Xiaomi Redmi Y2 Review

 

Redmi Y2 design

Take a look at the Redmi Y2 and you will see that the design has evolved. It looks a lot like the Redmi S2, which the company recently launched in the Chinese market. It has a 5.99-inch display and a Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro (Review)-like camera module at the back. The Redmi Y2 is primarily made of plastic, unlike the Redmi Note series which uses metal in its construction. The Redmi Y2 is tall and narrow thanks to the 18:9 aspect ratio.

Xiaomi Redmi Y2 specifications, features, and software

Xiaomi is known to offer good hardware with most of its smartphones and the Redmi Y2 isn't an exception. The Redmi Y2 is powered by the Snapdragon 625 SoC, which is an octa-core processor clocked at 2.0GHz. There are two variants of the phone, one with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, and the other with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. It has a dedicated microSD card slot and you can use a card of up to 256GB capacity.

Netflix, and NewsPoint. While storage isn't a major constraint as you get close to 22GB of free space with the 32GB variant, you can still go ahead and uninstall most of these apps.

Xiaomi Redmi Y2 performance, cameras, and battery life

The Snapdragon 625 SoC is a tried and tested processor and has been around for a while, even powering some of Xiaomi's previous models. It is still capable of delivering a good lag-free experience, and we did not notice any stutter during usage. It manages multitasking quite well, and we found that the phone did keep apps in the background, making it easy for us to switch between them.

We had the 3GB RAM variant in for review, which delivered decent results when we benchmarked it. In AnTuTu, it managed to score 77,089, and also 823 and 3982 in Geekbench's single-core and multi-core tests respectively. It scored 851 in 3DMark Slingshot, and 35fps in GFXBench T-Rex. These scores are quite similar to those of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5, except for marginally better performance in graphics benchmarks owing to the lower-resolution display.

Battery performance depends hugely on what you are doing with the Redmi Y2. With our light usage restricted to social media apps like Facebook and WhatsApp, coupled with a few calls, this phone managed to get through one day without needing to be plugged it. Bump the usage up to include games, and you will see that the battery level drops quicker. While playing games like Clash Royale we saw a high rate of battery drain. On the other hand, our HD video loop test ran for 14 hours and 46 minutes. When you run out of power, the supplied 10W charger takes close to two hours to top the phone up completely.

Xiaomi's camera app is fairly straightforward and easy to use. You get a few quick toggles for HDR and the flash, and an option to apply filters to your photos. Other camera modes include Short Video which lets you record 10-second clips, the usual video mode, Portrait mode, and a Manual mode that only lets you control the white balance and ISO. Panorama mode only lets you take photos while holding the phone in portrait.

We noticed a slight shutter lag which became more of an issue in low light. When you switch to the selfie camera you do get to choose the level of beautification you like, and there's an advanced mode that gives you control over specific parameters such as the eyes, jawline, skin tone, and skin smoothening. Xiaomi says that it uses AI to apply beautification to photo subjects

The Xiaomi Redmi Y2 is a slightly better attempt at a selfie-focused smartphone than the model it replaces. It has proven hardware that is capable of delivering a smooth user experience, plus MIUI 9.5 which has a lot of added features. The camera performance is good in daylight but goes down a little in low light. Selfies are the highlight of this smartphone and it does deliver on that front, with good shots in various lighting conditions.

Display

5.99-inch

Processor

2GHz octa-core

Front Camera

16-megapixel

Resolution

720x1440 pixels

RAM

3GB

OS

Android 8.1 Oreo

Storage

32GB

Rear Camera

12-megapixel

Battery Capacity

3080mAh

For its asking price, the Redmi Y2 could be a good choice if you prioritise selfies over everything else. If you want a better all-rounder, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 (Review) has a full HD+ display, a bigger 4000mAh battery, and sells at same price. Another alternative is the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 (Review), which costs a little extra but also delivers more in terms of specifications.