/2.2 aperture and dual LED flash and a 5MP front camera. The camera interface of Redmi 4 Prime is typical MIUI and packs a lot of additional features including manual mode and filters. Even though the Snapdragon 625 supports 4k recording, it is limited to 1080p, but considering the price segment it is offered, we don’t have too much to complain here.
The 13MP rear camera of the Redmi 4 Prime can snap decent captures in daylight condition with good color quality, but the sharpness levels could have been better. You can actually see the sharpness reduces towards the edges of the photos. The macro or close up images are also quite good, although at times it is slightly saturated. The PDAF also works very well. The low light photography of the device is also decent, but there is noise in low light images. The 5MP front camera can also produce decent selfies. While the camera performance is quite satisfactory for a budget offering, we still feel Xiaomi could have done a bit more for the overall photo clarity. Here are some photos taken with the device.
Battery Life:
The phone packs a 4100mAh battery and this is the same capacity which was available on Redmi Note 4. With the Snapdragon 625 chipset, the battery performance of the device is really great. We tested the device with social networking apps, browsing, calls, gaming, camera and more and we could easily get almost 2 days of battery life. If you are a heavy user, you still get 1.5 days on the device. The only downside for the device in terms of the battery is the lacks of latest fast charging and it is limited to 5V 2A. Also, since this device has a smaller display compared to Redmi Note 4, the performance is slightly better.
Verdict:
Redmi 4 Prime is one of those variants which has exactly the same specs as that of Redmi Note 4 in a smaller form factor. There are many users who are looking for a 5 inch device for the ease of use with one hand. For such users, the Redmi 4 Prime makes a perfect buy with good design, build, performance and excellent battery life. The only area where Redmi 4 Prime could have better is the camera performance.
If you are a Redmi 3S or 3S Prime users, the Redmi 4 Prime is a good upgrade in terms of build, performance and battery life.
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