Xiaomi Redmi 1S Unboxing and Review (India)

After getting my mind blown by the Xiaomi Mi3, I tried its cheap counter-part the Redmi 1S and it blew my mind again. In this post I'm going to talk about the Xiaomi Redmi 1S. I will do the unboxing and will write about the first impressions of the device. So to begin with, I participated in the First Redmi 1S sale and managed to get a device. It actually took a long time for the delivery, thanks to the standard Flipkart delivery. I received the device yesterday and here I'm doing the Unboxing and first impressions.

Unboxing Redmi 1S

So the package sent by the Flipkart was quite good and tough, inside there was the Xiaomi Redmi 1S box, fully bubble-wrapped. Flipkart also gave Official Redmi 1S screen-guard and SIM card tray for free.

The contents inside the Xiaomi Redmi 1S box were, 1) Xiaomi Redmi 1S, 2) USB cable, 3) USB Adapter with Indian plugs, 5) 2050 mAh battery and some booklets / instruction manuals. The Xiaomi Redmi 1S box was quite tough and according to the company, it was made using recycled paper (thumbs up for that)

I must say, the quality of Xiaomi accessories is very good, the USB cable which comes with the device is of a very good quality and is quite long, well longer than USB's which come with other brand phones. The USB Adapter is also of very good quality and does the job quite well.

Xiaomi Redmi 1S : Review and First Impressions

Build Quality and Look

On first look the Redmi 1S looks quite decent and premium, though it is made of plastic, the matte finish and premium black color makes it an eye-candy. The touch-sensitive buttons below the screen are painted red, which suits the name 'Redmi' but I was disappointed as the buttons did not have any back-light like Mi3, never-mind. The volume rockers and power button were on the right-side and the left side has nothing. The top contains a 3.5mm jack and the bottom has a microUSB port and main microphone.

The back contains an 8 megapixel camera and LED Flash in a Samsung like manner. The speaker and second microphone are also located at the back. The front has a 4.7 inch IPS display, 3 touch sensitive buttons, a front facing camera and sensors.

Touch Sensitive Buttons, Volume Rocker and Power Button

The back is curved and makes the phone easier to hold, unlike Mi3. The Redmi 1S is non-slippery, thanks to the curved back and because of matte plastic body, it does not get fingerprint impressions on it. The device is quite sturdy to hold and feels tough. The back panel can be removed for accessing battery, SIM cards and MicroSD cards. Unlike Mi3, the Redmi 1S battery is user replaceable, it supports Dual-SIM and also supports MicroSD cards.

Display

DisplayThe Redmi 1S packs a 4.7" Inch IPS LCD Display which is of 720p resolution (1280 x 720 pixels), the Touch screen is capacitive and supports Multi-touch. Another disappointment, Redmi 1S does not come with Corning Gorilla Glass, but instead it does have a scratch-resistant glass. According to Xiaomi India website, the Redmi 1S comes with AGC Dragontail Scratch-resistant glass (Something is better than nothing)

The Display is quite sharp and looks good, definitely the best at this price range. The touch is flawless and buttery-smooth. The MiUI is like icing on the cake, it compliments the display and works out as a great combo. 

Hardware

The best thing about the Redmi 1S is it's hardware specifications. Redmi 1S is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 Chipset along with a Quad-Core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A7 processor. You get 1 GB RAM on board and an Adreno 305 GPU for gaming needs. The inbuilt storage of Redmi 1S is 8GB, in which you get approximately 4.5GB for your data, but you can expand the storage up to 64 GB using microSD card. Xiaomi Redmi 1S packs sensors like Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, Gyroscope sensor and Compass.

Dual SIM Slots, MicroSD Slot and Removable Battery

Software

The Xiaomi Redmi 1S runs on MIUI v5 out of the box which is built upon Android v4.3 JellyBean. You'll get access to Google Play store from where you can download apps and games onto your Redmi 1S. Even though the Redmi 1S runs on Android Jellybean but due to the MIUI interface the phone is blazing fast and lag free. MIUI brings in tons of customization and new features, you can download and change themes, boot-animation, icons, fonts, dialer appearance, clock styles etc. without rooting the device. Xiaomi confirmed a MIUI v6 update for Redmi 1S by the end of this year which is a great news, even though Android stops giving support to your phone, Xiaomi will keep bringing MIUI updates for a long time. 

MIUI comes with a built-in Security app which helps you clean junk files, clear RAM, virus scanner, permissions app etc. You get tons of Animations with MIUI, there is an inbuilt Weather app, WPS office for viewing and editing documents, Themes store from where you can download paid and free themes. The inbuilt browser is fast and smooth but if you want, you can download and use any other browser from Play store. Overall the MIUI is designed to run on low RAM which means you'll get fast and smooth experience on your device all the time.

Camera

Redmi 1S again wins the camera race, it packs the best camera which you can get under this price range. On the back there is a 8 Megapixel camera with LED flash and f/2.2 aperture, the camera takes great photos under all light conditions. The Camera UI on the Redmi 1S is same as the Mi3. The back camera is capable to shoot Full HD 1080p videos. Other camera options on Redmi 1S are Autofocus, Touchfocus, Multi-scene modes, Burst mode, face recognition, Smile detection, Geo-Tagging, HDR etc. I was quite impressed with the zero-shutter lag on the Redmi 1S. 

Click this Link to view Sample Camera Shots (Unedited)

The Front camera on Redmi 1S is of 1.6 Megapixel and does a great job, it could have been better but we simply can't complain in this price range. The front camera shoots videos up to 720p HD.

Battery Performance

The Redmi 1S comes with a 2000 mAh Li-ion battery which is user-replaceable. The battery performance is average, with minimum use you'll survive a day. If you are a heavy user then you may find battery getting low quicker but for a phone under Rs.6000 the Redmi 1S battery is great. During testing my Redmi 1S, I found the battery lasting a day and little more. Xiaomi is planning to sell extra batteries soon, so if you are a heavy user then you can either buy a spare battery or just go for a Mi Power Bank.

Connectivity

Redmi 1S supports 2G and 3G Networks. The network connectivity on the Redmi 1S is great, I found great network reception all the time, even when indoor. Outdoors the Redmi 1S network reception was great and during my use I never found any loss in network at any time. The phone comes with Bluetooth v4.0 connectivity and you can easily transfer files via Bluetooth, connect to bluetooth speakers, headphones etc. You also get Wi-Fi and GPS support with Redmi 1S. GPS on Redmi 1S comes with A-GPS and GLONASS support. Overall the connectivity of Redmi 1S was great.


Conclusion

The Xiaomi Redmi 1S is available in Indian market, exclusively on Flipkart. It is priced at Rs.5999 and currently come in Black color only. For this price range I can say, Redmi 1S is the best you can get, however the Availability issues can be a roadblock between you and Redmi 1S, currently you can only buy Redmi 1S by registering for flipkart sale, Read more about that here. Overall the Redmi 1S is great and I'll sure recommend it to people looking for a High-performance smartphone in budget price.