Currently I am in the market for a new phone, and I have narrowed it down to a Redmi phone, but I am trying to decide which one to get?- Phone should I buy
When I make these decisions, I try to first figure out what is most important to me, as opposed to being sold a bunch of features that are not much use to me. I know that I love the EasyBet Casino website, but any current Android phone can handle that. Although, since my current phone does not allow changing from one app to another (and I don’t want my boss to see my using EasyBet Casino’s website while at work), … although I think that is a problem with the specific brand of phone, and not Android operating system or anything else.
I want a large screen, but the largest one can get before entering the official tablet market is around 6.67″, which all Redmi phones are around that size.
I want a good quality case, but since Redmi is a popular brand, it is very easy to buy a case when I purchase the phone.
I want a good camera. I had worked with 3 previous phones:
- Doogee N100, 21MP and the camera was horrible; Android 9
- 1 plus 1 with a 13MP camera and it was acceptable, but the battery was just okay; Android 8.0.1
- Redmi Note 9 with a 13MP camera and the battery was good; Android 10
I loved the Redmi, but I gave my phone to my son since he needed a decent phone “new” phone immediately, and I could survive waiting and researching for a new phone.
My needs are simple, so I know that I can be fine with a Redmi Note 9 phone, even today, two years later. But I know that I would not want to buy anything below that level.
So when I started to do research about Redmi Phones, I learned very quickly that I am not the only person who satisfied with Redmi Note 9 phones, two years later. These phone were so popular, that when Redmi came out with the Redmi 10 line of phones, they released most of the Redmi Note 9 line of phones under a Redmi Note 10 name (same exact phone, just renamed). As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
When technology hits reality, a wow moment- Phone should I buy
Side discussion … I just had one of those “wow” moments. Last night, I did the research for this article. The main topic of this article was to talk about how you can get a really good value by purchasing a higher end of a previous year’s or two year’s set of phones. Essentially comparing the cost and benefits of a Redmi Note 8 Pro or Redmi Note 9 Pro with a Redmi Note 10 phone or Redmi Note 11 phone. Did the research, got the data, and sat down today to write the article.
As I was writing, I wanted to verify facts and get more info. Between Mi.com website and the Aliexpress.com website, I got a lot of information, and enough info about phones to make a good comparison and write an article. But today, when I tried to relook up information, products that were plentiful last night, seem to be non-existent today. At first, I was thinking maybe I just typed in different search results, but soon I started to wonder if last night I had imagined things.
Then, as a fluke, I typed in “china lockdowns” in Google, and the first results I got back were “COVID outbreak in Beijing prompts panic buying and lockdown fears”. I am guessing a lot of people decided to buy cell phones if they were going to be under lockdown again.
This leaves me with a quandary … do I continue to write the article as I first envisioned, knowing that the old phone market has just been massively purchased? Maybe the Aliexpress sellers just have a temporary low stock and it will rebound later in the week? Or maybe I need to find a new topic for this article?
It was just weird to see how fast the phone market can be bought up within a 12 hour period of time during a panic. In the US, in April 2020, it was toilet paper. In China in April 2022, it is cell phones.
From CNN today, April 25, 2022 “The city-wide lockdown, among the strictest the country has seen, has plunged the once-bustling international financial hub into a virtual ghost town, causing shortage of food, daily necessities and even medical access for many of its 25 million residents confined to their homes.” A video was posted describing just how bad the situation is in China. “The personal plights, told in residents’ own voices and overlay with black-and-white aerial footage of the city’s silent skyline and empty streets, touched the hearts of millions of Chinese internet users as the video spread like wildfire across social media platforms on Friday evening. But for the Chinese government, the six-minute clip — and the chaos and suffering it exposes — is too powerful a reminder of the human cost of its zero-Covid policy, which authorities insist is “putting the people and their lives first.” “
The censorship sparked an outcry. Many were infuriated because the video was objective and not found in state run media. Users in China joined in a social media relay in defiance, sharing the video in whatever way they could come up with the evade the censors. Some posted the video upside down, while others embedded the video in a cartoon. Others circulated it through QR codes and cloud services. Censors struggled to keep up. No sooner would they block one version of the video than another showed up.
Some even posted the song “Do You Hear the People Sing” from the movie Les Miserables. But Chinese authorities became even more strict. There were 19 cases in Shanghai on Sunday for a total of 60 cases. China insists on a zero COVID policy.
If you are planning to buy a phone, it might be a good idea to hold off for two to four months, if you are buying directly from China. In South Africa, Omicron COVID last 1 month. In the US and Israel, the Omicron COVID lasted 2 months. But all three of those communities were open communities, not lockdown communities. No other country in the world has tried to do a full lockdown for Omicron COVID. Israel had tried to keep Omicron COVID out of their country, but they only succeeded in delaying it, not keeping it out.
Also, keep in mind that some of the Redmi phones, for example, Redmi Note 10 Pro, have the same general name, but there are different versions for China and the rest of the world, including a different processor. So if buying directly from China, read the description carefully to make sure you are buying the product you intended to buy.
As for this article, the research was done, so I will write it as originally intended.
Group 1, 108MP cameras- Phone should I buy
The following cameras are the most expensive because they have the best cameras. When I watched the online course, “The Complete Guide to Smartphone Photography” by Wonderium this was the quality of camera the teacher used. But the teacher also said that for a majority of the photographs that he takes, he sets the camera to 24MP. So unless you are a professional photographer, anything between 24MP and 108MP should be fine.
