The world of budget smartphones is the most happening segment in the gadget universe now, with Xiaomi, the dominating player, introducing phones that look premium, have big-ticket hardware and software, forcing others to gasp and catch up. The Redmi 7, launched along with the Redmi Y3, religiously follows Xiaomi’s tradition of disruption, offering quite a lot of bang for the buck.

The phone looks simply elegant, especially thanks to the aura smoke design and the gradient back. Among the most impressive features of the phone are its 6.26-inch HD+ dot-notch display, which has an efficient 19:9 aspect ratio, making it great to watch movies in their fullness and make games look rich and wholesome. The display does not look ‘done-up’ — as it is in many sub-₹10K phones these days — but appears honest and natural and the light gets adjusted to the environment suitably faster.

The Redmi 7 (we reviewed the 3 GB, 32 GB variant) supports up to 512 GB storage and runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 632, which powers Redmi Y3 too. For starters, the Snapdragon 632 is an efficient power-booster processor, which Qualcomm launched in 2018 as a successor to the Snapdragon 630. With its big cores, the 632 makes multitasking hassle-free and among its many faculties is the ability to support UHD video (4K, 30 fps) playback. The 632’s high-efficiency octa-core performance does make the Redmi 7 a cost-effective multitasker.

The phone has a 12 MP+2 MP AI dual shooter on the back and an 8 MP front camera for selfies. The rear camera has an f/2.2 aperture, which is good enough for most mobile photography requirements. Like in the case of the Redmi Y3, the AI department in the Redmi 7 shooter is also in the need of an upgrade. Most of the so-called AI functions turn out to be cosmetic, which any third-party photo doctor apps can enhance and perfect if you know how to fiddle with them. The back camera supports face recognition and understands about 33 scenes.

The photos look natural and unadulterated. The lenses work well in daylight as well as low-light situations. Even the night shots look impressive considering the price. The camera can shoot crisp HD videos (1080p, 60 fps), and the audio quality is quite satisfying. The 8 MP selfie shooter has f/2.0 aperture and is equipped with screenflash, HDR mode and a palm shutter. You can shoot videos on the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard as well. HEVC compresses videos more efficiently, while reducing their size significantly. The selfies won’t disappoint you even under low-light.

The Redmi 7 delivers neat audio. In the budget segment, usually the audio gets rendered way too loud. Even low-quality audio gets some nice enhancements.

The phone, like most Mi phones, has the 4,000 mAh battery which can last a full day and more even if you are a heavy surfer. The AI face unlock is a plus for a phone at this price. The fingerprint sensor responds fast enough and the stainless steel fingerprint ring helps keep it clean and mark-free. The device comes with a series of sensors: vibration motor, distance sensor, ambient light sensor, accelerometer, electronic compass, IR blaster, etc. The stock remote is also a great handy tool, which works with almost all appliances.

In fact, the most impressive quality of the Redmi 7 is its multi-tasking. It is a phone that can run almost anything and function non-stop. There is no heating, no other significant blemishes. We played several games and most ran smoothly. Even basic video and audio editing functions worked without glitches or lags.

The Redmi 7 sticks to Xiaomi’s legacy and delivers a great multi-tasking experience to become yet another cost-effective and stylish gadget from the Chinese company.

Price: Starts at ₹7,999

Pros: Great looks, efficient processor, good battery, seamless multi-tasking

Cons: Body is slippery, too many ads popping up on screen, Netflix faces glitches due to the Mi-Netflix tussle

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