Review of Xiaomi Redmi Pro. Smart for 16 thousand rubles - is this normal?

A great smartphone, but not without its drawbacks.

Xiaomi updates the Redmi Note line with enviable frequency. Back in March last year, the company released the seventh generation of Redmi Note Pro, but now the ninth is already available. However, this only has advantages. Models of previous generations are becoming cheaper, and new laptops are adding necessary features that were not there before faster than usual. Redmi Note 9 Pro with a bunch of innovations and a newly redesigned design is direct proof of this.

I spent a week with Redmi Note 9 Pro before the release of the smartphone in official Russian retail and appreciated the efforts of Xiaomi. The smartphone has changed a lot and gotten better, but it still has some disadvantages. I talked about everything in detail in this review.

Familiar but refreshed design

Xiaomi continues to refine the design of the Redmi Note Pro line, set a little over a year ago in the Redmi Note 7 Pro. The smartphone has a body with slightly rounded corners and a curved back surface for ease of use.

Unlike the Redmi Note 9 Pro without the Pro prefix, which I talked about in detail earlier , the firmware has a glass cover. Glossy glass with a gradient color shimmers effectively depending on how the light falls on it. It looks beautiful, but there is little practicality in this solution. The glass collects fingerprints instantly, as soon as you take the smartphone without a case in your hand.

The smartphone comes with a standard “bundled” quality case. I had to put it on my smartphone literally a few days later, when I got really tired of scrubbing off the stains left with my fingers.

Almost every new Redmi Note changes the position of the camera unit. Redmi designers are trying to distinguish new smartphones from old ones in this way. And record sales almost every time hint that this move is working.

In Redmi Note 9 Pro, the camera is located in the center of the rear surface of the body. The block with four lenses sticks out from the body and constantly strives to catch on something. If you carry your smartphone without a case, you can be sure that it will regularly cling to your trouser pocket—checked. If you put the smartphone in the same complete case, then the camera block stops sticking out against the background of the rest of the rear surface. It turns out that the case solves two problems of the smartphone at once. Not bad efficiency.

The big change in the Redmi Note 9 Pro compared to its predecessor is the fingerprint scanner. If previously it was located at the back, under the cameras, now it is located at the end. The scanner is built into the power button, like many other modern smartphones.

The fingerprint scanner is worth praising. Without embellishment, he works incredibly quickly. Unlocking is completed in a split second, helped by the lack of animation when moving to the main screen.

Just above the power button is a volume rocker. It's not clear how Xiaomi did this, but the buttons are definitely located too high. Reaching them while holding a smartphone in one hand is a task only for those with frankly large hands. The inconvenience is definitely not caused by the dimensions of the smartphone - 165.8 × 76.7 × 8.8 mm . This is the usual size for modern smartphones, nothing supernaturally bulky.

On the opposite side there is a tray for two SIM cards and a microSD memory card. At the bottom there are holes for the speaker and microphone, a 3.5 mm audio output and a USB-C connector. At the top end there is a hole for an additional microphone and an IR port.

Redmi Note 9 Pro is far from the lightest smartphone. Its weight is 209 g. When switching to the device from many popular smartphones, from the same iPhones to the Eight, you will be very surprised at the heaviness. It will be very unusual at first, but it will only take a few days to get used to it.

Camera(s). All three

The main feature of Xiaomi Redmi Pro is its dual camera module . Admit it, this is why you are reading this material. Of course, for Apple this is only possible with devices with a price tag well over $500.

Xiaomi already offers a pair of 13-megapixel Sony IMX258 sensor and an auxiliary 5-megapixel Samsung S5K5E8 . Five-element optics, aperture - f/2.0. Very cool for a budget smartphone, isn't it? Not true. The paired module improves photo quality little, if at all. Even the traditional problems with shooting at dusk have not disappeared. The fact is that the main task of the dual camera is to create beautiful bokeh. It happens like this.

An additional sensor removes the background and measures depth throughout the entire exposure. The main module films the object. Then the two frames are stitched together in software , allowing the user to manually set the background blur depth and select the focus point up to f/0.95 .

In numbers, this is very cool - like NASA cameras for the lunar program . In fact, this is enough for portraits and shooting small objects (almost macro). No more. And in this case, you shouldn’t count on infinity. The shooting shows that the camera maintains the white balance quite accurately and does a good job of metering the exposure. This is great for a budget smartphone. But it could be better.

Classic IPS matrix without chips

Redmi Note 9 Pro is equipped with a large 6.67-inch display on a traditionally high-quality IPS matrix with a resolution of 1080x2400 pixels (395 ppi). The screen aspect ratio is 20:9. Yes, Redmi smartphone screens are becoming narrower. It seems that, as experts predict, we are moving towards a trend towards elongated smartphones, among which, thanks to the efforts of Xiaomi, there will also be mid-budget ones.

The display is covered with protective glass Corning Gorilla Glass 5. This is no longer surprising in Xiaomi smartphones. The company even uses it in more affordable models. The screen also has a high-quality oleophobic coating.

The display brightness is 450 cd/m², the contrast is 1500:1. On sunny spring and already summer days, the image on the smartphone screen is viewed well, without any particular difficulties. The same applies to the text. At maximum brightness, working with a smartphone outdoors is quite comfortable.

If you have used Redmi Note smartphones in the last couple of years, then the picture quality of the Note 9 Pro will be familiar to you. There are still the same 16 million colors and coverage of the NTSC color space - 84%. Simply put, a good IPS display with rich colors and correct color reproduction.

The only drawback of the Redmi Note 9 Pro's display compared to some particularly advanced competitors is the lack of support for a higher refresh rate. Of course, 90 or 120 Hz screens have not yet appeared in all flagships, but this was expected from the Note 9 Pro. Simply because Realme, one of Xiaomi’s main competitors, recently released the Realme 6 Pro smartphone with a 90 Hz screen.

Third-party recovery firmware (TWRP)

The first thing you need to do is flash TWRP.

To do this, download the Flash-Redmi+6+Pro+TWRP.zip archive, installer, and drivers for your computer (ADB) and, of course, install them.

1. From the unpacked Flash-Redmi+6+Pro+TWRP.zip archive, write the recovery.img file to a USB flash drive.
2. Download the firmware itself in zip format. I downloaded this xiaomi.eu_multi_HM6Pro (the download starts automatically after clicking on the link) and without unpacking it, we also put it on the same flash drive.
3. Turn off the smartphone and turn it on in fastboot mode (volume down key + power button).
4. Connect the smart phone to the PC.
5. On the computer, launch the Sakura.exe program - the TWRP installer and follow all the instructions that the program gives. Everything is in Russian, we read it carefully and carry it out. Nothing complicated.
6. After following the instructions, the smartphone will reboot into recovery mode. ATTENTION!!! Recovery itself has not yet been installed, it has just been loaded. When starting for the first time, you may be asked to enter a password. I skipped this step, selected the language English and went to the main menu “Recovery”.
7. Next we will install it. To do this, you need to format (clear) the data on Redmi 6 Pro. In the main menu of TWRP, click Wipe – Format Date and type “yes” in the input field, press the check mark on the smartphone keyboard. After these steps, everything will be deleted from the device’s memory.
8. Next, in the main menu of TWRP, click Install – Install Img. We connect the flash drive to the phone via an OTG adapter. In recovery, select the path: OTG and then select the recovery.img file on the connected flash drive. After that, a little lower in the “Firmware section” item, select Recovery and swipe to the right.
9. We wait for the installation to complete and after it is completed, reboot the phone again from the TWRP main menu (Reboot - Recovery). Ready! All that remains is to flash the firmware itself.

Return of the Prodigal Son and 6 GB of RAM

Snapdragon fans, rejoice! Xiaomi has returned the Note 9 Pro line to Qualcomm processors, abandoning MediaTek chips. It is possible that one of the reasons is negativity on the Internet, of which there was really a lot after the release of the Note 8 Pro with the MediaTek processor.

The performance of the Redmi Note 9 Pro is powered by a system based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G processor. It is an octa-core chip with two high-performance Kryo 465 Gold cores and six energy-efficient Kryo 465 Silver cores. The SoC integrates an Adreno 618 video processor.

The processor is supported by 6 GB of LPDDR4X RAM. Redmi's seriousness about the Note 9 Pro is evident in the fact that the smartphone only comes in one configuration with 6GB of RAM. The same Redmi Note 9 , which is only slightly cheaper than the firmware, has only 3 GB of RAM in the basic version. The smartphone's internal memory is 64 or 128 GB, depending on the configuration.

The Snapdragon 720G coupled with 6 GB of RAM did the trick. Redmi Note 9 Pro is a smartphone that seems unable to upset anyone with its performance. The device quickly copes with all everyday tasks. And no matter how much you load it, he won’t care. All thanks to 6 GB of RAM, which allows you to run dozens of applications and even games in the background.

The Redmi Note 9 Pro is also in perfect order with games. I tested the smartphone on a gentleman's set: PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty: Mobile and World of Tanks Blitz. Every game ran adequately at maximum settings. I ran CoD Mobile for about an hour to evaluate how the smartphone would behave under prolonged load. The case warmed up noticeably, but nothing critical. After an hour of playing, the freezes did not start.

However, a long gaming session made it clear that in top modern games it is better to use medium settings. Then there will definitely be no fps drops, which sometimes still happen at maximum graphics settings.

⇡#Technical characteristics

Forget about sockets

Xiaomi continues to stick to its guns and increase the volume of batteries in smartphones. And we, as consumers, can only be happy about this.

Redmi Note 9 Pro is equipped with a battery capacity of as much as 5020 mAh. This is a record figure for the line. Thanks to such a capacious battery, the smartphone can work for up to three days without recharging in gentle mode.

With normal use, the charge lasts for two days. I found this out in practice. I walked around with the Note 9 Pro for a week, charging the smartphone once every one and a half days during study and tests, and once every two days the rest of the time.

According to statistics from the smartphone, the active screen operating time on a full charge is more than eight hours.

But where the device is somewhat disappointing is in terms of charging power. The smartphone supports fast charging with a power of 18 W. This is clearly not enough for such a capacious battery. Suffice it to say that it takes more than 130 minutes to fully charge the smartphone.

Installing firmware on a mobile device using the MiFlash program

Before installing the firmware on Redmi 6 Pro, you need to download and upload the MiFlash program. It allows you to reflash a mobile device without causing malfunctions during the installation process or while the smartphone is operating. After downloading the file, you will need to perform several steps:

• unpack the archive to drive C;
• run the program;
• agree to the terms of use of the application and click on the “Next” button;
• reflash your mobile device and exit the application.

Exiting the program should always be done by pressing the “End” button.

Stages of the Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro phone firmware process

The procedure for installing a new firmware version on a mobile phone also consists of several steps. They should be done in stages:

• download the archived file with the new firmware to your PC;
• unpack the archive and copy the path to the installer;
• launch the MiFlash application;
• connect your mobile device via USB cable to your PC;
• click on the “Refresh” button and then on “Brows”;
• Paste the copied path into the search bar and click on “Flash All”;
• Click on the “Flash” button on the main screen.

After verification, the procedure for installing new firmware will start automatically. The speed of the process depends on the version, as well as the operating system of the computer. On average, this procedure takes about 1 hour.

After receiving a notification from the application that the flashing is complete, the mobile device can be disconnected from the PC. Within 2-3 minutes, the smartphone should reboot on its own. However, if this does not happen, then you need to press the lock button for 10 seconds and force the phone to reboot.

Cameras. During the day - great, at night - not so much

It's good to become the owner of Redmi Note 9 Pro now, almost a month after the release of the smartphone. The reason is that the developers fixed all the software bugs, of which there were many. The main flaw was with the rear camera of the smartphone. She could shoot explicit soap.

Fortunately, soap was removed in the updates that quickly followed the release of Note 9 Pro. Now you can take pictures normally with a smartphone, as I have personally verified many times.

What do you have to shoot with? The smartphone has a system of four rear cameras:

• 64-megapixel wide-angle with f/1.9 aperture and adaptive autofocus system,
• 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle (119˚) with f/2.2 aperture,
• 5-megapixel macro camera with f/2.4 aperture,
• 2MP depth camera with f/2.4 aperture.

Thanks to the abundance of cameras, the smartphone supports a variety of shooting modes. Wide or ultra-wide angle, portrait photography with or without lighting, macro photography from a distance of up to two centimeters, night photography and other formats. In general, there is something to play with.

Fortunately, the cameras take excellent pictures, at least for the category of mid-budget smartphones. Photos taken on Redmi Note 9 Pro are highly detailed and sharp across almost the entire frame. The exception is dark places, where even with excellent natural light there is a lack of sharpness.

