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Review Xiaomi Redmi 6A: best in class, again

Techni Buzz

June was remembered by an unprecedented number of new products Xiaomi – the company has updated almost the entire family of Redmi (except Note) and a tablet Mi Pad. Today we will study the most affordable of the prime company – a smartphone Redmi 6A. It is officially valued at only 599 yuan, and on Tmall it is sold for 7,490 rubles ( where he managed to set a record of sales along with Mi 8 ). Together with 6A, the 18: 9 screen and the MediaTek Helio chipset appeared in the budget line of Xiaomi smartphones for the first time. Are such changes good?

Specifications Xiaomi Redmi 6A:

Configuration and design

Xiaomi Redmi 6A comes in a very small, but very noticeable bright red box. The set is not rich, match the price of a smartphone: a little documentation, a USB cable and a simple charger (5V, 1A). The smartphone is available in four colors – pink, golden, blue and gray. The front panel is always white, except for the last option.

The design of the simplest Xiaomi almost does not change for years. As before, the cover and ends of the smartphone are plastic, but they have strips (grooves) – just to make you think that they are metal. The camera, as before, in the corner, but now on a common ledge with a flash – just to make you think it’s double. Multimedia speaker, as before, on the rear panel, but now next to it there is no mound, preventing the sound from overlapping – the camera’s protrusion handles it. However, no matter how hard Xiaomi tried, the case does not feel metallic, the camera does not feel double, and the sound overlaps noticeably.

But the changes on the front panel are obvious. The display increased from 5 “to 5.45” – but not in width, but only in length. The aspect ratio of the screen is 18: 9 (or 2: 1, if you like to reduce the fraction), the resolution is 1440×720 pixels. Declared a contrast ratio of 1000: 1. The display is good, with high brightness and accurate color rendering. The traditional Xiaomi chip – a very low minimum brightness – is also in place. Lovers read under the blanket will appreciate. The screen has a good oleophobic coating.

For recharging in Redmi 6A there is a micro USB port (from below), for connection of a sound – 3,5-mm minijack (from above). But the fingerprint scanner, like the IR transmitter, no. Therefore, from the biometric identification here only face recognition, tied to the front camera (works tolerably). The SIM slot in the left end, there are two nano format trays, one of which also accepts microSD. There are no complaints about assembly and ergonomics.

Software

Xiaomi Redmi 6A works on the basis of MIUI. The phone got to us with the Chinese firmware MIUI 9.6 on the basis of Android 8.1. We did not reflash it and look for more usable software for Russia – you do not need to tell about MIUI anyway, you already know everything. MIUI 10 for the smartphone will be, it is still early to talk about further updates. But it’s unlikely that the Redmi 6A is quickly thrown – MIUI 10 got all Redmi, starting as much from the third generation. We add that Tmall sells the global version with the firmware with the Russian language.

Cameras

Camera Xiaomi Redmi 6A single, its resolution is 13 megapixels. The aperture is rather modest – f / 2.2. There is a phase autofocus and some kind of AI. The camera, of course, is far from ideal – the focus is often blunt, and the smartphone compensates for a small aperture with exposure, which, with room lighting, reaches 1/12 sec. Result: Lubricants are not uncommon. But if the focus was done where it should be, and the hand did not flinch, then the frame certainly will get decent – the color rendition of such pictures is accurate, there is nothing to criticize for that either. Even with a lack of light, you can get a good photo. The main thing is to take the habit of doing each time not one frame, but three or four: at least once the Redmi 6A is not mistaken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Panoramas, whose resolution is lower than the resolution of conventional photos – this seems to be such a common Chinese joke. But here and here the 13-megapixel camera takes 6.5-megapixel panoramas. Sense in them?

 

The front camera is unpretentious, 5 MP. The manufacturer does not name the luminosity, but on EXIF it is even higher than the main camera – f / 2.0. Selfies are of medium quality. The built-in effects of busification (it seems the only application of AI in the camera) are terrible, I advise turning them off. But there is Auto-HDR, like the main camera, I advise, on the contrary, to include it.

The video is written in 1080p with a frame rate of 30 fps. The recording quality is average. Stabilization is, but only digital, and there is not much sense from it. Autofocus continues to work during the shooting. Despite the presence of two microphones, the sound is written in mono.

Performance and Tests

Xiaomi Redmi 6A is the first smartphone based on the MediaTek Helio A22 (MT6762M) chipset, the first chipset in the Helio A-line. This is the most affordable series of single-chip MediaTek platforms that will replace the unnamed MT675x series chipsets. It’s the same Helio P22, with only half of the cores (four instead of eight). But available thresh at 2 GHz! The video accelerator is a rather modest Imagination Technologies PowerVR GE8320 at 650 MHz. First, benchmarks, games – in the next paragraph.

 

  

 

  

 

Of all the games tested (and there are quite a few of them in 16 GB of internal memory), the chipset could not cope only with Shadowgun Legends and Into the Dead 2. The first lags even on the minimum, in the second graphics, it is necessary to reduce to the average to get a comfortable frequency frame. Already at high settings, everything is fine. The rest of the game – from unpretentious Moto Rider and Air Attack 2 to Asphalt Extreme and Unkilled – go great on the maximum available graphics.

The Helio A22 has one feature that distinguishes it against the background of other budget chipsets: the technical process. It is only 12 nm! Similar Snapdragon 429 has not yet appeared in smartphones, and is unlikely to be immediately available in models up to $ 100, smartphones on the Kirin 710 (the cheapest 12-nm HiSilicon) is also much more expensive. So on the introduction of 12 nm in the budget, MediaTek overtook everyone. But the technical process is one of the most important characteristics, which in many respects determines energy efficiency and heat release. And in Redmi 6A, the efforts of MediaTek are noticeable: the smartphone is almost not heated under the load and is not subject to trotting at all.

 

  
After an hour in Asphalt Extreme

 

There were times when each Redmi had a big battery behind it. Xiaomi Redmi 6A is equipped with a very average battery of 3000 mAh. For an hour in the game, the smartphone was discharged by 18% (expect about 5.5 hours of gaming without recharging), the full discharge of the video took 7 hours and 15 minutes. For a day of active use with 4.5 hours of screen smartphone is discharged somewhere by 60%, that is, if you use it a little less, you can hold out for two days. And if you really take care of the charge, then three.

 

  
Full rank when showing video

 

The smartphone has two versions with different memory sizes: 2 GB of RAM + 16 GB of ROM and 3 GB of RAM + 32 GB of ROM. At us on the test the first, and this volume of memory is really small. And I did not rely so much on RAM as on permanent memory: several heavy games and sample photos took up all the memory, and I could not upload a movie to test autonomy. So if you need games or movies or you shoot a lot – take the older version. There is no NFC module, and it’s not really needed in the absence of a fingerprint scanner. Navigation systems support GPS, GLONASS, and Beidou, but the positioning accuracy is still low, the error can reach 30 m throughout the trip.