Redmi Y2 Full Specification

 

Display

The front of the Redmi Y2 is as usual dominated by the display along with the selfie camera, earpiece and the usual array of sensors on the top edge. The Redmi Y2 offers a large HD+ display of 5.9-inch with 1440x720 pixels resolution -- same as the Redmi 5 (starting price Rs 7,999).


The one new aspect that Xiaomi has introduced with the Redmi Y2 is a feature called 'full screen display'. As the name suggests, enabling this will let you operate the handset in a full screen mode with gesture controls. This would mean that the currently present on-screen navigation keys would vanish and you can use gestures like swipe up from the bottom of the screen to go to home screen, swipe left or right from the edge of the screen to go back and swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause to open recent apps. This is a pretty nifty feature and although may take some time to get used to, but actually makes the experience of using a full screen display smartphone effective.

The display comes with features such as Reading mode, which reduces the blue light emissions; Schedule that lets you customize the period of this reading mode; Contrast and colour selection and text size options. While there weren't issues with the colour reproduction at tricky viewing angles, it is obviously not as good as a full HD+ display resolution. Xiaomi itself is offering full HD+ at a starting price of Rs 9,999 with the Redmi Note 5. The sunlight legibility is not one of the strongest suits of the device and we also felt the display looks slightly dimmer, when viewed from a certain angle.

Performance  

 

The Xiaomi Redmi Y2 is powered by a 2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC and Adreno 506 GPU -- same as the Xiaomi Mi A1 (Rs 13,999) and Redmi Note 5 (starting price Rs 9,999). There are two storage options that you may choose from -- 3GB+32GB and 4GB+64GB.


The Redmi Y2 runs runs Xiaomi's MIUI 9 skin based on Android 8.1 Oreo out-of-the-box making it the first Xiaomi device in the country to run on Oreo with an OTA. All the recent Xiaomi devices came with Nougat-based MIUI whereas the competition handsets run on the latest operating systems.

Third party themes still don't support the 18:9 aspect ratio of the display, same as the other Xiaomi handsets, leaving this UI feature redundant. There is a blank black patch that comes on the lock screen if you select any app and it surely gets on your nerves after a point. However, MIUI 10 is expected to roll out to the Redmi Y2 which should tackle this issue.


When it comes to performance, we did not face any issues with the routine tasks of a device. The smartphone handled everything from multi-app switching to gaming without any hiccups. Overall performance was smooth and lag free. There were no complaints with the call quality or network reception with the device as well. The audio quality from the speaker -- which is placed at the bottom -- is good but holding the smartphone in landscape orientation somewhat reduces the output.

Camera

Being a selfie centric smartphone, camera is one of the main features that Xiaomi is boasting about the Redmi Y2. It comes equipped with an Artificial Intelligence-based selfie camera of 16-megapixel, with an f/2.0 aperture and sensor HDR. For beautification, the camera has AI Beauty 4.0.

As per Xiaomi, "the front camera uses “Super Pixel”, a process that is said to reduce photo noise, capturing more light and enhancing photo quality when shot in low light. When we put the front camera to test, specifically in low-light conditions, we did not see results as good as they were claimed. Images had fairly visible noise and the colours were also a bit dull. However, the results were slightly better in HDR mode. For ideal images, you will also have to turn on the selfie-light. There is also a beautification mode as we see in almost all smartphones these days, which does what it claims and will not disappoint you. As is the case with most smartphones, there’s a lot of AI that is being thrown – especially in the camera – around but the truth is that it’s hard to notice its impact. At least that holds true for casual users.

The camera app is pretty simple with options to make a video, a short video (it is pre-set to 10 seconds), capture a picture in square mode, portrait mode, panorama and manual mode. It also has native Instagram-like filters for the users.

Overall, we can say that even though the camera of the Redmi Y2 is a bit of a let-down in low-light shots. In proper light or daylight, the handset managed to deliver some great results. We were able to capture images with accurate colours and detailing during the day.

Battery

The 3080mAh battery on the Redmi Y2 -- same as the Xiaomi Mi A1 -- is said to last a day. In our experience, the battery of the smartphone lasted easily about a day with moderate usage. This involves routine tasks, as well as GPS tracking, watching Netflix content and more. For a heavy-duty user, it may not last that long.

Verdict

There is no doubt that Xiaomi Redmi Y2 is a reasonably good phone for the price. It offers a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, Android Oreo based operating system, 16MP AI-based selfie camera -- all at a starting point of Rs 9,999. The camera, which is said to be the key highlight of the device, leaves a lot to be desired. For anyone who is buying Xiaomi for the first time, the Redmi Y2 will certainly check the right boxes. But for a repeat Xiaomi buyer, you may feel that these features are being pulled in from other Xiaomi handsets. Xiaomi seems to be following the mantra “If it ain't broke, don't fix it,” which is working pretty well for the company.

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