Xiaomi officially unveiled its new Redmi Note family member, the Redmi Note 4. The phone is now available for purchase on Mi.com, Mi Home stores and through Chinese retailers. Let’s see how the new Xiaomi phablet compares with the Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016).
Dimensions, Design, Display
Two models are pretty much the same when looking at their size. Redmi Note 4 is a bit thicker (8.4 mm compared to J7’s 7.8 mm), but other than that, two models are almost identical. Redmi Note 4: 151 x 76 x 8.4 mm; Galaxy J7: 151.7 x 76 x 7.8 mm.
Design-wise, the Redmi Note 4 sure looks more attractive, with its metal unibody and a fingerprint sensor placed on the back, just under the main camera. The Galaxy J7 is just too plain looking to be considered as the winner in the design area.
Both phones come with 5.5-inch screens, but there are some major differences. Redmi Note 4 sports 1080p resolution and an IPS LCD matrix, while Galaxy J7’s screen has just 720p resolution in combination with Super AMOLED matrix. Pixel density is not so great (only 267ppi compared to Redmi’s 401ppi) but saturated colors and better blacks are responsible for the phone having at least couple of advantages over its rival. And yes, a 720p resolution on a 5.5-inch device is just not enough today.
Hardware
Xiaomi decided to use MediaTek Helio X20 chipset in Redmi Note 4, instead going with the usual Snapdragon SoC. The Helio X20 is a deca-core solution (2 A-72 [email protected], 4 A-53 [email protected] and 4 A-53 [email protected] coupled with Mali-T880 MP4 GPU) capable of going up against Snapdragon 810. The X20 finally brought a decent graphics solution, with Mali-T880 MP4, so you can rest assured that gaming will be flawless on Redmi Note 4. The phone comes in two flavors – Standard edition (2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal storage) and High edition (3 GB of RAM along with 32 GB of internal storage) and it’s good to know that internal storage can be expanded with an SD card. As in most cases, SD card will use SIM 2 slot.
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) is powered by Snapdragon 617 (4×1.6 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4×1.0 GHz Cortex-A53 with Adreno 405) or Exynos 7870 Octa (Octa-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A53 along with Mali-T830MP2). In both cases, processors used are pretty powerful, but graphics capability is way behind that of Redmi Note 4. The J7 comes with 2 gigs of RAM and 16 GB of expandable internal storage. The phone comes either with a single SIM or a dual-SIM setup, but no matter the SIM setup, SD card will always use a dedicated slot.
Comparing Antutu scores, it’s clear that X20 (more than 80,000 points) is much more powerful than both Snapdragon 617 (around 40,000 points) and Exynos 7870 (38,000 points).
Camera
Xiaomi Redmi note 4 comes with a usual 13MP (f/2.0) main camera, capable of recording 1080p@30fps video. Selfie one has 5MP (f/2.0) shooter and is capable of recording 1080p video.
The Galaxy J7 (2016) packs 13MP (f/1.9) main camera also capable of recording 108p@30fps video, while the front-facing one has 5MP (f/1.9).
Battery, Software
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) packs a solid 3,300 mAh battery, while the Redmi Note 4 comes with a usual, huge battery with a capacity of 4,100 mAh. Both phones come with Android Marshmallow, and Redmi Note 4 also packs a fingerprint sensor.
The Galaxy J7 can be purchased for around $240, a much higher price than Redmi Note 4. In China, 16GB model will sell for around $135, while 32GB one will have a price tag of around $180.
Here, Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 comes out as a clear winner and a much better choice when compared to much costly Galaxy J7 (2016).