Review: Xiaomi Redmi 1S - Brace for the second assault

Xiaomi Redmi 1S
Price: Rs 6000 (Available soon Flipkart.com)

 

Xiaomi, now known as China's answer to Apple, has got a new ace up its sleeve for India - the Redmi 1S. After its earlier onslaught via the hugely successful Mi3, the Chinese manufacturer has planned to launch the brand new dual-SIM smartphone in a bid to capture the low-end segment. Yet again, the company promises high-end hardware and performance at an unrivalled pricing. I got to try my hands on the new handset before its launch to find out whether the numbers on paper really translate to good real life performance. Read on for the review.

  

 

Accessories

The Redmi 1S is priced in the low-end segment, which naturally reflects in the lack of certain accessories such as headset. The box contains the basic accessories as below.

• USB Charger (100-240V ~ 50/60 Hz 0.6 A AC to 5 V 2000 mA DC)
• Li-Ion 3.8 V 2050 mAh battery
• Micro-USB data/charging cable
• Manuals and warranty card

The charger is actually better than the one that comes with the Xiaomi Mi3 because of two reasons:

1. It has a better current output of 2000 mA as against 1000 mA of the Mi3 charger, thus charging the phone faster.
2. It has a matte finish, which is resistant to dust and fingerprints, unlike the piano-black finish of the Mi3 charger.

Features

At just Rs 6000 as per the official website, (even though the box mentions Rs 8000), one would expect the Xiaomi Redmi 1S to look like any other Chinese phone, but that's not the case. The build quality is really good and the materials used as well as the finishing makes it look like a more expensive phone. It is rectangular, but with slightly rounded corners. The company states that the phone has been tested to survive a 1 m drop over 100 times. Of course, you wouldn't want to test that out. The entire phone is black, but Xiaomi might bring on other colour variants to the Indian market, as it has in China.

 

 

The front of the phone almost entirely features the touchscreen protected by AGC Dragontrail against scratches. The actual touchscreen area is 4.7" excluding some bezel area. The IPS screen boasts of HD pixel dimensions of 1280x720 at 312 PPI, and the images really appear crisp with good colour reproduction even at wide angles. Unlike the Mi3, the Redmi 1S doesn't have the super-sensitivity touchscreen setting, which would have made it possible to operate it even with gloves on. Of course, it doesn't matter in India, as this is only of use in cold countries where people need to wear gloves in winter.

 

Red backlit capacitive buttons for Android are present on the lower bezel, thus leaving the entire touchscreen for the user's perusal. The top has a speaker at the centre, a proximity sensor on the left, and the front camera on the right of the phone.

 

The back panel with rounded edges is made of flexible, but good quality polymer with a premium feel. It is removable, allowing removal of the battery if required for future replacement.

 

 

There are also two slots for mini-SIMs, of which one supports 3G, while the other 2G. A memory card slot is also present here to accommodate a micoSD card with up to 64 GB capacity. Before I forget to mention, the internal storage is only 8 GB, so you might need to exercise this storage augmentation option.

 

The phone weighs just 158 grams, which is not heavy. Its dimensions of 137 mm x 69 mm don't allow easy one-handed operation. The thickness is just 9.9 mm.

 

A 3.5 mm headphone jack is present at the top, which accepts standard headphones and also handsfree headsets. Two noise cancellation microphones are also present at the top, to filter out unwanted noise while you have a conversation, so that the other party hears only your voice clearly. This indeed works very well for Skype as well as phone calls.

 

 

The micro-USB socket is rectangular, without any demarcation about how to orient the plug while inserting. This may result in some confusion as some may try to forcefully insert the plug in the wrong direction, causing physical damage to either the port or the plug.

 

 

The only physical buttons on the unit are the volume and power buttons.

 

 

Camera

The Redmi 1S comes equipped with dual cameras. The rear camera with is an 8 mp image sensor and has 5 lens elements. With an f/2.2 aperture, the 28 mm lens can capture a wide angle view. Image stabilisation is not present in the camera, so you need to have a pair of steady hands to get good photos. The camera can also snap HDR photos via a built-in mode, although you need to be able to hold it dead-still while it takes a few shots for a split second and combines them internally to produce the HDR photo. Of course, the camera can also record Full HD (1080p) videos. A single LED is present to facilitate flash photography or videography in the dark, although it is not bright enough to be really dependable for that purpose.

 

The front camera has a 1.6 mp image sensor and is capable of 720p HD recording. While it can take snaps and record videos, this camera is mainly meant to be used for video calling over 3G or in IM applications such as Skype.

The camera performance is decent and even better than most smartphones in this range, but at least some amount of noise is evident in all lighting conditions. Low light photography or video recording should be ruled out in most cases because the camera finds it difficult to focus in such lighting conditions. The camera app allows you to assign the camera shutter function to the volume buttons, which gives more control over the shot than it is possible via the touch interface shutter button. Of course, there is still no half-press for focus functionality, so you need to use either auto-focus or touch-to-focus. Camera shot samples will be posted soon.

