Xiaomi Hongmi 2 / Redmi 2: Detailed Review

What do people consider when choosing a phone? It usually has these 5 elements: Appearance, Workmanship, Performance, Brand and Price. Everyone wants a unique phone model with superb workmanships. However with these 2 elements, the price usually will not as low as you think. For users who has insufficient money in purchasing a phone, "High ratio of performance over cost" has become their main consideraton factor when buying a phone.
    In 2013 Summer Holiday, Xiaomi Company has launched Redmi Phones - the budget phones with prices that most people can afford on. Low price yet without low performance. Redmi phones have become most people favorites with its excellent specs and MIUI operating system.

In this new year, Redmi 2 is officially launched by Xiaomi Company in 4th of January. New look, new specifications, priced at 699 Yuan ($112.5 USD or aprox Rs. 7000/-), and official sale is opened on 9th January! The Xiaomi Geeks has gotten themselves a sample Redmi 2 and hence provide us their user experiences on this new phone.

Appearance: Light, More Compact                                                                     

The main focus of Redmi phones design is not on the super fine craftsmanship and elegent appearance design. Hence the Redmi 1 & Redmi 1S appearance designs are not really favor by many people, until the launch of Redmi Note which has satisfaction appearance.

          Redmi 2 is the result of optimal modification on the appearance design of Redmi 1, overall design is more concise and compact. Regarding the critic on Redmi Phones' "wide forehead, long chin", Redmi 2 has cover it up well. Greater screen proportion gives it a higher class look. When everyone get this device on hand, looking from the front view, everyone shout spontaneously: "Isn't this Xiaomi Mi 2?!". It might be that Redmi 2 gave its tribute to the classic Xiaomi Mi 2.

          Besides than its smaller design, you will feel the big difference in weight compared to its previous generations. According to the data given officially, Redmi 2 only weight 133g, which is 25g lighter than its previous generation (Redmi 1S)! In device thickness, Redmi 2 has a thickness of 9.4mm, which is reduce by 0.5mm. When you pick up a Redmi 2, the pressure on your wrist is even lower than you think, giving you a comfortable use.


Screen: More Transparent, More Humanity                                                      
         Redmi 2 has a full compact technology, giving a higher integration degree of screen and front panels when the screen is off. Placing it on the table, the Redmi 2 black screen seems more comfortable. Moreover, the visual effect of turning ON the screen with full compact technology brings us a great user experience.

         The front bottom panel of Redmi 2 consists of three red color touch buttons, and the icons are similar to Xiaomi Mi 4 and Redmi Note. Unfortunately, backlight for the touch buttons are absent for this model as well. Yet underneath the middle Menu Button is hidden with a notification light with rainbow colors, convenient for the users in reminding on missed calls or messages.

The front top of Redmi 2 is equipped with call speaker, light proximity sensor and a 2MP front camera.


Back Cover: Other Than Comfortable, Still Comfortable                                  

To determine an excellent grip on the phone, back cover material is an important factor other than its size. Usually people will hold the phone with one hand. The phone will easily fall off from hand if the back cover material is hard to grip on.

       In previous Redmi Series, darker color version will use matte back cover, while white version will use glossy back cover. Although the glossy back cover look really stunning under light condition, it is obvious to see a small scratch on it. On top of that, the glossy back cover is also known as "fingerprint collector", which is not bearable by some people.

   
      Redmi 2 back cover used micro-arc design which will fit well in our hands and easy to grip. The glossy design cover has modified with skin-friendly matte material and oil-resistance matte spray paint. Appearance of the back cover is not just look nice, it also comfortable to use and prevents fingerprints contamination to a certain extent.

Life is colorful. In order to let the ladies show their personality, Redmi 2 provides bright yellow, light green, light pink and dark gray for additional color choices other than the simple white.

Device: Redmi Inherited, Better Than Before                                                 

      

The power button and volume button of Redmi 2 are integrated at the same side of body. Buttons are made up of metal, which basically similar with Xiaomi Mi 2.

      8MP camera is located at the center top of back cover. LED flash light is on its left, while on the right side speaker is designed with two simple parallel lines. On top of the camera lens is integrated with a noise reduction microphone.

     There's a 3.5mm headphone jack on its top left. he phone USB cable port can be seen at the bottom of the device, and next to it integrated with another noise reduction microphone hole. Both of this MICs are integrated with MEMS silicon microphones. Compared to ordinary ECM microphone, MEMS silicon has a higher Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), which effectively reduce the background noise and allow users to maintain a clear conversation in a noisy environment.

Internal: Dual SIM, Dual 4G                                                                                 

Since the launch of Redmi Phones, the ready dual sim card slots have provided much convenience to many users. There's no need two mobile phones, and no need to keep switching SIM cards.

The device right corner has an opening that ease user to open the back cover. After easily open the back cover, we can see the internal structure of Redmi 2. Above the battery compartment, from Left to Right: SD Card slot, SIM card slot 1, SIM card slot 2.

     There are no primary and secondary SIM card slots for Redmi 2. In other words, you can insert your 4G card in any SIM card slot, and the other SIM card slot will be the 2G SIM card slot as default. SIM 1 supports 2G/3G/4G network, while another one will support only 2G network.

     

      Redmi 2 still uses removable battery, which is Sony/LG lithium-ion polymer battery with a rated capacity of 2200mAh. Supports Quick Charge 1.0 technology, and can maintain for around 2 days in normal use.

Summary: Different Redmi, Better Experiences                                                          

   After the simple experiences with this Redmi 2, we personally feel that Redmi 2 can be considered as a fully sincere upgrade. Supports 4G, dual SIM card slots, full compact screen, skin-friendly cover and etc. These criterias are more than enough to make a 699 Yuan ($112.5 USD) phone a wise choice which suitable for everyday uses. 

    Besides that, Redmi 2 is integrated with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 MSM8916 processor. Quad-core 1.2GHz with 1G LPDDR3 speed memory and 8GB high-speed flash memory. It also supports up to 32GB external SD card, which can fully meet our daily needs.
Other than its upgraded specifications and workmanships, Redmi 2 is ready flashed with the latest MIUI 6 Stable ROM version. It would surely a high demand product in smartphones market.

Source Link