Xiaomi Redmi 1S Review: Redefining Value Again

It's safe to say that Xiaomi is the most
talked-about new brand on the Indian tech
scene today. The Chinese company has not
spent any money on advertising and in fact
seems pretty laid back about all the fuss it
has caused by selling good phones at
shockingly low prices.

Although its unique strategy of using online
flash sales has aggravated quite a few
customers , we must remember that Xiaomi
is still a startup and doesn't have the
financial or logistical might of the Samsungs
and Apples of the world.

Now, the company has temporarily put sales
of the Mi 3 on hold to concentrate on an
even lower priced offering, the Redmi 1S. As
with the Mi 3, this phone boasts of specs
that are usually found in phones that cost at
least twice as much, such as the much-
loved Motorola Moto G . We've played with
the Redmi 1S extensively to tell you in detail
how well it performs. This phone could once
again change the dynamics of the
smartphone market.

Look and feel
Unlike in the days of the Nokia 7280 , which
looked like a lipstick case, phone companies
are not experimenting a lot with design.
Smartphones today are all pretty much the
same predictable candybar shape, and most
don't even really think about that.
The Xiaomi Redmi 1S is yet another
candybar smartphone with a staid look that
does not attract attention. It's unexciting,
but may not a bad thing for a lot of people.

The Redmi 1S measures 137x69x9.9mm
and is definitely not slim. Moreover, its 158g
weight makes it heavier than a lot of other
phones in this price range. The rear cover is
removable and Xiaomi is expected to offer
colourful replacement panels priced at Rs.
459 each, which will be a good way to give
your phone some kind of distinction. The
Redmi 1S is sold with a matte grey rear, and
gripping it is not an issue.

The primary camera and flash sit on the
upper part of the rear. The loudspeaker is
just a small slit in the top right corner. A Mi
logo in silver is etched on the lower back.
Opening the rear cover is fairly simple, and
the battery is removable.

The front is mostly taken up by the 4.7-inch
screen, which has thick plastic borders. The
three capacitive button labels which sit
below the screen are printed in red. Oddly,
the LED indicator is below the home button.
Above the display are the earpiece and the
front-facing camera. On the bottom edge is
a microphone and a Micro-USB port for
charging/data transfer. A 3.5mm jack sits
on the top. The volume rocker and power
button are on the right edge of the phone.

Specifications and software
For a phone priced so low, the Redmi 1S
has jaw-dropping specs. Housed inside the
body of the Redmi 1S are top-quality
hardware components including a
Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor
clocked at 1.6GHz with an integrated Adreno
305 GPU. There is 1GB of RAM for
applications and 8GB of internal storage, of
which 6.14GB is available to the user. You
can increase the storage space by up to
64GB using a microSD card.
The Redmi 1S has an 8-megapixel BSI
camera with flash which can record 1080p
videos. It also has a 1.6-megapixel front-
facing camera. There is a 2,000mAh battery.
The phone accepts two Mini-SIM cards, but
only one will be usable on 3G networks. Wi-
Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 round out the list of
connectivity options.
The 4.7-inch LCD has a resolution of
720x1280 pixels, which is phenomenal
compared to other phones in this price
range. The screen is crisp, and its 312ppi
density makes it difficult to discern
individual pixels. It is protected by AGC
Dragontrail 2 glass. We tried scratching the
screen with a coin and a scissor, and
neither left any visible scratches. On the
flipside, the screen looks washed out when
viewed at an angle, and sunlight legibility is
bad thanks to the super reflective front
panel.