Redmi Note 6 Pro review: Xiaomi refines its budget king

Xiaomi has been pulling off price-to-performance value smartphones for quite some time now. The Chinese company still possesses the supremacy badge in the budget segment by following the same formula of offering more for a lot less.

Xiaomi displayed the Redmi Note 5 Pro earlier this year, which is still one of the top valued smartphones in the budget menu. The device is an all-rounder smartphone that offers an overall good performance with a wallet-friendly price ratio.

ASUS took a shot at it with its ZenFone Max Pro M1, which overtook the Redmi Note 5 Pro with its sheer performance and a longer running 5000mAh battery by a small margin.

However, the Note 5 Pro still outshined the ASUS counterpart in terms of sheer camera performance. Other rival brands that tried to replicate the recipe also managed to deliver a good smartphone (such as the Realme 2 Pro, Honor 8X, Nokia 6.1 Plus and Motorola One Power) with now fashionable features.

Now, to tackle the aggressive competition and to cement its budget crown, Xiaomi has shown off the successor to the Note 5 — the Redmi Note 6 Pro.

The smartphone isn t actually a massive upgrade over its predecessor, but offers a larger display and four cameras, coupled with the same beefy battery and Snapdragon chipset. So, does the Xiaomi s latest device have what it takes to be on top of the budget smartphone menu? Read on to find out.

Xiaomi seems to be keen on adhering to its signature design. While looking at the smartphone, it reminded us of the Redmi 6 Pro (to be specific), and it is a replica of all the other Redmi devices. The Chinese company should seriously now consider changing its smartphones design as we have seen the same type of design throughout the year on its different smartphones.

When compared to the Redmi Note 5 Pro, the difference here is the slightly larger display and the inclusion of the huge notch along with a second camera unit on the front. There is also a tiny notification LED, which is white-only though. Xiaomi has also shaved the bezels and the chin by a small margin. Its exterior is identical with a dual camera setup in the fashionable vertical arrangement. The ergonomics are spot on in typical Xiaomi style. The handset is built really well and offers a metal-plastic sandwich design. The new handset also gets the same arc design that Xiaomi states worked well with the Redmi Y2. It calls for a better grip.