New design just add “rabbit ear”
The design of Redmi Note 6 Pro is still the general appearance of Redmi. Overall appearance is similar to the Redmi Note 5. The most noticeable difference is the appearance of rabbit ears in front of the screen, a detail is now too popular on Android phones. The rabbit ears of the speaker phone include LED notification, dual camera cluster 20MP + 2MP for self-portrait and bright / close-up light sensors.
Another point in the design is that on the old Redmi machines, the plastic border is located at both ends, while on the Redmi Note 6 Pro, the metal back rests on the plastic frame wrapped around. This makes the product look soft and eye-catching. Plastic frame around also helps to reduce the hand slippery than the old generation and can limit the screen break when accidentally dropped phone by plastic absorbs better than metal. However, the screen is mounted on the plastic frame so the machine edge is not smooth, seamless.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro has a 6.26-inch screen, which is really bigger than the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 (6 inches) , but because the bezel is optimized, the overall size of both devices is basically identical. The usable display surface on the Redmi Note 6 Pro comes in at 97.8 cm2 with an 81.1% ratio for the screen / frame, which is higher than the Redmi Note 5 at 92.6 cm2 and 77, 4%.
The back of the machine has a dual camera cluster of 12MP + 5MP inherited from the Redmi Note 5. The fingerprint sensor, too, is a one-touch sensitive sensor and placed in the easy position on the back.
On the edges, the machine has all the familiar components on Xiaomi’s low-cost phones: a micro USB port, a 3.5mm audio jack, an infrared port for controlling home appliances and a single-slot speaker.
Overall, the overall design and dimensions of the Redmi Note 6 Pro are almost identical to the Redmi Note 5 family: familiar but boring. However, the machine also has some remarkable improvements such as the lighter screen bezel and plastic frame that make the machine look soft, less slippery and less broken.
Neutral color screen, average outdoor look, loud speaker, no shuffle at the maximum
The screen is a variation of Redmi Note 6 Pro with the appearance of rabbit ears. In addition to this point, the size increased by more than 5% compared to Redmi Note 5 with 6.26 inch IPS LCD resolution Full-HD + resolution good pixel density: 403 PPI.
The display panel has neutral colors, high brightness and wide viewing angles. Outdoor viewing ability is moderate, but should be avoided when used in the sun. In the setting, this monitor can also customize the color temperature (warm, cold or default) and contrast (auto, contrast and standard). Depending on your preferences or needs you can fine tune these factors. For example, with contrast, choosing the automatic mode or increasing the contrast will help to make the colors look cooler.
About the sound, the machine only has one speaker located at the right bottom. Loudspeaker loud, not distorted and fade when the sound is high.
Many customizable software, high performance war games
Redmi Note 6 Pro now runs this customized MIUI Global 9.6 thing, based on Google’s Android 8.1, it feels like the interface and the whole software routine are basically the same as that Redmi Note 5 from like half a year ago. You still get the usual on-screen navigation keys (back, home and multitasking) but they can be hidden too, then you switch to gestures instead, kinda more fluid. There’s also that rabbit ear area, though you can hide it if you prefer to go back to something familiar 16: 9, so the view looks more normal.
In addition, MIUI 9.6 retains many handy features from previous versions, such as creating two separate spaces with password, account, private collection, application duplication, built-in screen capture application. Phone or Mi Drop …
In day to day performance, the Redmi Note 6 Pro keeps a kind of familiar strength from the earlier, eight core Snapdragon 636 era, with a setup that is still 1.8GHz Cortex-A73 high-performance core and then a Cortex-A53 power-efficient core 1.6GHz and it comes with 2 memory choices : 3GB RAM / 32GB internal storage and 4GB RAM / 64GB internal storage.
Snapdragon 636 is a popular chip on the mid-range smartphone today. This is a very good processor performance. That’s enough to balance the day-to-day needs of full-HD screen smartphones. The processor is also based on a 14nm process like the Snapdragon 625 which should run quite economically.
Not only for basic needs, Snapdragon 636 on Redmi Note 6 Pro also handles relatively good games on Android today. Heavy graphics games such as Dead Triggers 2 and Warhammer Free Blade play at the highest graphics level with frames ranging from 47 to 50 fps. However, to achieve the smoothest level, it is still necessary to reduce the graphics to the average.
For instance, with Dead Trigger 2, the machine has 52fps and 81% frame rate while playing the highest graphics mode, but still has a bit of lag in the scene. However, when the graphics mode down to average, the player is very smooth, reaching 59 fps and high stability to 95%. This performance is similar to the Asus Zenfone Max Pro (M1) using the Snapdragon 636 we evaluated earlier.
On performance benchmarks, the Redmi Note 6 pro scored the same as the Redmi Note 5 as well as some of the Snapdragon 636 processors, such as the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1, but higher than the competitor’s price range. Other such as Huawei Nova 3e. Even more, the graphics power of this phone is about the same as Samsung Galaxy A7 2018.
