Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 review: For the people

Performance

Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 is among the first phones to be powered by the MediaTek's MT6795 chipset, also known as Helio X10. Unlike the name suggests, the processor is an octa-core 2GHz Cortex-A53, accompanied by a PowerVR G6200 (Rogue) GPU and 2GB of RAM.

The Meizu MX5 and HTC One E9+ are the other devices we've met so far that utilize the same chipset. The upcoming Sony Xperia M5 and Gionee Elife E8 are also coming with the Helio X10 later this year, so it seems the chip is becoming a popular choice these days.

GeekBench 3 gauges the multi-core performance of the processor and Redmi Note 2 is doing lovely. What's odd is that the HTC One E9+, which has the same chips and CPU clocks, is doing slightly better in benchmarks. The Meizu MX5 tops the chart with the same processor, but it is running on a higher 2.2GHz speed.

GeekBench 3

Higher is better

• Meizu MX5
  5110
• HTC One E9+
  4796
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  4589
• Meizu m1 note
  3988
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  3375
• Xiaomi Mi 4
  3175
• Xiaomi Mi Note
  3094
• Oppo R5
  2806
• Meizu m2 note
  2649
• Oppo R1x
  2507
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  2435
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  2375
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  2336
• Xiaomi Redmi 2
  1460

The compound AnTuTu 5 test puts the Redmi Note 2 ahead of the competition, very close to the MX5 but somewhat behind the One E9+.

AnTuTu 5

Higher is better

• HTC One E9+
  50753
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  49554
• Meizu MX5
  48915
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  46307
• Xiaomi Mi Note
  45632
• Meizu m1 note
  39224
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  34491
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  32487
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  32217
• Meizu m2 note
  32054
• Oppo R5
  31417
• Oppo R1x
  30187
• Xiaomi Redmi 2
  20616

Hopefully, the other compound benchmark - BaseMark OS II 2.0 will give us a better idea. It calculates CPU, GPU, memory, OS and web performance and puts in into a single score. Yet the Redmi Note 2 is once again noticeably behind its Helio X10 siblings - the MX5 and One E9+. We made sure we opted for the Performance Power Mode, so we don't know what the real issue is.

Note that the Redmi Note 2 does admirably on the test even though it got a lower score than expected, so we are fine with its performance.

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi Note
  1353
• Meizu MX5
  1252
• HTC One E9+
  1227
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  1089
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  1063
• Meizu m1 note
  880
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  858
• Oppo R1x
  753
• Oppo R5
  710
• Meizu m2 note
  673
• Xiaomi Redmi 2
  511
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  479
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  296

Quite expectedly a single Cortex-A53 processor core running at 2GHz is a real beast, while eight of those are indeed a blazing fast configuration.

Basemark OS 2.0 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi Note
  6068
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  4338
• HTC One E9+
  3444
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  3434
• Meizu MX5
  3262
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  3008
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  2628
• Meizu m1 note
  2617
• Oppo R5
  2437
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  2388
• Oppo R1x
  2177
• Xiaomi Redmi 2
  1806
• Meizu m2 note
  1709

Basemark OS 2.0 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• HTC One E9+
  28201
• Meizu MX5
  22976
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  21753
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  21516
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  18490
• Xiaomi Mi Note
  17882
• Meizu m1 note
  14565
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  13521
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  13167
• Oppo R5
  12044
• Oppo R1x
  8683
• Meizu m2 note
  8105
• Xiaomi Redmi 2
  6362

PowerVR G6200 GPU is perfectly capable to handle 1080p displays. Its raw offscreen performance is better than the widespread Adreno 405 within the Snapdragon 615, so we guess the Helio X10 would be the better choice for 1080p upper mid-rangers.

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A8
  31
• Xiaomi Mi Note
  28
• Xiaomi Mi 4
  27.6
• Meizu MX5
  27
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  23
• Oppo R5
  15.1
• HTC One E9+
  15
• Meizu m1 note
  15
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  14.9
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  14
• Oppo R1x
  12
• Meizu m2 note
  12
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  9.8
• Xiaomi Redmi 2
  5.2

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A8
  13
• Xiaomi Mi 4
  11.6
• Xiaomi Mi Note
  11
• Meizu MX5
  10
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  8.5
• HTC One E9+
  6.6
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  6.2
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  5.84
• Oppo R5
  5.8
• Meizu m1 note
  5.8
• Oppo R1x
  4.9
• Meizu m2 note
  2.3
• Xiaomi Redmi 2
  1.8

When it comes to 1080p onscreen performance, it does as good as Adreno 405 running on a 720p display, which says a lot. The Meizu MX5, which has absolutely the same GPU, does slight better.

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A8
  30
• Xiaomi Mi 4
  28.2
• Xiaomi Mi Note
  28
• Meizu MX5
  27
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  25.8
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  23
• Oppo R1x
  20
• Meizu m1 note
  16
• Oppo R5
  14.8
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  14
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  13.3
• Meizu m2 note
  12
• HTC One E9+
  10
• Xiaomi Redmi 2
  9.6

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A8
  14
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  12.2
• Xiaomi Mi 4
  11.3
• Xiaomi Mi Note
  11
• Oppo R1x
  9.6
• Meizu MX5
  9.5
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  7.9
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  6.2
• Oppo R5
  5.8
• Meizu m1 note
  5.7
• HTC One E9+
  5.4
• Xiaomi Redmi 2
  3.9
• Meizu m2 note
  2.3

The BaseMark X is another GPU stress test, which puts the Redmi Note 2 in the upper half of our chart, better than the mid-class Adrenos, but still behind the same GPU unit inside the E9+ and MX5.

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi Note
  13075
• Meizu MX5
  10403
• HTC One E9+
  9639
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  8838
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  8518
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  5105
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  4875
• Oppo R5
  4855
• Meizu m1 note
  4617
• Oppo R1x
  4018
• Meizu m2 note
  3946
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  2974

The MIUI web browser got some performance and stability improvements with the MIUI 7 upgrade and now it's quite fast. The Redmi Note 2 scored a very good mark on the JavaScript Kraken benchmark, and finished second-best on the compound BrowserMark test.

Kraken 1.1

Lower is better

• Samsung Galaxy A8
  5094
• Xiaomi Mi 4
  6137
• Xiaomi Mi Note
  6382
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  9504
• Meizu MX5
  11414
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  11439
• Oppo R5
  11656
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  12416
• Oppo R1x
  12826
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  13609
• Xiaomi Redmi 2
  13694
• Meizu m2 note
  14462
• Meizu m1 note
  15055
• HTC One E9+
  17430

BrowserMark 2.1

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A8
  1992
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  1505
• Meizu MX5
  1471
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  1396
• Oppo R5
  1319
• HTC One E9+
  1279
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  1171
• Xiaomi Mi Note
  748
• Xiaomi Mi 4
  744
• Meizu m2 note
  656
• Oppo R1x
  627
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  588
• Xiaomi Redmi 2
  549
• Meizu m1 note
  536

Xiaomi meant business with the Redmi Note 2 and the Helio X10 chip was the right choice. It offers great processing power, the GPU punch is nice and will do even for heavy 3D games, while the multi-taskers should be fine with 2GB of RAM. Sure, the Redmi Note 2 isn't the fastest smartphone around, but it did very well across all benchmark tests and is surely one of the best performers in its class.