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Battery life
- 4,000mAh
- Charges via micro USB
With battery capacities on many devices seeming to shrink or stay constant with almost every passing generation, when we saw the 4,000mAh advertised in the Redmi Note 6 Pro we were understandably intrigued.
For although the capacity is large, it is anyone’s guess how this might translate into everyday use.
The answer is, in a word, nicely. Waking up at 7:00AM, watching videos and listening to music on a 45-minute commute, answering messages and emails throughout the day and taking around an hour of calls, plus the same journey in the opposite direction, saw the device reach 6:00PM with 69% in the tank, a good showing.
Standby time in particular was impressive, with the Note 6 Pro dropping only a few percentage points across the course of a night.
Running the (highly scientific) TechRadar battery test - playing a movie for 90 minutes over Wi-Fi at full resolution and brightness, saw the battery drop from 100% to 83%, a solid showing overall, though not as impressive as the Moto G7 Power.
As for Xiaomi’s claim that this is a ‘2 day’ smartphone, that will depend enormously on general usage - however it is fair to say that there are very few users who would manage to exhaust the Redmi Note 6 Pro across the course of a standard day.
It is also worth noting that, although a fast charger doesn’t ship in the box, this device supports Qualcomm fast charging.
Camera
- 12MP and 5MP rear sensors
- 20MP and 2MP front sensors
No matter how nicely built or powerful the internal components, all phones live and die by their cameras. So it's good that the Redmi Note 6 Pro comes with some capable snappers.
It sports a 20MP f/2.0 front-facing camera coupled with a 2MP f/2.2 depth sensor, while on the back there's a 12MP f/1.9 main lens, plus a 5MP f/2.2 depth sensor and an array of ‘AI’ enhancements.
The camera makes a positive first impression through its quick launch time and operation. Though the layout borrows very heavily from Apple, it is nonetheless clear and easy to navigate.
Various modes are reached by vertical swipes on the right, while the left houses various other quick toggle features. By default, HDR is set to ‘Auto’ and AI is set to ‘On’.
Shot to shot times are also pleasantly rapid, even with heavy use of HDR.
As for picture quality, it is mostly good, for the price. Detail is present though not notable, grass in particular tends to become smudged by the noise suppression.
Colors are sometimes a little overbearing with the AI mode active, however generally saturation is quite laid back and pleasing to the eye - with only the color green being something of an issue. The HDR mode does a commendable job too of improving dynamic range in various scenes, to such an extent it is worth leaving in ‘auto’ mode.
In the evening, in low light, the story is a little different, with both saturation and detail decreasing considerably. The Redmi Note 6 Pro also has no dedicated night mode to help resolve this issue.
We contacted Xiaomi directly to ask if one was coming, and the company has confirmed that currently there are no plans to bring a dedicated night mode to the Redmi Note 6 Pro.
As for everything else, selfies are surprisingly nice and detailed, and the ‘beauty’ mode is typically heavy-handed. If it is your dream in life to look like a cartoon character, this is your best bet - for the rest it produces unspeakably horrific results.
Video is a mixed bag, with decent detail and color reproduction, but with poor audio capture.
In all, the camera on the Redmi Note 6 Pro is respectable for a budget to mid-range handset, but won’t be troubling the big boys any time soon. It is quick in operation and produces mostly usable results, but nothing which you will want to print and hang on the wall.
