Xiaomi Redmi 4 A is the new smart budget phone
Xiaomi Redmi 4 A has been recently launched in India. In the past few years of its existence, Xiaomi has become quite well-known for bringing all-rounder smartphones at competitive prices. And even though all of the Chinese company’s smartphones have been generally well-received, its budget Redmi line-up has been especially popular.
The entry-level smartphone was introduced in China last year and became the top-selling handset during the country’s Singles’ Day sale.
The Indian smartphone market has a plethora of options in the budget segment (Rs 7,000 – Rs 15,000). But the entry-level segment doesn’t really have that many (good) options, and that gives the Redmi 4A a golden opportunity to conquer the market.
So at a price of Rs 5,999, does the Redmi 4A manage to stand out?
Design and display
Even though majority of the smartphones today come with metallic construction, the Xiaomi Redmi 4A has a plastic body. It has a polycarbonate matte-finished back with a 13MP rear camera and LED flash at the top left corner. The back is exactly the same as the previously-launched Redmi 3S. However, there’s no fingerprint sensor on the Redmi 4A. This could drive away some potential users, as even the most basic of smartphones come with fingerprint scanners these days.
With slightly curved edges, the 4A has the volume rocker and power buttons on the right, and the SIM slot on the left. The bottom edge has a microUSB port and the top has a 3.5mm audio jack. The front is dominated by a 5-inch display. The screen has three capacitive (non-backlit) keys and an LED indicator below it, and the earpiece and 5MP selfie-camera above it.
Talking about the display, the Redmi 4A has a 5-inch HD display of 720×1280 pixel resolution and 296ppi pixel density. It has accurate colour reproduction and impressive viewing angles. The sunlight legibility is good too. The display has a ‘Reading Mode’ which eliminates all the Blue light, reducing eye strain. You can also change the strength for Reading Mode and also select the apps in which you require it to be activated.
All-in-all, the design of the Xiaomi Redmi 4A is quite likeable. At the given price, it offers great looks, a good display and is lightweight too.
Performance and camera
Xiaomi Redmi 4A is powered by a 1.4GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor coupled with Adreno 308 GPU. It offers 2GB RAM along with 16GB of internal storage. The storage can be expanded via microSD cards of up to 128GB in size.
The Redmi 4A runs Xiaomi’s MIUI 8 skin based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The interface is clean and user friendly. But there is no app drawer and all apps are placed on multiple home-screens. The device offers a ‘second space’, which enables users to have different profiles with separate wallpapers, apps, files and photos. Other MIUI-specific features include a Child Mode that lets users lock apps, a hovering ‘Quick Ball’ button which provides quick shortcuts and a One-Handed Mode that shrinks the display to one corner of the screen.
On the connectivity front, Redmi 4A offers Hybrid dual-SIM, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, and microUSB. And as for the network reception the phone handle calls even in areas of problematic coverage. All in all, for an entry level smartphone, the Redmi 4A can give a run for it’s money even to the expenxsive smartphones. With specifications such as 13MP rear camera, a 3,120mAh battery and VoLTE support, it offers a lot of features. It’ll surely give tough competition to peers such as Xolo Era 2X and Coolpad Mega 2.5D, which are priced in the same bracket.
