The original Redmi from Xiaomi created an uproar in the mid-entry segment smartphone market, it is the first device to feature a quad core CPU, high resolution display and packing an amazing 8 Megapixel camera sensor at the price below RM500. Due to such powerful specifications, the sales numbers are staggering and the device was sold out in a matter of minutes, making it the fastest selling smartphone in the world. This year, Xiaomi is going to rock the cheap smartphone market again by introducing an upgraded successor – the Redmi 1s.
Redmi 1s Video Review
Solid Build Quality and Powered Up
The Redmi 1s looks exactly the same as the original Redmi with the same boxy and chunky form factor, it feels heavy for today’s standards and isn’t a sexy device, which can be understood as it’s position as a mid-entry level device and we just think it’s already a signature of the Redmi family from Xiaomi. The 1s isn’t just a cheap smartphone, it is a solidly built hardware from the ground up which no smartphone makers will come up for that price and product segment. Our device is a glossy white color model, which is an exclusive variant and will be introduced to the Malaysian market at a later time (the grey color variant is sold upon its launch here), despite of being glossy it just doesn’t feels slippery, try grabbing one on one of your friend’s Redmi 1s to believe what we really perceive here.
The device is gets a slight specs bump from its predecessor, which looks pretty decent:-
Redmi 1s Hardware Specifications
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 Quad Core 1.6GHz
RAM/ROM: 1GB/8GB (expandable via MicroSD)
Display: 4.7″ 720p (1280×720) IPS display
Camera: 8MP Autofocus (Main), 1.6MP (Front)
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, BT 4.0 LE, USB OTG
Features: MIUI v5, Lite Mode, Dual SIM Standby
Networks: DC-HSPA+ 900/2100, GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Battery: 2000mAh
Our favorite specs bump this time would have to be the Snapdragon 400 CPU, Qualcomm’s processors are always more future proof as compared to other chipmakers and we’ll definitely see an upgrade to Android 4.4 KitKat soon. The original Redmi is unfortunately, stuck on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean due to the Mediatek processor onboard.
Beautiful Display and Consistent User Experience
The first thing that you will really get attracted to the phone will be the display, the 4.7″ 720p IPS display simply shines and make other mid-entry level smartphones look stupid and invaluable, the display has a good amount of brightness and will work well outdoors, response is also sensitive and precise that we have no problems in doing fast typing and performing gestures; thanks to the reduced bezels, one handed operation on the phone is manageable.
If you’ve seen our Xiaomi Mi 3 review back then, you’d have known all the awesome features that MIUI has to offer on an extremely straightforward and simplified user experience. The Redmi 1s features the same version of MIUI without compromising on features despite being a lower end product, for a phone that has a mere gigabyte of RAM, you won’t believe how the phone is still able to deliver a smooth overall user experience, though transition lags and app crashes can be expected at times but we find it acceptable.
However, the phone features one thing that the Mi 3 doesn’t have – Lite Mode a.k.a Senior Mode, it pretty much turns your sophisticated smartphone experience into an extremely simplified UI with huge buttons and fonts. Contacts and apps can be easily added to the homescreen by pressing the “+” button next to an item, default apps such as messages and phone have been superbly simplified by only having a few simple functions; the phone dialer even speaks when you press on a corresponding dialpad, or tells user an incoming call number or contact name. The Lite Mode is an extremely simple to use feature and will favor to smartphone illiterate or senior users.
Overall, it’s great to know that Xiaomi haven’t compromise on software features on the Redmi 1s despite having a slower CPU and reduced RAM, which ensures consistency throughout its product line unlike many other Chinese smartphone makers that tends to have all sorts of funky skins for different range of products.
No Apps to SD – very BAD!
Xiaomi may have doubled the internal storage on the Redmi 1s and leaves us 4.5GB of user accessible storage, it sounds reasonable to us until we found out something really bad – the phone doesn’t support moving apps to your SD card! We know we can’t shout for such a device that cheap, but considering this as a succeeding product, we really can’t imagine why the company has made such a design flaw that can be easily resolved, it makes having a memory card with huge storage totally pointless, despite being able to save multimedia content. If you’re intending to install many huge games like Asphalt 8 or FIFA2014 on the device, you don’t want to purchase the Redmi 1s despite being cheap, and this is a huge compromise that will affect your experience really bad. However, we’ve tested apps like Spotify and are able to save offline files back into the SD card.
Fortunately, there might still be one thing that users may look forward to – the Redmi 1s supports USB OTG.
An Amazing Camera that is on par with Flagships
Mind you, the Redmi 1s may not be a great performer in processing power, the camera produces very decent photos that is probably on par or even better than some flagships, the 8 Megapixel AF camera excels in taking both daylight and night shots with a great amount of detail and accurate color saturation, check out camera samples from the Redmi 1s down below.
We are overwhelmed with the camera and put high hopes on video recording, the phone unfortunately fails to meet our expectations with inaccurate image metering, we even faced choppy frame rates in the midst of recording Full HD videos. Despite of that, we still manage to produce a decent video recording sample down below.
At this time of reviewing, the camera app doesn’t have an option to save pictures and videos back into the SD card, we’ve reported this back to Xiaomi officials and hope to have a fix soon. In addition, the camera app on the Redmi 1s has been stripped off advanced features such as exposure control and white balance measuring.
Benchmarks, Battery Life and Call Quality
In real world usage, the 1s feels pretty responsive and you won’t perceive it running on a lower end quad core CPU, benchmarks results will show you that the 1s is faster than the original Redmi and on par with Samsung GALAXY S3, which makes a lot of sense. Gaming performance is pretty decent on medium graphics quality, though you will still find notable lags in games like Asphalt 8, they remain playable.
Battery life on the 1s considerably good for a 2000mAh battery, we have the 1s receiving lots of instant messages, 2 hours of phone calls, few sessions of quick web browsing and 2 hours of music playback, the 1s is able to last 16 hours on a full charge, which pretty much translates into a full working day.
Call quality is excellent on both SIM slots, our callers reported clear voice from our end, HSPA+ performance is pretty decent for a mid-range device like this and again, thanks to the Snapdragon SoC.
Verdict – An extremely valuable smartphone with serious compromises
We hate the Redmi 1s – just kidding, we absolutely love the phone, it isn’t the most beautiful hardware and doesn’t have the best performance, the Redmi 1s is a phone that again challenges the mid-entry segment smartphone market without giving competitors a chance to match its attractive pricing, it has a future proof Snapdragon 400 quad core CPU and an amazing 8 Megapixel camera that takes great shots, all priced at an affordable price tag of RM419. Of course, if you can’t live with the compromises that we’ve mentioned, do consider paying more for the flagship Mi 3, it’s worth paying for that.
The Good
+ Cheap
+ Acceptable performance
+ Good battery life
+ Great display quality for a mid-range smartphone
+ Solid build quality
+ Amazing camera performance
+ Dual SIM capability
+ Solid DC-HSPA+ performance
+ Decent call quality
The Bad
– No support for Apps to SD
– 1GB RAM
– Internal storage isn’t enough for huge apps
– Choppy video recording frame rates
– Some software glitches
We rate the Redmi 1s at 3.5 out of 5 stars.
