Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime review: Fancy on a budget

Synthetic benchmarks

The Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime is powered by the Snapdragon 625 chipset - one of the key differences compared to the pedestrian Redmi 4 and its Snapdragon 430. While both chips pack an octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU, the 625 is made on a 14nm process with improved efficiency and performance being the logical consequence. Oh, and the 625's CPU can go as high as 2.0GHz, while the 430's is capped at 1.4GHz.

We have tested Snapdragon 625 phones before, but none comes close to the Redmi 4 Prime's price point. Still, we've thrown the Huawei nova and Asus Zenfone 2 ZE552KL here to see how different makers have gone about utilizing the Qualcomm chip.

Looking at GeekBench scores first, we find the Redmi 4 Prime to be more or less on par with the nova and Zenfone 3 in the single-core test. But while the Huawei mid-ranger and the Redmi 4 Prime are in the low 3000s in the multi-core test, the Zenfone 3 goes above 4,000 points. Not much to be said about the Prime's performance, really - clearly it's the Zenfone that's extraordinary.

GeekBench 4 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
  843
• Huawei nova
  842
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  819
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S
  647

GeekBench 4 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
  4053
• Huawei nova
  3105
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  3016
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S
  1847

In Antutu the Snapdragon 625 bunch sticks together, with only the Huawei nova managing to squeeze some points more, but not a particularly meaningful difference. The Redmi 4 Prime is considerably ahead of all Redmi Threes as well as Snapdragon 616s represented by the Oppo F1 and Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus.

AnTuTu 6

Higher is better

• Huawei nova
  65021
• Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
  63358
• Samsung Galaxy C7
  62818
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  62316
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime
  41693
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S
  40976
• Oppo F1
  35353
• Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
  35291
• Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
  34937
• Lenovo Vibe K5
  33414
• Sony Xperia E5
  32248
• Microsoft Lumia 650
  31353
• Oppo F1s
  30657
• Samsung Galaxy On5 Pro
  26462
• Samsung Galaxy J2 (2016)
  24697

The Redmi 4 Prime didn't play nice with Basemark OS II 2.0, but we did manage to run the older version. While the Zenfone 3 took issue with that one, the Huawei nova and the Galaxy C7 outperformed the Redmi (particularly the nova), but the Xiaomi 5-incher was out of reach of Snapdragon 616s yet again.

Basemark OS II

Higher is better

• Huawei nova
  1473
• Samsung Galaxy C7
  1368
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  1296
• Oppo F1
  1055
• Oppo F1s
  888
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S
  882
• Lenovo Vibe K5
  877
• Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
  861
• Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
  826

As for graphics, the Snapdragon 625 is equipped with an Adreno 506 GPU, while the 61x models make do with the Adreno 405, and the 430 is packing the Adreno 505. Well, the gap is clearly visible in Basemark X where team Adreno 506 occupies the top spots in this group. Next is the Adreno 505 in the Redmi 3S and 3S Prime, comfortably ahead of the older generation 405 in the Oppo F1 and Vibe K5 Plus.

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Huawei nova
  10511
• Samsung Galaxy C7
  10445
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  10424
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S
  7263
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime
  7236
• Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
  5427
• Oppo F1
  5314
• Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
  4863
• Lenovo Vibe K5
  4263
• Samsung Galaxy On5 Pro
  2059
• Samsung Galaxy J2 (2016)
  1419
• Oppo F1s
  419

Moving on to GFXBench, there is again little to split the Redmi 4 Prime. Galaxy C7 and Zenfone 3 ZE552KL, both in onscreen and offscreen tests. It's in the onscreen tests that the Redmi 4 Prime can't quite match the framerates of the previous generation - both the 3S and 3S Prime benefit from their lower-res displays.

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Huawei nova
  10
• Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
  9.9
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  9.8
• Samsung Galaxy C7
  9.8
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S
  7
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime
  6.5
• Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
  5.8
• Oppo F1
  5.8
• Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
  5.5
• Oppo F1s
  5.1
• Lenovo Vibe K5
  4.8
• Sony Xperia E5
  3
• Samsung Galaxy On5 Pro
  1.7

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi 3S
  14
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime
  13
• Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
  11
• Oppo F1
  11
• Oppo F1s
  10
• Huawei nova
  10
• Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
  9.7
• Samsung Galaxy C7
  9.6
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  9.6
• Lenovo Vibe K5
  9.4
• Sony Xperia E5
  6
• Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
  5.5
• Samsung Galaxy On5 Pro
  4

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Huawei nova
  6.3
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  6.2
• Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
  6.2
• Samsung Galaxy C7
  6.2
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S
  4.4
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime
  4.3
• Oppo F1s
  2.4
• Sony Xperia E5
  1.9
• Samsung Galaxy On5 Pro
  1.4

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi 3S
  10
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime
  9.6
• Huawei nova
  6.5
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  6.1
• Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
  6.1
• Samsung Galaxy C7
  6.1
• Oppo F1s
  6
• Sony Xperia E5
  4.3
• Samsung Galaxy On5 Pro
  3.1

GFX 3.1 Car scene (offscreen)

Higher is better

• Huawei nova
  3.5
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  3.4
• Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
  3.4
• Samsung Galaxy C7
  3.4
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime
  2.3
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S
  2.3

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime
  4.8
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S
  4.8
• Huawei nova
  3.7
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  3.4
• Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
  3.4
• Samsung Galaxy C7
  3.4

Overall, the Redmi 4 Prime is very well powered, and its chipset is one that can be found in devices costing several times as much. Within its own price bracket, the Redmi 4 Prime really has no competition regarding raw performance.