I am not a professional photographer, so I don’t need this level of camera. But I will include the basic info for others who might be interested.- Phone should I buy
- Redmi Note 11s – $273
- Memory: 6GB / 128GB
- NFC
- Battery: 5000 mAh battery; 33W (16 hours of video)
- Camera Back: 108MP; 8MP; 2MP; 2MP (Quad camera)
- Camera Front: 16MP
- Processor: MediaTek
- Redmi Note 11 Pro – $310
- Memory: 6GB / 128GB
- NFC
- Battery: 5000 mAh battery; 67W
- Camera Back: 108MP; 8MP; 2MP (triple)
- Camera Front: 16MP
- Processor: MediaTek
- Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G – $349
- Memory: 6GB / 128GB
- NFC
- Battery: 5000 mAh battery; 67W
- Camera Back: 108MP; 8MP; 2MP (triple)
- Camera Front: 16MP
- Processor: Qualcomm
- Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G – $320
- Memory: 6GB / 128GB
- NFC
- Battery: 4500 mAh battery; 120W (18 hours of video)
- Camera Back: 108MP; 8MP; 2MP (triple camera)
- Camera Front: 16MP
- Processor: MediaTek
- Redmi Note 10 Pro – $242
- Memory: 6GB / 128GB
- NFC
- Battery: 5020 mAh battery; 33W
- Camera Back: 108MP; 8MP; 5MP; 2MP (Quad camera)
- Camera Front: 16MP
- Processor: Qualcomm
There are also differences between the screen resolution and the processors, but you can look up those exact details on your own. But any of the cameras in this group, I would consider a good investment. If you need 15 minutes to charge your phone on a regular basis, then Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G is the phone to get. With a 5000 mAh battery and 67W charging capability, you can charge to 50% in 15 minutes, and 100% in about half an hour. With a 33W battery, it will take an hour. Plus, even though the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ has a smaller battery, it actually provides larger video watching time.
So the better camera and faster phone charging are the main reasons to shop for a phone in this price range. The lower battery size of the 120W might have to do with wanting to get the charge to be 15 minutes, a good sales statement.
Group 2, 64MP cameras
- Redmi Note 10s – $199
- Memory: 6GB / 128GB
- NFC
- Battery: 5000 mAh battery; 33W
- Camera Back: 64MP; 8MP; 2MP; 2MP (Quad camera)
- Camera Front: 13MP
- Processor: MediaTek
- Redmi Note 9 Pro – $199
- Memory: 6GB / 128GB
- NFC
- Battery: 5020 mAh battery; 30W (13 hours continuous game time)
- Camera Back: 64MP; 8MP; 5MP; 2MP (Quad camera)
- Camera Front: 16MP
- Processor: Qualcomm
- Redmi Note 8 Pro – $196
- Memory: 6GB / 128GB
- NFC
- Battery: 4500 mAh battery; 18W (10 hours of gaming, 2 hours to charge)
- Camera Back: 64MP; 8MP; 2MP; 2MP (Quad camera)
- Camera Front: 20MP
- Processor: MediaTek
All of these cameras are around the $199 price range. So all of the phones in this group are around the same price, with approximately the same features. Any phone in this group is going to be a solid phone, so it is just a matter of which minor differences matter to you.
Group 3, 48MP cameras
- Redmi Note 11 – $169
- Memory: 6GB / 128GB
- NFC
- Battery: 5000 mAh battery; 33W
- Camera Back: 50MP; 8MP; 2MP; 2MP (Quad camera)
- Camera Front: 13MP
- Processor: Qualcomm
- Redmi Note 10 5G – $154
- Memory: 6GB / 128GB
- NFC
- Battery: 5000 mAh battery; 33W
- Camera Back: 48MP; 8MP; 2MP; 2MP (Quad camera)
- Camera Front: 8MP
- Processor: MediaTek
- Redmi Note 10
- Memory: 6GB / 128GB
- NFC
- Battery: 5000 mAh battery; 33W
- Camera Back: 48MP; 8MP; 2MP; 2MP (Quad camera)
- Camera Front: 13MP
- Processor: Qualcomm
- Redmi Note 10x (Note 9) – $168
- Memory: 6GB / 128GB
- NFC
- Battery: 5020 mAh battery; 33W
- Camera Back: 48MP; 8MP; 2MP; 2MP (Quad camera)
- Camera Front: 13MP
- Processor: MediaTek
- Redmi Note 10 Lite
- Memory: 6GB / 128GB
- NFC
- Battery: 5020 mAh battery; 33W
- Camera Back: 48MP; 8MP; 2MP; 2MP (Quad camera)
- Camera Front: 16MP
- Processor: Qualcomm
Summary
No matter what Redmi phone you get, you are going to get a solid phone.
In terms of the Camera, anything that is above 24MP is going to take good pictures for a majority of the picture taking that most people are going to want to do. So given that, any of the above phones will work.
In terms of battery, with cell phones playing a higher role in society over the last two years due to COVID (working from phone and online classes), battery technology has improved within the last two years. This is a major area where “going cheap” you are going to notice. Due to software and hardware changes, even though the battery value looks lower, the length of battery usage is higher.
The amount of time that it takes for a battery to charge has definitely improved. At 120W, the top camera in this batch can charge within 15 minutes, and considering that they no longer recommend going from 0 to full (25% to 75% range), most of the time, it will take half that amount.
Can you go lower? Do you need a feature, for example, the “Location Live” feature that is only available in Android 10+? Redmi 7 only has 12MP camera.
