Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro review

Introduction

It's been almost nine months since the Redmi Note 5 series premiered, and it's already time for an upgrade. The Redmi Note 6 Pro is now official, shaking up the lineup with one of the most recognizable and controversial features on the market - a frame-to-frame display with a notch.

Yes, the Redmi Notes have reached that inevitable moment, where the notched screen would become the default one until something better comes to replace it. Even the cheapest of smartphones have already jumped on the notched bandwagon, so it's no surprising to see the Redmi Note 6 Pro being the forerunner of change for the Notes to come.

Xiaomi has pretty much thrown logic out of the window for the Redmi Note names. The Redmi Note 5 is widely available as Redmi 5 Plus, the Redmi Note 5A had little to do to with the Note series at all, while the Redmi Note 5 Pro got an enhanced version called Redmi Note 5 AI Dual Camera. So, the Redmi Note 6 Pro is the Note 6 series opener, but please, don't ask what happened with the Redmi Note 6. Nobody knows.

Anyway, the Redmi Note 6 Pro isn't a massive upgrade over the Note 5 Pro, but that's to be expected given the short development cycle. The Note 6 Pro does bring a larger display fitted in the same body, but keeps the same Snapdragon 636 chipset, beefy battery, and plastic/metal design. It borrows the main camera from the Note 5 Pro AI Dual Camera edition, but the selfie photography got a boost with a new dual-camera at the front.

Let's take a peek at the detailed specs.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro specs

• Body: Gorilla Glass front, Plastic + Aluminum back;
• Screen: 6.26-inch, 2280x1080 IPS LCD, 403 PPI
• Rear Camera: 12MP (1.4µm), f/1.9, Samsung S5K2L7, dual pixel PDAF primary, 5MP (1.25µm), f/2.0, Samsung S5K5E8 depth sensor; 1080p video
• Front Camera: 20MP (0.9µm) + 2MP depth sensor, f/2.0; 1080p video
• Chipset: 14nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 636, Kryo 260 (4x Cortex-A73 @ 1.8GHz + 4x Cortex-A53 @ 1.6GHz), Adreno 509
• Memory: 3/4/6GB LPDDR4X, 32/64GB eMMC 5.0 + microSD (up to 128GB)
• OS: Android 8.0; MIUI 9
• Battery: 4000mAh;
• Connectivity: Hybrid dual SIM (4G+3G), 4G VoLTE, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou, Wi-Fi Direct, FM Radio, IR blaster, microUSB, headphone jack
• Misc: Fingerprint sensor

We can't think of anything that's missing on the Redmi Note 6 Pro and it's shaping to be one very thoughtful smartphone with great bang for the buck ratio. And now it's time to pop this thing out of the box.

Unboxing the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro

Xiaomi has bundled the Redmi Note 6 Pro with the usual accessories - a 10W charger, a microUSB cable, and a soft silicone case.

Some, or all, Redmi Note 6 Pro units have factory-applied screen protectors. Ours was fitted quite nicely, and if it weren't for our display tests, we would have kept it for sure.

Special thanks to HonorBuy for providing the review unit.