Xiaomi Redmi 4A Long Term Comprehensive Review

A review about Xiaomi Redmi 4A is something that I have been waiting to write for several months (maybe 2 years since I have been using this phone for the past 2 years). This isn’t a high end device, but a lower end one – at least on the price point
The hardware configurations are pretty modest
Snapdragon 425 quad core processor
2/3 GB RAM
16GB/32GB internal storage
13 MP rear camera
5 MP front facing camera

The phone pack comes in a simple pack containing the phone, charger, usb cable, sim card tray ejector pin etc.

I haven’t used any android phones before this, so it took me some time to go through the Redmi 4a phone and entire features of MIUI. I was using a windows phone earlier. I am using the one with 2 GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. I will be writing detailed review of MIUI interface soon.

I just wanted a phone, mainly because my old Sony w810i had died and I wanted a cheap phone with all the goodies. So I searched about this and bought it offline from a store nearby (not online). Now after using it for quite sometime, I think that I have mentioned the good and the bad parts of the phone.

Advantages of Redmi 4a

1. Good Price -. At the time of purchase there were similar phones having similar hardware configurations but priced much higher than this. I had a friend having a similar phone from big company in Korea having the same configurations but around 4000 rupees higher than this one.

2. Good performance – you might say that there are much better phones out there, but with this price, the performance is pretty good.

3. Software Upgrades – When I got the phone it was running on android 6 with an older version of MIUI on top of it. Now currently it runs android 7 with MIUI 10 on top.

4. FM radio – people do listen to FM radio in our country. But you will need a earphone to be used as an antenna.

5. IR transmitter – you can use this to control your TV, DTH or AC’s. There is an application for this. You can find remote systems for most common products. Though they still haven’t given out the remote of a certain Asianet DTH system that I have at home.

Disadvantages of Redmi 4a

1. Low light photography – The cameras are pretty good in good lightning conditions. But in low light its not possible to use the cameras for any useful purposes.

2. Ads – this was not something that I am still not getting used to.. The MIUI interface is full of ads, it might creep people out who are coming from a pure android phone.

3. Hybrid SIM slot – you can’t use 2 sim’s and a memory card. You can either use 2 sims or 1 sim with 1 memory card. The phone’s internal storage is only 16/32 GB, so you are going to need a memory card if you take a lot of photos or videos using your phone.

4. Bloatware – the phone will come pre-loaded with lots of unnecessary apps, you can remove most of these.

5. Ear piece not supplied with the phone.

6. No screen protection.

I highly recommend that you buy a good screen guard and flip cover pouch if you are using this phone. This will provide adequate protection for this phone. I have dropped my phone numerous times and the screen guard and cover prevented any damage to the phone. The screen guard had broken sometimes but the screen is ok.

Now this phone is 2 years old, but if you can find a surplus one at a good price, its pretty usable as your backup phone or even giving as a gift to your mom or dad or someone you love. You are free to ask the questions and I will be only be happy to answer them for you – I will either answer as a comment or edit this review accordingly.

I am rating this phone at 4 stars out of 5.

Do checkout my other reviews