The same applies to shooting in suboptimal lighting conditions. However, in the evening and at night you should definitely try to shoot with the night mode turned on. It will enhance detail by increasing exposure, but will gently tone down any emerging noise. As a result, in many cases you will get a good evening or night photo that you won’t be ashamed to publish on social networks or just keep as a souvenir.

The main thing when working with night shooting mode is to remember that good photos will not always be obtained. If you are mentally prepared for this, then there will be no disappointments from low-quality photographs.

How to prepare a smartphone for flashing?

Before installing the new firmware version on Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro, you need to prepare your phone for this procedure. You will need to perform several important steps:

• create a backup copy of your data;
• clear the memory of your mobile device;
• unlock bootloader;
• check Anti-Rollback.

The first two procedures do not cause difficulties, so we will not consider them. We will analyze the remaining two processes in more detail. It is also important to know that when installing a custom firmware version, you will need to update TWRP-recovery.

The process of unlocking the bootloader on Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro

The process is carried out by performing several actions:

1. Go to your phone settings and register or activate a Mi-account by clicking on the “Mi-account” button in the “Accounts” section.
2. Enter the hidden developer menu by selecting “My Device” in the settings, click “All characteristics” and quickly click on the “MIUI version” button.
3. In the “Systems and Devices” settings section, go to the “Advanced” tab and open “For Developers”.
4. Activate the “Factory settings” option, click on the “Mi Unlock Status” button and click “Add account and device”.
5. Download and install the “MiFlashUnlock” program on your computer, launch it and click on the “Agree” button.
6. Log in to your Mi account by entering your username and password.
7. Press the volume up and lock keys on your smartphone at the same time to put it into Recovery mode.
8. Connect your mobile device to your PC and click on the “Unlock” button.

The program will automatically calculate the time it will take to unlock the bootloader and begin the process. You can verify the success of the procedure by going to the developer menu in the mobile phone settings and clicking on the “Mi Unlock Status” tab.

Anti-Rollback check

Before installing firmware ROM 9.6.16 and later versions on a mobile device, you should familiarize yourself with one caveat. They have a built-in “Anti-rollback” function, which automatically blocks the phone from rolling back to an older firmware version.

If you decide to try this procedure, your mobile phone will turn into a “brick”. The option gradually appeared on various Xiaomi models. The company recently announced the activation of the function on many Note, Redmi 6 Pro and Mi 6X models.

You can check the Anti-Rollback version on your smartphone using the ARB+sakura program. It must be installed on your PC and connected to your mobile device. Next you will need to follow the steps described on the screen.

Examples of photos on Redmi Note 9 Pro

Note: all pictures are clickable.

Daytime photos

The smartphone copes excellently with daytime shots in conditions of excellent natural light. The only thing we can complain about is a noticeable drop in sharpness in the background. Otherwise, the pictures turn out wonderful - with high detail and high-quality color rendition.

I will also note that on particularly distant objects it can become worse not only with sharpness, but also with color rendition. Colors become a little duller. This, however, is not very critical.

The drop in detail and accompanying defects are especially noticeable on trees.

If you shoot during the day in the shade, the quality of shooting decreases minimally. I will note the preservation of color rendition almost throughout the entire frame, high detail of nearby objects and the complete absence of serious defects.

Taking pictures of high-rise buildings on a smartphone is a real pleasure. I note that the pictures on the device’s screen look much more impressive than on the monitor. Therefore, if you prefer to look at photos on a smartphone, Redmi Note 9 Pro will please you as much as possible. Let me emphasize that this does not mean that the photos look bad on large screens. You can open the source of any image yourself and see for yourself.

The wide-angle camera takes good pictures. The center of the frame can be called excellent, but the corners are clearly stretched out. This happens on all ultra-wide cameras, but in the case of the Redmi Note 9 Pro camera, the effect is clearly noticeable.

The photo above clearly shows how wonderfully the camera reproduces colors.

The smartphone handles complex daytime shots well. The camera does not reach the “excellent” level due to not the highest level of detail.

Evening photos

Have you ever taken pictures with old Soviet cameras? If so, the photo above will definitely remind you of one of those cameras. But no, there is no “Soviet” filter in this photo. It’s just that the smartphone camera takes pictures like this in low light conditions. It turns out quite well, although defects, including noise in the sky, are starting to show through.

You can shoot the sunset with your smartphone. Even in suboptimal conditions, the pictures can turn out great.

Night photos

When shooting with a smartphone at night, be sure to focus on any illuminated object. In this case, the photos will turn out to be highly detailed and pleasing to the eye.

Pay attention to chromatic aberrations at the edges of objects in the frame. After sunset, when the camera no longer has enough light, they appear instantly. And they cannot be avoided.

Another example of a good photo taken almost at night. The main thing is to focus on artificially illuminated objects.

If we talk about shooting “at night”, then here the Redmi smartphone, like any other without an advanced night mode, begins to have problems. Frank noise throughout the frame, artifacts and other defects. Even if there is a bright object in the center.

Portrait photography

The smartphone supports advanced portrait shooting mode. The device processor takes part in image processing, which monitors the quality of blur. In general, this is the best blur. The shot above is done almost perfectly. The only puncture was the hair on the top of the girl’s head, which could not be properly processed. On the other hand, the frame is complex, but the background is well blurred.

A similar example. Shows that portrait mode only has problems with separating very small objects from the background. In this case it is hair.

But when the background is “simpler,” portrait photographs turn out much better. There is practically nothing to complain about in the photo above. Note that this photo was taken when the lighting was not ideal - the sun was hidden behind the clouds.

Shooting with the front camera

The photos taken with the front camera of the smartphone are excellent. The example above shows how the front-facing portrait mode works. The subject is completely and seamlessly separated from the background.

Pictures taken with the front camera are highly detailed and have very fair color reproduction. The latter is even surprising, since Xiaomi often artificially embellishes photos taken with the front camera.

Daytime video shooting

It’s rare that mid-budget Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones are distinguished by their ability to shoot high-quality video. Redmi Note 9 Pro is almost an exception. The videos for it cannot be called terrible, but there are plenty of complaints about them. The video shakes, autofocus constantly strives to switch, even when the smartphone barely moves, because of this, glare regularly occurs, the microphone records all sounds in a row. In general, a complete set of standard jambs. At the same time, they are not as pronounced as on cheaper smartphones from Chinese brands.

Night video shooting

In the evening, all the problems listed above intensify the effect. In addition, detail decreases throughout the entire frame. This is not surprising - this is exactly what was expected from a smartphone. As a result, you can only shoot a more or less high-quality video on the Redmi Note 9 Pro using a stabilizer. Therefore, if you plan to shoot video on your smartphone, you should definitely think about stabilization right away. Otherwise the result will be disastrous.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro smartphone review

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi is not slowing down: sometimes less than six months pass between the release of one model and the announcement of the next (with the same positioning). This happened with one of the most popular Redmi Note lines: before we had time to fully enjoy all the capabilities of Redmi Note 5/Pro, its successor Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro was announced in India and later in Vietnam. True, the “global version” of the new product reached the official Russian market later - only in mid-autumn. Today we’ll look at the new flagship of the Redmi Note family and look for differences from Redmi Note 5, if any. So let's begin.

Main characteristics of Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro

• SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 636, 8 cores Kryo 260 @1.8 GHz
• GPU Adreno 509
• Operating system Android 8.1, MIUI 9.5
• Touch display IPS 6.26″, 2246×1080 (19:9), 398 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 3/4 GB, internal memory 32/64 GB
• MicroSD support up to 256 GB
• Nano-SIM support (2 pcs.)
• GSM networks (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
• WCDMA/HSPA+ networks (850/900/1900/2100 MHz)
• LTE networks FDD (Band 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20), TD (Band 38, 40)
• GPS (with A-GPS), Glonass, Beidou
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n (2.4 and 5 GHz)
• Bluetooth 5.0
• No NFC
• Micro-USB, USB OTG
• Audio output to headphones (3.5 mm)
• IR port
• Main camera 12 + 5 MP, f/1.9, autofocus, 1080p video
• Front camera 20 + 2 MP, f/2.0
• Proximity and light sensors, magnetometer, accelerometer, gyroscope
• Fingerprint's scanner
• Battery 4000 mAh
• Dimensions 158×76×8.2 mm
• Weight 176 g

Appearance and ease of use

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro is generally similar to Redmi Note 5, including dimensions and weight, but differs in details. For example, here, unlike its predecessor, they still cut out a “bang” in the screen, while Redmi Note 5 still had a smooth, normal frame without any cutouts, although the upper and lower segments, naturally, were wider.

The back side of the case is also different: Redmi Note 5 had a metal cover, with two small plastic inserts at the ends. Here, plastic occupies a much larger part of the total surface, since the entire frame is made of it, along with the sidewalls and the upper and lower ends, and only the central part of the lid is made of metal.

There are no complaints about the quality of materials and assembly - everything fits perfectly, the body is monolithic, and does not creak when compressed. However, changing the metal sides to plastic ones did not help: the hard matte surfaces slip in the hands, the smartphone is not held securely, and a case is needed.

But fingerprints are completely invisible on all these matte components of the case - the smartphone always looks neat and quite presentable.

The module with a dual camera and flash on the back side sticks out, the smartphone sways when you touch the screen, and lies unsteadily on a hard surface.

The fingerprint scanner area, as usual, stands out tactilely; it is slightly recessed. There are no complaints about the work of the scanner; recognition occurs clearly, without failures.

There is an LED event indicator here, but it shines with a dim, milky light—you won’t notice it across the room. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do without the notorious “bangs”, and Xiaomi has not yet reached the “teardrop-shaped” cutout. As a result, the notch leaves a huge, unsightly hole in the display.

The corners of the screen are strongly rounded to match the curves of the body. The screen aspect ratio is 19:9, while the Redmi Note 5 had 18:9. Accordingly, below the screen there is a thinner strip of empty space than the previous model.

The side keys are exactly the same as before. They have no tactile differences, smooth, without textures. Both are installed on the same edge, which is convenient. The dimensions and rigidity are normal, the buttons are large.

The card slot is hybrid; you can simultaneously install two Nano-SIM cards or one Nano-SIM and one memory card. Hot swapping of cards is supported.

At the top end, in addition to an auxiliary microphone and an infrared transmitter for emulating a remote control, a 3.5 mm audio output for headphones was also installed. The previous model had it at the bottom.

At the bottom end we again see an interface connector in a “retro” style: the USB port is represented by a Micro-USB connector. The main loudspeaker is also located here. Unlike Redmi Note 5, there are two rows of holes, but there is still only one speaker behind them.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro comes in three color options: black, blue and pink (the red one got lost somewhere on the way to Russia). The case is not protected from water and dust.

Screen

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro is equipped with an IPS display with 2.5D Gorilla Glass protection. The screen dimensions are approximately 68x144 mm, diagonal - 6.26 inches, and resolution - 2246x1080 (aspect ratio 19:9, pixel density about 398 ppi). The frame has not become narrower on the sides; its width there is at least 4 mm, but the indentation at the bottom has decreased to 9 mm. The full margin at the top is 10 mm, the margin to the edges of the screen on the sides of the bangs is 4 mm.

You can adjust the display brightness manually or use automatic settings based on the ambient light sensor. Multi-touch tests diagnose support for 10 simultaneous touches.

A detailed examination using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections Alexey Kudryavtsev . Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are better than the screen of the Chuwi Hi9 plus tablet. For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected when the screens are turned off (on the left is Chuwi Hi9 plus, on the right is Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro, then they can be distinguished by size):

The screen of Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro is darker (brightness according to photographs is 115 versus 122 for Chuwi Hi9 plus). The ghosting of reflected objects in the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro screen is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically, between the outer glass and the surface of the LCD matrix) (OGS - One Glass Solution type screen). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of intense external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. There is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating on the outer surface of the screen (noticeably better in efficiency than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much more easily and appear at a slower rate than with regular glass.

With manual brightness control and when the white field was displayed in full screen, the maximum brightness value was about 515 cd/m², the minimum was 1.4 cd/m². The maximum brightness is high, and given the excellent anti-glare properties, screen readability even on a sunny day outdoors should be at a good level. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (it is located to the left of the front speaker slot, close to the edge of the bangs). In automatic mode, as external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment slider; the user can use it to try to set the desired brightness level in the current conditions. If you do not interfere, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 4 cd/m² (low), in an office illuminated by artificial light (approximately 550 lux) it sets it to 150 cd/m² (normal), in a very bright environment (corresponds to clear lighting during the day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more) increases to 515 cd/m² (to the maximum, as needed). We slightly increased the brightness in complete darkness and got 15 cd/m² in complete darkness, 160 cd/m² in an artificially lit office, and 515 cd/m² in a very bright environment; we were happy with this result. It turns out that the auto-brightness function works adequately and allows the user to customize their work to individual requirements. At any brightness level, there is no significant backlight modulation, so there is no screen flicker.

This smartphone uses an IPS matrix. The microphotographs show a typical IPS subpixel structure:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

The screen has good viewing angles without significant color shift even with large viewing deviations from perpendicular to the screen and without inverting shades. For comparison, here are photographs in which the same images are displayed on the screens of Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro and Google Nexus 7 (2013) (hereinafter simply Nexus 7), while the screen brightness is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera is forced switched to 6500 K.

There is a white field perpendicular to the screens:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field.

And a test picture:

The colors on the screen of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro are slightly more saturated than natural; the color balance of the Nexus 7 and the tested screen are slightly different. The photo was taken in the case of the Auto Configuration profile in the screen settings:

When choosing the Standard profile, the color saturation is slightly less.

Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:

It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens, but on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro the contrast has decreased to a greater extent due to the strong highlighting of blacks.

And a white field:

The brightness at an angle of the screens decreased (at least 5 times, based on the difference in shutter speed), and decreased approximately equally. When deviated diagonally, the black field brightens greatly and acquires a red-violet hue. The photographs below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same!):

And from another angle:

When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the black field is excellent (for clarity, the backlight is set to maximum brightness):

The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is high - about 1500:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 18 ms (10 ms on + 8 ms off). The transition between halftones of gray 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 34 ms. The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal any blockage in either the highlights or the shadows. The exponent of the approximating power function is 2.31, which is slightly higher than the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve almost does not deviate from the power-law dependence:

This device has a not very aggressive dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the output image - on average dark images, the backlight brightness decreases slightly. As a result, the resulting dependence of brightness on hue (gamma curve) does not correspond to the gamma curve of a static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential display of shades of gray on almost the entire screen. For this reason, we carried out a number of tests - determining contrast and response time, comparing black illumination at angles - (however, as always) when displaying special templates with a constant average brightness, and not monochromatic fields in the entire screen. In general, such a non-switchable brightness correction does nothing but harm, since constantly changing the screen brightness can at least cause some discomfort, reduce the visibility of gradations in shadows in the case of dark images and the readability of the screen in bright light, since in average images the brightness is not the lightest backlight is reduced.

Color gamut is slightly wider than sRGB:

When choosing the Standard profile, the coverage is adjusted to the sRGB boundaries, but for some reason only at the vertices:

The spectra show that the matrix filters moderately mix the components with each other:

At the same time, the humps of green and red colors are relatively well separated, which leads to some broadening of the color gamut.

By default, the color temperature is high, about 8800 K. However, in this device, when you select the Auto Adjust profile, you can adjust the color balance by adjusting the hue with a point on the color wheel or by selecting preset options. In addition, correction is performed automatically when you select the Standard profile.

The result in the latter case is good (see graphs below), since the color temperature becomes slightly higher than the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is below 10, which is considered a good indicator for a consumer device. At the same time, color temperature and ΔE change little from hue to hue - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

In the settings you can reduce the intensity of the blue component:

In principle, bright light can lead to disruption of the circadian rhythm (see the article about the iPad Pro with a 9.7-inch display), but everything can be solved by adjusting the brightness to a comfortable level, and there is absolutely no way to distort the color balance, reducing the contribution of blue sense.

To summarize: the screen has a very high maximum brightness and has excellent anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors even on a sunny summer day without any problems. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. It is also possible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works adequately. The advantages of the screen include the presence of an effective oleophobic coating, the absence of an air gap in the layers of the screen and visible flicker, high contrast and excellent uniformity of the black field, as well as a color gamut close to sRGB and good color balance (after selecting the desired profile). The disadvantages are the low stability of black to the deviation of the gaze from perpendicular to the screen plane. Taking into account the importance of characteristics for this particular class of devices, the screen quality can be considered high.

Cameras

The front camera of Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro has a high resolution of 20 megapixels and a lens with an f/2.0 aperture; it supports Super Pixel 4 in 1 technology, thanks to which 4 pixels of the sensor are combined into one large one - this helps combat noise in low light. In this case, an additional 2-megapixel module was added to help the front camera; its main function is to measure the depth of field to create a background blur effect.

Admittedly, the camera succeeds in this effect: the subject is clearly contoured, there is practically no mixing with the background even in small details, there are no problems with this. But in this case you need to be careful with the ubiquitous “beautifier”. It blurs the textures so much that such a self-portrait looks good only on a small smartphone display; such an image is no longer worth displaying on a large screen.

The rear camera also uses a double module: the main one has a 12 megapixel sensor and an f/1.9 aperture lens, and the secondary one has a 5 megapixel sensor, which helps in portrait modes. Relatively large 1.4µm pixels capture more light, and fast Dual Pixel phase detection autofocus increases focusing speed. There is a bright flash.

The menu is standard for MIUI: you cannot select a specific image resolution, you have to be guided by vague concepts (“normal”, “high”, “low”). There is a manual control mode, and it is not stripped down, as in budget models of the same manufacturer, but full-fledged. You can select settings for focus, shutter speed, light sensitivity and white balance. There is no standard option to save pictures in RAW.

Examples of photos taken with the rear camera:

The camera characteristics of Redmi Note 6 Pro and Redmi Note 5 are no different, and the same can be said about photographs from these devices. During the day the camera feels quite good, at night everything is much worse. Overall, this is a typical mid-range, closer to budget.

The main camera can shoot video at a maximum resolution of 1080p at 30 fps; there are no more advanced modes. There is also no optical stabilization, but there is electronic stabilization. The camera copes well with video shooting during the day, and even handheld shooting is quite adequate. Sharpness is normal, detail is satisfactory, there are no complaints about color rendition and auto white balance. But evening/night shooting turns into a noisy mess, and an attempt to shoot on the go completely ruins the whole idea. For night video shooting, this camera is frankly weak. The sound, surprisingly, is not subject to distortion from the noise reduction system, as in most Xiaomi models.

Video examples:

• Video No. 1 (48 MB, 1920× [email protected] fps, H.264, AAC)
• Video No. 2 (41 MB, 1920× [email protected] fps, H.264, AAC)

Telephone and communications

The Snapdragon 636 includes an X12 LTE modem, which theoretically provides data download speeds of up to 600 Mbps. With its official entry into the Russian market, Xiaomi has corrected itself: all certified devices now have support for all three of the most common LTE FDD frequency bands in our country (Band 3, 7, 20). Within the city limits of the Moscow region, the device behaves confidently, and the quality of signal reception in wireless networks does not raise any complaints.

Both Wi-Fi bands (2.4 and 5 GHz) are supported, as well as Bluetooth 5.0, but, unfortunately, the NFC module is missing in the device.

The navigation module works with GPS (with A-GPS) and with the domestic Glonass. There is information in the specifications about support for the Chinese Beidou, but the test program does not find these satellites in practice. During a cold start, the first satellites are detected quite quickly, within the first minute. The device has a magnetic compass, which is necessary for the operation of navigation programs.

The phone application supports Smart Dial, that is, while dialing a phone number, a search is immediately carried out by the first letters in contacts. Methods for sorting and displaying contacts are standard for the Android interface.

In the conversational dynamics, the voice of a familiar interlocutor is clearly recognizable, the sound is loud and clear, there are no extraneous noises. Vibration alert is as powerful as possible. VoLTE supported.

The platform supports active standby of both SIM cards in 3G/4G simultaneously. That is, the SIM card can be in active standby on a 3G/4G network, and not just on 2G, even if another card is assigned to transmit data on 4G. The cards operate in Dual SIM Dual Standby mode, there is only one radio modem.

Software and multimedia

As a software platform, Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro uses Android OS version 8.1 with its own MIUI shell version 9.6 Global and with the ability to update over the air (OTA).

The MIUI interface, as usual, has a maximum number of settings, there is support for gestures, you can reduce the screen area, reassign buttons, control the operation of the indicator light, and much more. Anyone familiar with the MIUI interface will easily figure everything out, but for most ordinary users such features are, of course, redundant. Among the pre-installed programs, we can highlight a comprehensive phone manager, which is responsible for energy consumption, system monitoring, virus protection, memory cleaning, etc. In general, there are a lot of programs installed, but most of them are useful utilities, so there are no complaints.

It is curious that in Russia the smartphone does not support facial recognition of the owner, although this fashionable feature is now increasingly found even in more budget Chinese smartphones. We just have to wait for new firmware.

In terms of sound, Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro is very interesting. In the headphones, the sound here is thicker, bassier, richer and brighter than, for example, that of the same Mi A2. The situation with the loudspeaker is exactly the same: the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro has a sound that is perhaps less sonorous and less loud, but cleaner and richer in low frequencies, so in general the audio component of the review hero is a solid A for his level.

The settings include a ten-band equalizer with a set of presets. FM radio available. I was surprised that the built-in voice recorder demonstrates good recording quality, without the distorting echo effects that we observed when using the voice recorder in Redmi Note 5.

Performance

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro smartphone, like its predecessor Xiaomi Redmi Note 5, uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 mobile platform. This is the biggest oddity: it turns out that the camera and hardware platform of smartphones of different generations are exactly the same. But these are the two main distinguishing characteristics of any model of mobile device.

The 14nm SoC is configured with an octa-core processor with Kryo 260 processor cores operating at up to 1.8 GHz. The Adreno 509 GPU is responsible for graphics processing. The amount of RAM is 3 or 4 GB, the amount of built-in flash memory is 32 or 64 GB. In the case of 64 GB storage, the user gets about 50 GB free.

It is possible to expand the memory by installing microSD cards, but the system does not offer installation of applications on the memory card. It is possible to connect external flash drives in USB OTG mode.

The platform belongs to the middle class; the test results are appropriate. In terms of processor performance, it is inferior to almost all modern top-mid-level solutions - Samsung Exynos 7885, HiSilicon Kirin 710 and even MediaTek Helio P60. However, in terms of graphics, it is not inferior to any of its competitors.

As a result, the capabilities of the new platform are more than enough for any needs and tasks; there are no problems with games either: for example, Injustice 2 runs without slowdowns. A smartphone on such a solid platform has plenty of power for further updates. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 would certainly look much better here, but smartphones powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 also have some performance reserves.

Testing in comprehensive tests AnTuTu and GeekBench:

For convenience, we have compiled all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks into tables. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry figures). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” - due to the fact that they once passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions of test programs.

Testing the graphics subsystem in gaming tests 3DMark, GFXBenchmark and Bonsai Benchmark:

When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowance for the fact that their results significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this is possible during testing not always. For Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

AndroBench memory speed test results:

Thermal photographs

Below is a thermal image of the rear surface obtained after 15 minutes of fighting with a gorilla in the game Injustice 2 (this test is also used to determine autonomy in 3D games):

The heating is localized in the upper part of the device, which apparently corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. According to the heat camera, the maximum heating was 43 degrees (at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees), which is slightly higher than the average value in this test for modern smartphones.

Playing video

To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, you shouldn’t expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are summarized in a table.

Further testing of video playback was performed by Alexey Kudryavtsev .

We did not find the MHL interface, like Mobility DisplayPort, in this smartphone, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Method for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)”). Screenshots with a shutter speed of 1 s helped determine the nature of the output of frames of video files with various parameters: the resolution varied (1280 by 720 (720p), 1920 by 1080 (1080p) and 3840 by 2160 (4K) pixels) and frame rate (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps). In the tests we used the MX Player video player in the “Hardware” mode. The test results are summarized in the table:

Note: If both columns Uniformity and Skips have green ratings, this means that, most likely, when watching films, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and skipping of frames will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect comfort viewing. Red marks indicate possible problems with playback of the corresponding files.

According to the criterion of frame output, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is very good, since frames or groups of frames can (but are not required) be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without gaps. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (1080p), the image of the video file itself is displayed one-to-one pixel by pixel, exactly at the height of the screen (in landscape orientation) and in true Full HD resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen actually corresponds to the standard range of 16-235: in the shadows only a couple of shades merge with black, but in the highlights all gradations of shades are displayed. Note that this smartphone has hardware decoding support for H.265 files with a color depth of 10 bits per color, while displaying on the screen with fewer visible gradients than in the case of an 8-bit file. The smartphone reproduces HDR files, but the number of gradations on the screen is clearly less than it should be with 10-bit output, and the colors are too pale, that is, there is virtually no HDR support.

Battery life

The non-removable battery installed in the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro has exactly the same capacity as that of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 - 4000 mAh. This is a lot, and the SoC is the same, but still the new model demonstrates slightly worse battery life than its predecessor - perhaps due to the larger display area. In real life, the device behaves the same way as most modern smartphones: it confidently survives until the evening charge, but you can’t count on more.

Testing has traditionally been done at normal power consumption levels without using power-saving features.

Continuous reading in the Moon+ Reader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) with auto-scrolling lasted until the battery was completely discharged for about 19 hours, and when continuously watching videos in high quality (720p) with the same brightness level via a home Wi-Fi network, the device operates for more than 10 hours, which is an excellent indicator. In 3D gaming mode, the smartphone can work for more than 5.5 hours, depending on the specific game.

From the included 5 V 2 A network adapter, the smartphone is charged within 2 hours 20 minutes with a current of 1.9 A at a voltage of 5 V. The smartphone does not support wireless charging.

Bottom line

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro is very little different from Xiaomi Redmi Note 5, and why it was given another serial number, bringing the slightly modified model into a new generation, is not entirely clear. The differences are minimal, and not all of them, admittedly, are for the better. It is unlikely that a huge cutout in the screen, for example, can be considered a successful change, the very appearance of which neutralizes (eats up) the increased display area of ​​​​the new model. In terms of the main hardware components, the smartphones are identical, and the higher resolution of the front camera does not take the updated model to a new level of photography: the class as a whole is still the same. Autonomy has deteriorated slightly; NFC was never added. At the same time, Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro costs more than Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 at the start - 18 and 20 thousand rubles for modifications of 3/32 GB and 4/64 GB, respectively, while Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 in the “basic configuration” has now fallen in price by official retail up to 13 thousand. The benefit, as they say, is obvious.

In general, it was difficult to find differences between Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro and Xiaomi Redmi Note 5; these are almost identical models. Smartphones are probably worth their money because they are balanced, high-quality products from a well-known manufacturer, although, as usual, they get to Russia at a higher price.

NFC in place

Redmi Note 9 Pro received a set of wireless connections that has become common for current Xiaomi smartphones. The new product supports Wi-Fi 5 (802.11), Bluetooth 5.0, has an infrared port for controlling TVs and, of course, is equipped with an NFC module for wireless shopping.

NFC is not new to the Redmi Note Pro line - it appeared in the previous Redmi Note 8 Pro. However, there are always a lot of questions about the presence of NFC in Xiaomi smartphones, so I’ll clarify. You will be able to make contactless payments with your new laptop without any problems - don’t worry.

Features of the MIUI 10 firmware version

Before installing the latest firmware version, you will need to complete the standard steps to prepare your smartphone for the procedure. You can reflash the device using any of the known and available methods. The main changes in this version include:

• Fixed display of battery charge level;
• The performance of the Camera application during photo processing has been improved; colors are no longer distorted;
• The desktop display has been optimized for Xiaomi smartphones with a cut-out screen.

To install MIUI 10 in Russian with support for all available Google services, you need to install a custom firmware version. Its release date is not yet known. However, developers always try to solve this problem faster.

In the video you can see how to quickly install firmware on Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro in Russian:

Before flashing your Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro mobile device, you need to prepare your mobile phone for the procedure. For the process to function successfully, all the described actions must be performed step by step. This will help avoid problems during the flashing process and during the operation of the mobile device.

conclusions

Xiaomi Redmi Pro is interesting, first of all, for its dual main camera and attractive design, which distinguishes the device from its analogues. But from a technical point of view, the need for such a smartphone to appear on the market is doubtful. In terms of gaming capabilities, Redmi Pro is clearly inferior to its predecessors, and with the release of Redmi Note 4 with almost the same body and characteristics, it is not entirely clear whether people will agree to overpay just for the presence of a fingerprint scanner and a dual camera.

⇡#Hardware and performance

It so happens that realme 6 Pro is officially the world’s first smartphone with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G mid-range hardware platform. And to put it mildly, not the last - for example, Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S (the closest competitor of the “six”) has already been released and, I think, a whole series of gadgets with this processor on board are coming. It is built on eight cores: two Kryo 465 Gold (modified ARM Cortex-A76) with a clock frequency of 2.33 GHz and six Kryo 465 Silver (ARM Cortex-A55) with a frequency of 1.8 GHz. The Adreno 618 subsystem with a higher frequency than the regular Snapdragon 720 is responsible for the graphics; a Hexagon 692 signal processor is provided, which is responsible, among other things, for neural network operations. The platform is produced using an 8nm process technology.

Looking at the comparative performance graphs, you can see that the new platform still doesn’t provide any extraordinary gains compared to its competitors, most of which were released last year—the realme 6 Pro still doesn’t fully deserve the title of gaming smartphone. It will run virtually any modern games, but not always at the maximum frame rate and not at maximum graphics settings. A high refresh rate will still come in handy, and while you won't be the king of gamers with the realme 6 Pro, you won't have to suffer from a noticeable lack of performance either.

Among other things, a very significant amount of RAM for this (and not only) price category will help - 8 GB DDR4X. At the very least, you definitely won’t experience a shortage of this in the next two to three years.

But there may be problems in long gaming sessions - the CPU Throttling Test recorded a decrease in frequency to 68% of the maximum. However, the problems are hardly serious - pay attention to how the graph behaves in the time interval - the drop to the recorded minimum occurred at the beginning of testing, then the decrease in frequencies is already minimal. So we can hardly talk about serious problems with cooling, and the results obtained can be attributed to the peculiarities of the software settings: the “brains” of the smartphone, which are responsible for energy saving, did not immediately realize that it was necessary to bring the processor to maximum power. The average performance level was a very respectable 140 GIPS.

realme 6 Pro has a UFS 2.1 flash drive with a capacity of 128 GB with the option of expansion with a microSD memory card - and a dedicated slot is used for this. You won't have to sacrifice one of your SIM cards.

Communications and communications

The smartphone is equipped with modules that support 3G and LTE networks. On the territory of Russia, the mobile device works properly, communication in the areas of operator towers is uninterrupted.

Connecting to the Internet via Wi-Fi is carried out via a dual-band module. Its sensitivity is equal to the component installed on the Galaxy S 6/7 smartphones.

USB 2.0 is used for synchronization with a computer and charging. Wireless connection setup is available using the Bluetooth 4.1 module.

