Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro In-Depth Review 2020

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro is the successful successor to Note 5 Pro, and it looks quite similar too. The major difference between the two is that the Note 6 Pro has a notch upfront while the Note 5 Pro does not. It also comes with the same SoC and identical features. Let's take a closer look at what makes the Redmi Note 6 Pro an upgrade over the Note 5 Pro in our in-depth review.

Redmi Note 6 Pro Design and Build

In terms of the design, nothing much has been changed on the back of the Redmi Note 6 Pro compared to its predecessor. However, the rear change appears on the front as the new one sports a notch. The build quality is the same as the last generation Note, a metal plate on the back surrounded by a plastic frame. There is no IPXX rating for water and dust resistance and no wireless charging support.

Picking up the Redmi Note 6 Pro, you will immediately feel the heft. It’s nothing surprising that the device weighs 182 grams due to the fact that it houses a big battery. Also, It is 8.3mm thick with round edges, which makes it easy to grab and use. However, you have to use the other hand to reach the top of the display. Redmi Note 6 Pro comes in Black, Red, Rose Gold, and Blue, so you can pick up the one that suits your personality.

The notch on the front side houses the earpiece, front camera, proximity, and ambient light sensor. There is a 3.5mm audio jack on top, along with the IR emitter and secondary microphone. The SIM and memory card slot are on the left and on the right, you will find the Power key and the volume slider. At the bottom, there is a Micro USB charging port flanked by two grills, out of which the right one houses a speaker and the left is a mic grill. Flip the device around, and you will find the vertical Dual camera unit and a fingerprint scanner. Overall, the build quality is not too flashy or premium, but it’s solid as a tank and above average.

Redmi Note 6 Pro Display 

Unlike the stretched screen on the Note 5 Pro, the Redmi Note 6 Pro flaunts a notch. The notch is pretty wide, actually but houses all the necessary sensors. It sports a 6.28-inch IPS LCD screen, which has a FullHD resolution and pixel density of 403 pixels per inch. There is a strong layer of Corning Gorilla Glass to prevent scratches, but the generation is unspecified.

The bezels around the screen area are slim except for the chin, which is slightly bigger than what we usually prefer. We watched a couple of movies on the Redmi Note 6 Pro and played PUBG during our review period, and the screen actually impressed us. It’s a vibrant screen that has great colors and legit sunlight visibility. The viewing angles are also pretty good. Overall, it’s a nice and immersive display to enjoy media content.

Performance and Software

Rather than switching to a new SOC, the Redmi Note 6 Pro comes with the same old Snapdragon 636, which powers the last-gen Note. It’s no doubt a capable processor, but with a generation gap, Xiaomi should have gone for a new one. The Snapdragon 636 is an Octa-Core processor which is based on 14-nm architecture and uses Adreno 509 for graphics performance. There are two variants of the Redmi Note 6 Pro, one with 4GB RAM and the other with 6GB RAM. Both the variants are limited to 64 GB of internal storage and do support MicroSD card for memory expansion up to 256 GB but require sacrificing a SIM slot.

Day-to-day performance is well and good, and everything works lag-free. Whether you use Facebook for updating your status or just scrolling through the device, the experience is smooth overall. However, things change when you start to move towards gaming. PUBG on the Redmi Note 6 Pro recommended Low graphics setting for the best performance, but we bumped it up to Medium, and the gameplay wasn’t totally smooth. The game was playable for the most part, but the frame rate isn’t always consistent. However, we did switch to Low settings, and the game ran smoothly and well. Overall, the performance is smooth until you start playing something intense.

In terms of the software, Redmi Note 6 Pro comes with the latest MIUI 10, which is based on Android Oreo. Xiaomi has always been lazy when it comes to software updates, and this can be seen with the Note 6 Pro as well since many devices in the same segment are either receiving Android Pie or comes with it. The MIUI is pretty much the same as it has been for years, filled with bloat and no app drawer. Although the user experience is smooth, and the animations are sleek, which we really liked. One thing that really bugged us is the ads in the UI, which Xiaomi is pushing in the MIUI itself. But overall, if you have ever used any other Chinese ROM before, the MIUI will surely feel like home.

Camera and Battery

The Redmi Note 6 Pro houses a 12 Megapixel primary sensor with f/1.9 aperture and a 5 Megapixel secondary sensor with f/2.2 aperture on the back. On the front, there is a 20 Megapixel sensor with f/2.0 aperture and a 2 Megapixel depth sensor. Xiaomi claims that the AI scene recognization is built into the camera app, which can recognize 32 scenes from the primary camera and 12 scenes from the front camera. The Note 6 Pro uses the typical Xiaomi camera app, which has features like HDR, Panorama, Filters, and an AI toggle.

The quality of the camera, the primary camera captures images with great details. It does the exposure right and captures great macro shots too. Also, the portrait mode images turn out well with better than average edge detection. Although at night the quality seems to drop clearly, that’s a common issue with budget phones. The front camera is also pretty capable and captures images with great details. Also, using the depth sensor, you can capture selfies in portrait mode as well. The quality is impressive. The scene recognization works on the front as well. With A.I. turned ON, the camera can detect the scene and automatically changes the setting to enhance the images.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro is featured with a 4000 mAh battery, which provides great battery life. With moderate to heavy usage, this battery lasted around 1.5 days, which is great even for the power users. This usage involved playing PUBG for around 1.5 hours, which is a battery hungry app. Also, the Note 6 Pro does support Fast charging 3.0, but the adapter which is included in the box doesn’t support fast charging. You have to spend some extra money on the adapter which supports Fast charging.

More Features

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro does support Dual SIM and Dual standby; however, if you want to expand the storage, you will have to sacrifice the second sim slot for a micro SD card. Other connectivity features include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. There are a bunch of sensors on the device, including Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity, and compass. There is no NFC, but there is an IR emitter to control various infrared devices.

The fingerprint scanner is at the perfect place on the back and works really well. It unlocks the device almost instantly and is reliable too. There is also an option for face unlock; however, this only uses the front camera to scan the face, which means it isn't secure. However, it's pretty convenient to use at times.

There is a single bottom-firing speaker on the Redmi Note 6 Pro at the bottom, which is decent. It's loud, but the sound quality isn't too great. The bass is pretty average, and the speaker distorts a little on high volume. Although, thanks to Xiaomi, the Note 6 Pro has a headphone jack so you can always connect external speakers or earphones on the go.

Should You Buy?