Xiaomi Redmi Y2 review: Good selfies for Rs 9,999 but does it perform well?
Redmi Y2 is the latest in Xiaomi’s popular budget series with a clear focus on selfies. Redmi Y2 has a starting price of Rs 9,999 going up to Rs 12,999 for the high-end variant. With Redmi Y2’s entry into the market, there will be confusion over which is the better phone: Redmi Y2 or the Redmi Note 5, which has similar starting price of Rs 9,999. On paper, Redmi Y2 appears to pack better features in the camera department with 12MP+5MP rear camera, 16MP front camera, Portrait mode on selfies and the back.
The new Redmi Y2 is also powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, which is the same as Redmi Note 5. Redmi Y2 is also on Android Oreo with MIUI 9.5, while the Note series variant is still on Android Nougat. So is Redmi Y2 worth all the selfie fuss? Here’s what we thought after using the phone.
Redmi Y2 specifications: 5.99-inches display, 18:9 aspect ratio, 1440 x 720 pixels | Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor | 3GB/4GB RAM +32GB/64GB storage | expandable support is 128 GB | 12MP+5MP rear camera + 16MP front camera | 3080 mAh battery | MIUI 9.5 with Android Oreo 8.0 |
Redmi Y2 price in India: Rs 9,999 for 3GB RAM, Rs 12,999 for the 4GB RAM
ALSO READ: Redmi Y2 sale today
Redmi Y2 review: What’s good?
To start with the selfies, Redmi Y2 does rather well in that department. The 16MP front camera and its Portrait mode for selfies will keep most people happy. The selfies have enough details, the outline is nearly perfect, even for pictures taken indoors. The Portrait mode is still not perfect in the selfies, but colour reproduction is nice. Considering the price of Rs 9,999, I would say the selfie promise on Redmi Y2 lives up to the hype and claim.
Selfie in portrait mode on the Redmi Y2
Selfie in portrait mode on the Redmi Y2. (Image resized for web)
Moving on to Redmi Y2’s display, this has a 5.99-inch screen with a 18:9 aspect ratio. This means more space for watching videos on the Redmi Y2. However, the display resolution is 720p and not full HD like the Redmi Note 5 series. The display works fine, has ample brightness, and good viewing angles. On the design front, Redmi Y2 sports a metallic finish at the back. Redmi Y2 feels sturdy, and I had no trouble using this with one-hand and it has a good grip. The build quality is not bad for the price, though Redmi Y2 does not have a metallic unibody design.
Redmi Y2 has a 5.99-inches display with HD+ resolution.
I had the Redmi Y2 in 3GB RAM/32GB storage for review. The phone is definitely an improvement of the Redmi Y1 from last year. The new phone sports a better Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor over the Snapdragon 435 series on last year’s Y1. Redmi Y2 scored over 76,660 for us on the Antutu Benchmark test, which is better over other budget phones in a similar price range.
The device is suited for your daily tasks like social media, watching videos on YouTube, etc. Running graphics-heavy games like Asphalt 8, etc works fine, if not smoothest experience. More on that below. Redmi Y2’s battery life is also sufficient for what the phone offers. It will last an average on 10-12 hours with heavy duty to moderate usage. There were no heating issues either on the phone. Also unlike the Redmi Note 5, Redmi Note 5 Pro, the phone gets a dedicated microSD slot along with two nano-SIM slots.
Redmi Y2 rear camera samples. (Image resized for web)
Redmi Y2 rear camera samples. (Image resized for web)
Redmi Y2 rear camera samples. (Image resized for web)
Redmi Y2 Review: What’s not good?
The Redmi Y2’s 720p display for Rs 10,000 is a disappointment. This not to say the display is terrible or that icons look blurry or pixelated, but the lack of that higher resolution is a miss. More so when you consider that Redmi Note 5 has a full HD display and the 4GB RAM version costs Rs 11,999, which is less than the Redmi Y2 at Rs 12,999 for the same RAM/storage. Overall in the performance, the device does tend to lag when you have a flood of notifications all of a sudden. Also at one point Antutu would not respond and just crashed.
Redmi Y2’s rear camera has some issues, which will need updating.
My other issue with Redmi Y2 is the dual-rear camera. Xiaomi has again gone with a 12MP+5MP combination, which offers a ‘Portrait mode’ for bokeh style images where the background gets blurred. It’s not perfect though, and the camera has a noticeable shutter lag. The auto-focus also does not get locked to the object. The colours seem a bit washed out for some photos, and it really struggles with bright reds, etc. Some photos turned out well with the Redmi Y2 as you can see in the samples, but low-light was a miss on this phone with too much noise. Hopefully, Xiaomi will push out a software update to fix some of these issues.
Redmi Y2 review: Verdict
So is Redmi Y2 the ideal budget phone for selfies? The selfies are impressive for the price. The overall performance is not bad either, though it could have been better for the asking price. However, the rear camera needs some serious improvements as it is quite slow. Plus the HD+ resolution display is a disappointment at this price.
Buy this if you are obsessed with selfies and want a dual-rear camera for under Rs 10,000 from Xiaomi. Otherwise you can consider the Redmi Note 5 Pro, which has more to offer in terms of performance and battery.