Design

It is noticeable that the Xiaomi company has worked hard to develop a unique design for the gadget. You can even say that the appearance of this device is one of the best in the history of the company. The stylish case is made of solid metal, and there are no plastic inserts even at the ends. Due to this, the smartphone has acquired additional aesthetics and integrity. Plastic is used only under the seams for antenna output, but its presence does not spoil the overall picture at all.

For a more comfortable grip, there is a special bend on the sides on the back surface. It is impossible not to notice the similarities with the flagship Mi 5. There are chamfers along the perimeter of the case, which also help in conveniently fixing the device. The texture of raw aluminum adds a special “zest”. But this is purely a visual effect. The surface is very smooth to the touch. This is certainly a plus, but it also comes with a small drawback - fingerprints appear on the surface very quickly.

A protective glass with rounded edges appeared on the front surface. There is a barely noticeable plastic insert between the body and the edges of the glass. If you look for disadvantages in the appearance of the smartphone, you can only remember the large width of the display edges. But when we talk about budget mobile devices, it’s hardly worth considering this nuance seriously.

⇡#Camera

Formally, realme 6 Pro received a very solid rear camera with four modules, and none of them are added simply for quantity - there is no so-called depth sensor here, each camera performs a specific function: the smartphone receives an expanded viewing angle, 2x optical (and 5x hybrid) zoom, as well as a special module for macro photography.

The main module is built on a 64-megapixel Samsung GW1 sensor with dimensions of 1/1.7” (individual pixel dimensions are 0.8 microns) with phase detection autofocus and a lens with an equivalent focal length of 26 mm and f/1.8 aperture. The zoom module is based on a sensor with a resolution of 12 megapixels, dimensions 1/3.4″ (pixel size - 1.0 microns) with a lens with EGF 54 mm and aperture f/2.5; There is phase autofocus. The wide viewing angle is provided by a module with an 8 MP sensor, 1/4.0″ dimensions (pixel size 1.12 µm), with a 13 mm EGF lens and f/2.3 aperture; without autofocus. The macro module received a small (1/5.0″) two-megapixel sensor with a lens with a focal length of 22 mm and, again, a fixed focus.

Above you can see examples of shooting at all proposed standard focal lengths. If you wish, you can choose a twenty-fold digital zoom, but there is no need to talk about the quality of shooting in this mode. In standard formats, we note very good detail and normal (but not extremely good) dynamic range at wide and normal viewing angles, as well as at 2x zoom. If there is enough lighting, then the picture will be of decent quality in all these cases, and paradoxically, the dynamic range of the wide-angle module is even wider - however, this is more like not the merits of the sensor, but rather the fact that the “brains” of the smartphone overdid it in increasing the contrast when shooting with the main module. With a five-fold zoom, a drop in detail is already noticeable, even in ideal light - but the resulting image can be used for social networks. In low light, unfortunately, you can only get a good picture with the main module with a standard viewing angle - it, like everyone else, lacks an optical stabilizer, but the high aperture of the optics and the Quad Bayer system allow you to count on good results. With other focal lengths you can’t take much pictures at night, including with the night mode activated.

However, as I already wrote above about the five-fold zoom (which is completely useless at night), for social networks, if the situation is successful, you can also use the picture from the wide-angle module: the noise reduction here works extremely actively, the details are “killed” and there are color distortions, but overall the picture is obtained unblurred and with relatively tolerable gaps in the shadows. By the way, the night mode in realme 6 Pro is implemented in a classic way - pictures from a multi-frame exposure are combined with subsequent “thinking out” using neural networks, but the shooting is carried out literally in a second, and the result is calculated in another three. There is no magic, like in Huawei/Honor smartphones, but still the level is not bad for a phone for a little over twenty thousand rubles.

By default, the main module shoots at a resolution of 16 megapixels, but at any time you can activate the high-resolution mode, which uses each subpixel, and get an image with a resolution of 64 megapixels. In the case of landscapes and some bright textures in the frame, this may be justified.

Like in OPPO smartphones, in realme you cannot completely disable neural network computing in the basic photography mode - to do this you need to go to the “professional” tab with manual settings. In any other case, the smartphone will necessarily recognize the scene and slightly adjust the image according to its ideas of beauty. But neural networks work relatively neatly, and you usually don’t want to turn them off. However, there is also an “enhanced” mode of operation of neural networks, which is called “color saturation”. Actually, the name reflects the essence one hundred percent - the saturation is raised to the limit, the picture looks very contrasty and a little poisonous.

In portrait mode, there is software background blur, which works well even with the aperture “open” to maximum - blurring of individual strands of hair may occur here, but in general the smartphone recognizes the subject and background correctly when shooting portraits. There is also a switchable beautifier with the usual scattering of settings. The disadvantage of portrait mode is that you can only use one focal length of the base camera (26 mm) - spatial distortion will be noticeable when shooting close-up/medium shots.

The macro camera allows you to take spectacular close-ups, but the image suffers from poor detail and too much artificial intelligence intervention that carelessly handles colors and saturation.

The camera application is well known from ColorOS: easy navigation, but not too many settings and modes.

Gallery of pictures

View all images (24)

Naturally, realme 6 Pro can shoot video in 4K at up to 30 frames per second or in Full HD at up to 60 frames per second. Enhanced stabilization is available, which works in Full HD resolution. It is very effective, an example can be seen above. The ability to shoot video with artificial bokeh is available. The general level of video shooting should be considered very high, even without a discount on the device class.

The front camera in realme 6 Pro received two modules: a 16-megapixel, with an ƒ/2.1 aperture lens, responsible for a standard viewing angle, and an 8-megapixel, with an ƒ/2.2 aperture lens, for a wide angle. The smartphone's selfie camera does not have autofocus or flash, but there is no need to worry about this - it works correctly in almost all situations. There is a portrait mode with background blur, it only works with a standard viewing angle, but the beauty feature is available at any angle.

Screen

Realme 6 is equipped with a 6.6-inch screen, which is 0.1 inches larger than the regular Realme 6. Aspect ratio is 20:9, resolution is FHD+ or 2400x1080, pixel density is 399 ppi. The main feature is the refresh rate of 90 Hz (for conventional matrices it is 60 Hz). This means that scrolling will be smoother due to the higher animation playback speed (90 FPS).

Test results at 100% backlight:

• White brightness: 421 cd/m2
• Black brightness: 0.318 cd/m2
• Contrast: 1324:1
• DeltaE color accuracy: 2.2 out of the box, 1.5 with manual color calibration

Based on the characteristics, it is obvious that the matrix on Realme 6 is great, whether it is the best in its class is possible.