62 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 64ROUND-UP
do everything in Dark Mode but because it drastically
reduces the screen’s impact on battery life.
The Redmi Note 7 also lacks the Ambient Display
(always-on) mode found in Xiaomi flagships, which
can additionally help you maintain battery life by
reducing the frequency with which you feel you need
to wake the phone to check the time or notifications.
That could be an issue here, since Redmi Note 7
has the most ridiculous notification LED we’ve ever
seen – it flashes up below the screen but is the tiniest
little dot you could easily miss it completely.
None of Xiaomi’s current smartphone line-up is
waterproof, though we wouldn’t necessarily expect
to find this feature at this price anyhow. Xiaomi also
keeps down costs by excluding wireless charging from
this phone, though it does support Quick Charge 4
and is supplied with a 10-watt USB-C charger.
As with all Xiaomi phones you’ll also find a silicon
case is supplied, a nice touch given that these are not
easily obtainable in UK High Street stores. The Note
7 does feature Gorilla Glass 5 to help protect it from
scratches, but it is not infallible.Performance
The Note 7 is fitted with a 2.2GHz Qualcomm
Snapdragon 660 14nm chip, which integrates an
850MHz Adreno 512 GPU. This is a step down from
the also mid-range Snapdragon 712 and 730 found in
the Mi 9 SE and 9T, but there’s not a huge difference
in performance – at least not anything the average
user would be able to perceive – as you’ll see in the
comparison charts below.