I start with the negatives:
- The headphone (uses the top speaker as a headphone in combination with the small grille, which is the actual headphone) is non-existent. I mean, when it's working, it produces sound at such a low volume that you have to hold the phone vertically to your ear in order to hear from the top speaker. Which also sounds throughout the entire space you are in since it sends the sound to the ceiling... So, zero privacy. Also, the speaker during calls is unacceptably low in volume. You can barely hear anything... And supposedly, I bought it because it had dual speakers...
- Not all applications are properly optimized for the phone. And I don't mean the applications I downloaded from Google Play, but the ones that are already installed, like Google Maps, which constantly shows the car icon to the left of the blue line on the map, making it unclear where it's indicating you to go during turns.
- The Gallery app doesn't recognize some of the folders with photos from the SD card. I tried it on my old smartphone, it works, I tried it with the file manager app, it works, with another file manager app it's the same, even VLC, which doesn't support images but only videos and audios, works, but in the gallery, I can't see about half of my photos. Madness...
- The ads. Not in apps, but in the OPERATING SYSTEM. You open the settings, bam, advertisement, you go to watch a video from your gallery, bam, advertisement again. It's honestly disgraceful. I read in the reviews that MIUI 12.5 has few bloatware apps, but no one mentioned that it's the SAME as having a huge bloatware app. I miss Samsung so much...
- There is no option to organize apps into folders. You might say this is not a major flaw, but okay, I had it on Samsung and I wanted it here too. After all, both are Android. It was convenient for me, I don't have it, period.
- The charging is good, but don't believe those crazy claims of 0-80% in one hour, I burst out laughing. With the 33 WATT fast charger, which is NOT included in the package as some claim, it takes about two hours to go from 0% to 100%. Given that it has a 5,000 mAh battery, this is not tragic, but it's not the advertised promise either.
- I won't write anything about photos, music, etc., just that it doesn't have significantly better camera than other phones in its category. The specs might make someone think it can't be worse than a €150 phone, but the result is practically the same. It's a mid-range device. It takes mediocre photos.
- The size requires adjustment, it's not easy to use with one hand, even though I have big hands and it's one of the smaller Xiaomi phones. But I change phones every 3 to 4 years, I imagine the next one will be a solar panel...
- The sound settings. Well, here is the worst part of the phone. When someone calls me, I can't hear anything, so I press the side volume button and increase the volume to the maximum. They call again, still can't hear anything. I'm like, what the hell, I search on the internet and find out that in order to increase or decrease the ringtone volume, you have to: A) Press the side button, B) Tap on the three dots that appear at the top of the sound bar, C) Scroll up with your finger on the middle of the three bars that appear. That is, if you want to unlock the phone because you wear gloves and simply adjust the call volume by pressing the side buttons, you can't. I thought about selling it just for that, honestly.
Let's go to the positives:
- It has a relatively low SAR compared to other phones.
- It is very fast for me.
- Its screen is very good.
- Its battery lasts up to two days with little use.
- Its fingerprint sensor is very fast and convenient on the side.
In conclusion, personally, although I understand that many people use phones as smartphones and give minimal importance to their actual function as phones, for me it is absolutely unacceptable because it does not perform the basics well. Calls and such. In other aspects, it is good for its price. But I would not buy it again under any circumstances. I would prefer a discount in screen quality and speed for a cheaper Samsung, or I would buy a more expensive one with the same features.