 

Technical Features

The Redmi 1S is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset, which includes a 1.6 GHz Cortex-A7 quad-core CPU. Remember, this is not the same as the inexpensive MediaTek quad-core CPUs found in most Android phones. It is more powerful and is usually found in more expensive smartphones. Graphics is handled by the Adreno 305 GPU. There is 1 GB of RAM to allow most apps and games to run smoothly. As mentioned earlier, there is 8 GB of internal storage, with a microSD card slot to add up to 64 GB more.

 

The device runs Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) with the company's own MIUI V5 interface. The MIUI V5 interface actually makes it easier to access and use the phone's features and doesn't seem to take away anything from the stock Android interface. There are various nifty features such as the ability to select a system default font.

 

 

Some of the other specs of the Redmi 1S include quad-band 2G, dual-band 3G, Wi-Fi with hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GPS (assisted), GLONASS, FM Radio, accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, compass, light sensor, and USB OTG

In case you are wondering, the official radiation ratings for the Redmi 1S are as below:
SAR 1g limit: 1.6 W/kg
SAR Value: 1.210 W/kg (MAX)
 

Additional Features With Screenshots

Swiping down the notification bar reveals a tab called Toggles. This is where you can quickly access eleven of the phone features we usually toggle. This shortcut is great for convenience and saves time.

 

The settings allows you to specify notification light colours for default notifications, calls, and messages. You can choose from amongst seven colours as can be seen in the below screenshot.

 

In case you want to, it is possible to calibrate the colour to some extent and preview the setting before applying it.

 

 

To keep your system running in top notch condition, Xiaomi provides a set of tools to optimise the system performance. These utilities also include a virus scanner, power manager, data usage controller, and a facility to manage blocked phone numbers.

 

 

Multimedia Performance

Like any Android device, the Redmi 1S supports just about every audio and video format, as long as the proper player app is installed, and these are available aplenty in the Google Play Store. Movie playback is smooth. Movies up to 1080p are handled without stuttering.

 

The audio performance is decent, and mainly depends on the quality of headphones/earphones you plug in. The settings allow the phone to be set to vibrate with beats, somewhat enhancing the experience while you are in contact with the phone.

 

The handset comes with Dirac technology - a common feature on Xiaomi phones. This optimises audio quality according to the type of headphones being used. In fact, there are several presets to choose from, depending on the type of headset, altering the way the audio is rendered.

 

 

A 7-band equalizer is provided to further control the audio output. There are 11 presets as well as the ability to create custom settings and save them.

 

Volume levels can be controlled independently for ringtone and notifications, alarm, voice, music and multimedia, and Bluetooth.

 

 

There is an option to configure the buttons of a headset plugged into the phone. You can assign the buttons various functions for volume control as well as music playback.

 

 

In case you don't want to remain shackled to the phone by headphones, the loudspeaker is extraordinarily loud and clear, almost comparable to laptop speakers.

 

Network Performance

Call quality was found to be excellent with both SIMs. The voice clarity is remarkable and it continues to be so even when the network coverage is weak.

 

Wi-Fi performance is also good with the device being able to maintain good reception even through several walls.

 

Gaming Performance and Benchmarks

The Redmi 1S is good for gaming, although it does start stuttering in more complex HD games such as GTA San Andreas. For most other popular games such as Candy Crush, this handset is a joy to game on, not only because of the fluid graphics, but also because of the good quality accompanying sound from the loudspeaker.

For those who are interested, here are the scores for the three most intensive and popular benchmarks for Android.

 

Antutu

Quadrant

3DMark

 

Battery Life

The 2050 mAh battery lasted for over 30 hours before going flat. While most smartphones struggle to keep up from dawn to dusk, the Redmi 1S certainly gets a few valuable brownie points for going many extra miles. This also indicates a very efficient battery management under the hood, considering that the device runs power-hungry components such as the quad-core CPU, Adreno 305 GPU, and a 4.7" HD screen.

 

 

My Verdict

Xiaomi continues to amaze me. Just like with the Mi3, this handset also delivers what it promises to deliver. At just Rs 6000, it beats the similarly speced Moto G in terms of hardware, features, and performance, even though the latter is twice as expensive. Its powerful hardware ensures smooth performance for most tasks. If the brand name is not a hindrance for you, there is currently no better phone in the market at this price-point, in this price segment. 40,000 handsets are scheduled for a flash sale on 2nd September, 2014 on Flipkart.com, but you need to register beforehand. Go for it!

 

 

Pros: Great specs and performance, Crisp screen, Good looks and build quality, Good battery life, Outstanding pricing.

 

Cons: Mediocre camera especially in low-light, Inadequate LED light.

Features: 4.5/5

Performance: 4.5/5

Build Quality: 4.5/5

Ease Of Use: 5/5

Value For Money: 5/5

Overall: 4.5/5