SpecEagle
SpecEagle review · Xiaomi

Redmi 1 review: 2013 first Redmi $130 budget Android.

SpecEagle Editorial·Jul 2013·$130
Overall
64/100
Class rank
#2 of 29
Tier
Budget
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

Xiaomi Redmi 1.

Xiaomi's 2013 Redmi 1 launched the budget Redmi line at $130 — quad-core HD that disrupted China market.

01Display

70/100

At 70/100 this is one of the strongest display showings among budget phones of 2013 — 12 points above the cohort average.

TypeIPS
Size4.7"
Resolution720 x 1280 HD

02Performance

64/100

At 64/100 this is one of the strongest performance showings among budget phones of 2013 — 14 points above the cohort average.

ChipsetMediaTek MT6589T
CPU1.5 GHz quad-A7
RAM1 GB

03Camera

64/100

At 64/100 this is one of the strongest camera showings among budget phones of 2013 — 10 points above the cohort average.

Main8 MP AF + LED
Front1.3 MP

04Battery

76/100

At 76/100 this is one of the strongest battery showings among budget phones of 2013 — 11 points above the cohort average.

Capacity2,000 mAh (removable)

05Software

76/100

At 76/100 this is one of the strongest software showings among budget phones of 2013 — 10 points above the cohort average.

What works
  • First Redmi line.
  • $130 disruptive China pricing.
  • Quad-core + HD display.
  • Dual-SIM + removable battery.
What doesn't
  • No LTE.
  • 1 GB RAM tight.
  • 158 g chunky.
  • MTK chipset slow updates.
Cross-shop it against
Nokia Lumia 625
$320 · score 64/100

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 29-phone cohort of budget devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .