So far, the Galaxy Note has been regarded as the undisputed champion of the Phablet segment, and ever since the Note 4 went public, there has only been one question in the minds of the public – Can anything beat the Note at all ?
Looks like Xiaomi has listened , and have replied in kind. Say hello to the Xiaomi Note Pro, a no- nonsense, bred to kill phablet beast which, if the rumors are true, will most likely snatch the phablet crown from the veteran. Xiaomi has been known to offer budget friendly devices, and even when is was the phablet segment, Xiaomi had some of the cheapest phablets in the market. This time however, they have decided to pull out all stops, and give the world a truly powerful device. Does it have what it takes to prove the rumors right?
Lets take a look –
- The device is very sleek, in every sense of the word. The Gorilla Glass covered back panel adds the extra oomph to the device. The side bezels are minimal, and it also has a decent 74.4% screen to body ratio.
- Connectivity – The Note Pro will have 2G, 3G and 4G connectivity, which is at par with the industry standard today, and we will also be getting the Dual Sim feature. We can use either a micro or nano sim , thus saving us the trouble of going through the hassle of changing the SIM or getting it resized.
- Display – The Note Pro has a 5.7 inch QHD display, with a stunning pixel density of 515 ppi. Xiaomi have taken on the Galaxy Note 4 on the get go,with a similar display configuration. The Note pro has an edge over the Note 4 with a slightly higher screen to body ratio, just 0.2% to be more precise, but on paper, thats really going to matter. The colours are punchy on Xiaomi devices and with a 515 ppi density, full zoom in is not going to effect the display clarity at all.
- Performance – This is where things get interesting. The Note Pro will be running the Snapdragon 810 chipset, which features the Quad core 1.5 GHz Cortex A-53 CPU and a 2.0 GHz Cortex A-57 CPU. This overshadows the 805 chipset in the Note 4 in all aspects. The Exynos chipset may be good, but that too cannot match up to the sheer power of the 810 chipset. Gamers will be ecstatic to see the Adreno 430 GPU powering the device. In short, whether you are a performance fanatic, or a mobile gaming extraordinaire, the Note Pro has got you covered.
- Memory – The Note Pro comes with 64 GB of in-built storage with no SD card support. However, with OTG support now available across most devices, I am sure the SD card absence will be forgotten. The talking point here is the RAM. The Note Pro features 4 GB RAM, a whole gig more than its korean competitor. Multi-tasking will be an unforgettable experience on this device. Looks like Xiaomi wants to break a new record with this device.
- Camera – We will get a 13 MP rear camera and a 4 MP front snapper in this device. An overall strong camera lineup but we will have to wait for the full camera tests on this device to see how it fares against its competition
- Battery – The device features a 3090 mAh battery, which is more than sufficient to give you a day or even more on a single charge. The Quick charge feature will be an added boost, as it will give you 60% charge in a mere 30 minutes, good for spur of the moment situations.
All in all , I would say , this device is one to look out for, and one which will go down in history as the device that gave the Phablet King the jitters. The Mi Note may have the specs to beat the Alpha Phablet, but its the value added features that the Note 4 brings to the table that will keep it on top. There are people saying that the Mi Note is essentialy the iPhone 6 Plus killer, but I say the 6 Plus didnt need to be killed anyway. I would say the only competition for this device as of today is the top dog itself.
As far as pricing goes, Xiaomi will aim at selling the Mi Note Pro at a slightly cheaper rate than the leading phablets, in which case, we are looking at a possible Phablet sales record going the Xiaomi Way as well. Overall, a Good job by Xiaomi, and I sincerely hope this device beats the Note 4, as the Phablet race has been one sided so far, and the champ could really do with a worthy contender.