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The battery is comfortable enough for most users
Redmi Note 6 Pro still carries a 4,000 mAh battery, and yeah it doesn’t do the fast charging the old one was kinda famous for. But, since the screen is bigger , the day to day battery life can end up a bit shorter than what you saw on the Redmi Note 5, or so it feels in practice. Still it’s a mid-range gadget with solid endurance, and in the end it just feels comfortable enough for most people.
Based on calculations for nearly a dozen days of actual usage from the AccuBattery battery measurement application, the machine has an onscreen time of about 7h45 minutes and a combined use time of about 17 hours. In standby mode, the device charges about 0.9% of battery life per hour when 3G / Wi-Fi connectivity is enabled to receive notification of updates from applications.
On the charging time, unfortunately, the machine does not support fast charging even the Snapdragon 636 itself is equipped. Charging time is about 2h20 minutes, in which 30 minutes of charging 30% of the battery.
The camera before is quite good quality, keeping pace from the previous generation
Redmi Note 6 Pro inherits the rear camera clusters from Redmi Note 5, but the front camera is upgraded to a dual camera cluster. As such, this product is the first in the Redmi Note line with 4 cameras divided equally for both the front and back.
Although inherited from the old generation, but the parameters of the camera on the Redmi Note 6 Pro still quite impressive in the price range. Specifically, the camera’s two rear camera includes a 12MP main camera (Samsung 1 / 2.55 “sensor, large 1.4μm pixel size, f / 1.9 lens and dual phase focusing, and a 5MP camera (f / 2.2, 1.12μm pixel) with dual flash units On the front, the self-contained camera cluster consists of a 20MP main camera (f / 2.0, 0.9μm) 2MP (f / 2.2, 1.75μm) secondary camera to support image capture.
Xiaomi’s camera interface is based on the iPhone, and like many other companies, there’s a variety of shooting modes and, on the other, HDR on / off, flash, effects. Redmi’s Note 6 Pro camera is an additional AI mode, which can detect many scenes from trees, food to the night. In practical use, images in AI and auto mode are difficult to distinguish. However, when shooting food as a cake below, the AI mode pushes the colors up fresh, more beautiful than the automatic mode.
Full daylight is good detail, neutral color and good contrast. Range of light is average. HDR mode improves the depth of field of the image as well as the separation between dark areas. However, the frame rate in HDR mode is not fast, so the photos with moving subjects are prone to ghost effects.
The Redmi Note 5 was one of the first products to address the “sustainable weakness” of the Redm Note line. This is thanks to the large 1.4 micron pixel sensor along with Dual-Pixel dual focus capability that is usually only available on high-end and high-end cameras.
I inherited the camera cluster after the image quality of the Redmi Note 6 Pro is similar to Redmi Note 5. The image is still reproduced natural colors, details and brightness are very good. In particular, HDR mode automatically turns out to be effective in bright images or complex light sources. Picture water is also quite clear with the context of shooting is not too bright. Under extreme low light conditions, the camera often pushes the subject’s brightness up, accepting noises.
The quality of the Redmi Note 6 Pro fonts is still pretty good. Under bright outdoor conditions and indoors with enough light, the fonts for the backdrop are pretty smooth, less cluttered. However, you should not take pictures in the dark under low light conditions, because the image is susceptible to vibration, noise and dim light effects, not as impressive as in bright enough conditions.
If the rear camera is similar to Redmi Note 5, the front camera of Redmi Note 6 Pro has many changes. The LED flash for the front camera is removed, instead the secondary camera is 2 MP, f / 2.2, 1.75μm to capture the depth of field for the font removal. In fact, the Redmi Note 5, with only a selfie camera, can still produce self-destructive images of good quality.
With Redmi Note 6 Pro, selfie image quality retains the strengths of the previous generation in detail, sharpness, reproducible color reproduction, high contrast. The ability to delete fonts continues to work effectively, giving the selfie image more impressive, highlighted with beautiful bokeh effects. The font removal algorithm is not like the following camera, but quite well, accurately identifies the subject and does not erase too much into the hair.
Summary
Redmi Note 6 Pro continues to maintain a clear direction of the Redmi Note: medium design, large screen, powerful battery and fast performance compared to the price. From Redmi Note 5 and now Redmi Note 6 Pro, the camera of this product line has been improved, is no longer the limitation and denigrated as in previous generations.
Compared with the older generation, the most significant upgrade of the Redmi Note 6 Pro is the larger screen, with rabbit ears and a more smooth and seamless grip experience. However, the product still has limitations that do not support fast charging and use the old micro-USB charging port. In addition, the design, if any, changes out of the current shape will certainly impress and fresh.
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Tech Reviewer & Product Analyst
Định Bia has spent over 10 years testing consumer electronics with a focus on smart technology. He work as a product advisor at Biareview where he helped customers find the right devices for their needs. He personally tests every product featured on this site using a consistent evaluation framework covering quality, durability, and value. All reviews are based on experience, not influenced by the manufacturer.