Xiaomi Redmi Note review: Warning note

Performance

The Xiaomi Redmi Note is powered by the MT6592 chipset with an octa-core processor - this is a set of eight Cortex-A7 cores, each running at up to 1.7GHz. It uses the Mali-450MP4 quad-core GPU and 2GB of RAM. There's no OpenGL ES 3.0 support, which is only added by Android 4.3 and later.

You should be aware of the somewhat downgraded version of the Redmi Note. It has utilizes the same MT6592 chipset, but with lower CPU clock at 1.4GHz and 1GB of RAM. If you are to buy a Redmi Note, you should read carful and check the specs of the model you are getting.

Before we begin, it's worth noting that our anti-cheat benchmark versions detected no foul play.

We've lined up a selection of large-screened quad and octa-cre midrangers, some of which use the same chipset as the Redmi Note. The Alcatel Idol X+ is based on the MT6592 chipset but the CPU is clocked at 2GHz, while the HTC Desire 616 CPU is clocked at 1.7GHz but has half the RAM. Xiaomi Redmi Note bested the Desire 616, came close to the Gionee Elife S5.5, which has a virtually identical chipset, but the 2GHz Alcatel Idol X+ claimed the top spot as expected.

GeekBench 3

Higher is better

• Alcatel Idol X+
  2842
• Gionee Elife S5.5
  2581
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  2435
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  2172
• HTC Desire 616
  2125
• Huawei Ascend Mate2 4G
  1522
• HTC Desire 816
  1510
• Xiaomi Redmi 1S
  1492
• Sony Xperia T2 Ultra
  1359
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  1159

The Xiaomi Redmi Note posts competitive results on the compound Basemark OS II benchmark, very close to the more powerful Desire 616. Its single-core performance is great, while the multi-core, quite expectedly, is excellent.

Basemark OS II

Higher is better

• HTC Desire 816
  520
• Gionee Elife S5.5
  492
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  452
• Sony Xperia T2 Ultra
  434
• Xiaomi Redmi 1S
  394
• HTC Desire 616
  378
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  275

Basemark OS II (single-core)

Higher is better

• Gionee Elife S5.5
  1781
• HTC Desire 816
  1739
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  1701
• Huawei Ascend Mate2 4G
  1666
• HTC Desire 616
  1533
• Xiaomi Redmi 1S
  1435

Basemark OS II (multi-core)

Higher is better

• HTC Desire 616
  12986
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  12771
• Gionee Elife S5.5
  8941
• HTC Desire 816
  7071
• Huawei Ascend Mate2 4G
  6662
• Xiaomi Redmi 1S
  4875

GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan failed to run as it requires OpenGL ES3.0, so we had to go with 2.7 T-Rex. The quad-core Mali-450MP4 can double the performance of Adreno 305 found in Snapdragon 400-based phones (like the Desire 816 and Xperia T2 Ultra).

When dropping to the native 720p resolution of the Xiaomi Redmi Note is on par with other 720p octa-core smartphones, and slightly better than the Adreno 305-powered in the HTC Desire 816.

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  15
• Alcatel Idol X+
  10.9
• Gionee Elife S5.5
  10.8
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  9.8
• HTC Desire 616
  8.7
• HTC Desire 816
  5.9
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  5.8
• Sony Xperia T2 Ultra
  5.8
• Xiaomi Redmi 1S
  5.7

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  25
• HTC Desire 616
  13.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  13.3
• HTC Desire 816
  11
• Sony Xperia T2 Ultra
  10.9
• Gionee Elife S5.5
  10.6
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  10.6
• Alcatel Idol X+
  10.6
• Xiaomi Redmi 1S
  10.3

The web browser speed depends on fast single-core performance for JavaScript and the Xiaomi Redmi Note does great.

Kraken 1.1

Lower is better

• Gionee Elife S5.5
  12201
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  12416
• Xiaomi Redmi 1S
  12470
• HTC Desire 816
  13564
• HTC Desire 616
  16953
• Huawei Ascend Mate2 4G
  20366

All those cores didn't help the Redmi Note in the more compound BrowserMark 2.1 - it has the same screen resolution as HTC Desire 616 but failed to keep up. The Gionee Elife S5.5 with the same octa-core processor lagged behind because it renders at more than twice the resolution (1080p vs. 720p).

BrowserMark 2.1

Higher is better

• Huawei Ascend Mate2 4G
  822
• HTC Desire 816
  774
• HTC Desire 616
  683
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  588
• Gionee Elife S5.5
  432

In the end, the octa-core processor of lower-powered cores is not quite the benchmark beast, but it does quite well in day-to-day usage. The GPU beats the wide-spread Adreno 305 and will do well at HD games, but the lack of OpenGL ES 3.0 can limit the game selection until Xiaomi releases an update.