Xiaomi Redmi Pro Unboxing, First Impressions

Xiaomi has announced their newest smartphone last month in China sporting dual rear cameras and the company’s first OLED display on a mobile device. This is the Redmi Pro and here’s our unboxing and initial impression of the handset.

The Redmi Pro comes in a fairly standard packaging we’re accustomed to. The packaging is austere and comes with printed materials such as quick start guide, warranty info (but not applicable in PH), as well as the SIM ejector tool, travel charger rated at 5V 2A, and a USB Type-C cable. Just like before, there’s no bundled headset inside the box.

Now on to the handset itself. Its size is pretty average for a device with a 5.5-inch display. It has a unibody construction of brushed metal which gives the handset an industrial and premium look. A pair of antenna bands is present to help capture radio signals.

The display is an OLED panel with a Full HD resolution or a pixel density of 401ppi. As expected, it’s an exceptional display with deep blacks and pleasing colors. Also, Xiaomi claims a full NTSC gamut coverage for the panel. A 5MP selfie camera sits above the display while a fingerprint scanner flanked by a pair of capacitive buttons is placed below – similar to the Mi 5 flagship smartphone.

The sides are a bit sharp on hand when gripped due to the tapered edges of the handset. Both the volume rocker and the power/lock button are positioned to the right side. The left side is pretty bare with just the SIM card tray flushed to it.

You’ll need to use the ejector tool to access the hybrid card tray which accepts a Nano- and Micro-SIM card. You can trade the second slot though for a MicroSD card to expand your storage.

Up top is the 3.5mm jack, the IR blaster for remotely controlling appliances at home, and the noise-cancelling microphone. While down at the bottom, we have the reversible USB Type-C port sandwiched by drilled holes for the loudspeaker. Although, only the right grille fires sound so we’re suspecting the other to have the main microphone instead.

Flipping the device will show the rear with brushed metal finish. There’s the dual rear camera as well — 13MP and 5MP – with its dual-tone LED flash in the middle. The camera’s feature is similar to most dual-camera setups wherein the secondary sensor helps the main sensor achieve a stereoscopic effect to add bokeh and adjust focus after taking the shot. Lastly, a modest Mi logo sits down below for branding purposes.

The Redmi Pro is powered by a MediaTek processor – either Helio X20 or Helio X25. The variant we have here is has the Helio X20 clocked at 2.1GHz. There’s 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage on-board. The performance of the Helio X20 is pretty good for mid-range smartphones so we’re enthusiastic to see how Xiaomi takes advantage of the chipset.

Software-wise, we have the MIUI 7.3 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Since the device is originally sold in China, a number of Chinese apps are pre-loaded and set as default. You’ll have to side-load the Google Play Store on your own to get access to worldwide apps and have your Google account signed in. We hope Xiaomi will release a Global ROM for the Redmi Pro since they have a following outside their home turf.

Xiaomi Redmi Pro (Standard Edition) specifications:
5.5-inch OLED display @ 1920 x 1080 pixels, 401ppi
2.1GHz MediaTek Helio X20 deca-core CPU
Mali-T880 MP4 GPU
3GB RAM
32GB internal storage
Expandable via microSD, up to 256GB (uses SIM 2 slot)
13MP Sony IMX258 PDAF + 5MP Samsung rear cameras w/ dual-tone flash
5MP f/2.0 front-facing camera
Dual-SIM (Nano + Micro)
4G LTE
Wi-Fi 802.11ac
Bluetooth 4.2, A2DP, LE
GPS w/ A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
Fingerprint scanner
USB Type-C
4050mAh battery
Android 6.0 Marshmallow w/ MIUI 7
151.5 x 76.2 x 8.15 mm
174 g

We’re going to review the Redmi Pro in the coming days and see how it fares with everyday usage. The specific unit we have is from Widget City Hub which sells for Php13,500USD 230INR 19,502EUR 219CNY 1,675 with three color options – Black, Gray, and Gold. You can check out their listing here.