Redmi note 2 update. Accessories that are important for the owner of a Xiaomi smartphone
An explanation is needed here. There are currently 3 versions of Redmi Note 2 on the market:
1) European (with European WCDMA 3G and FDD-LTE)
2) Chinese (with Chinese TD-SCDMA 3G and TDD-LTE)
3) Chinese with a firmware modem (simultaneously with European and Chinese communication standards) - my option.
Introduction(or why Redmi Note 2)
This summer the board in my Xperia ZL died untimely (not without my participation). Without thinking twice, I decided to get a replacement device. But, since the ZL itself was quite problematic: I visited the service center 3 times in a row last fall and broke down in less than six months - and for a number of other reasons, I decided not to contact Sony anymore.I had long heard about Xiaomi, their quality and support, but until 2015 they only released relatively expensive devices, and I didn’t want to spend much. That's why I'm so excited about the Redmi Note 2.
If you are faced with a question about the reason why I took the Chinese version with a firmware modem, the answer is the same: price. It cost as much as $20 less than the European version, and the differences were minimal.
Packaging and accessories
Xiaomi's packaging principle is efficiency, it looks like this: a cardboard box containing instructions, a warranty card, a battery, a charger and a USB cable. There were no frills in the form of headphones/OTG or protective film.But, I must say, the seller made a fuss and put an adapter from a plug with a rectangular cross-section of pins to a Russian one with a round one.
Also, the parcel was sent by Russian Post through Finnish Post, and the wrapper made of several layers of foamed polyethylene withstood everything and even retained the presentation of the box. Thanks again to the seller.
Appearance
The phone case is a classic candy bar, “brick” with a silver “MI” inscription at the bottom of the cover. I am a simple person: I see a “brick” - I think “smartphone”, I see curves and patterns - I think “installation”.The thickness of the case is 6.2 mm at the edges, 8 mm in the middle, the largest value is observed on the camera - 8.6 mm. Width: 76.3, with buttons - 76.6. Unfortunately, the length of the caliper was not enough, but using its ruler (it is longer than the maximum width of the jaws due to the fastening), it turned out to be about 151.8-152 by eye.
If you want to know how this smartphone fits in your hand, take the ASUS ZenFone 2 ZE551ML - its “twin” brother Note 2 differs only in that it is 2 mm thicker and in the location of the buttons.
It should be taken into account that despite the thin plastic of the lid, the case is quite durable, I managed to drop it on the concrete floor without any special consequences. Also, in this vein, I would like to highlight the slightly protruding “edge” of the display, which takes the blow when dropped on flat surfaces.
Three physical touch buttons (from left to right: Menu, Home, Back) are located below the screen, conveniently highlighted in red and backlit. On the right side there are silver power and volume buttons, USB is at the bottom, and on the top there is a 3.5 connector and an IrDA window (yes, you didn’t think so, a real infrared adapter). Also, on the front panel you can see the camera and telephone speaker, but you cannot (because they are hidden) - light sensors, proximity sensors and a signal LED. On the lid, according to tradition, there is a camera, flash and rear speaker grille. A nice little detail: under the grille there is a small “bump” so that the speaker is not muffled when the smartphone is lying with the display up.
Characteristics
Redmi Note 2 became one of the first owners of the new mid-range chipset from MTK, Helio x10, the successor to the 2014 champion, MT6595, with 8 energy-saving Cortex A53 cores operating at 2/2.2 GHz for the Standard/Prime version and GPU PowerVr 6200. Also the device has 16GB of NAND memory (there is also an option with 32GB), of which 12 are available to the user, and 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM, 1 of which is usually eaten up by the system.Thanks to this configuration, the device provides 46+ thousand points in Antutu.
Synthetic test results
The latest version of the system at the time of writing this review is Android 5.0.2 in the proprietary MIUI shell, which has its pros and cons, which I will not discuss, because... This is a matter of taste and does not apply to this review. I will only note that I liked it.
FullHD display 5.5” (480 dpi), made using OGS technology, without an air gap, has scratch protection and a simple oleophobic coating.
GPS works with 3 satellite systems: GPS, Glonass and Beidou, due to which it picks up quite quickly and determines the location quite accurately.
Cameras: CMOS 13MP at the back (f2.2) and 5MP at the front (f2.0) - naturally, they won’t provide professional quality, but they will completely replace the average 21MP point-and-shoot camera.
Also, the camera is capable of shooting 720p slow-motion video at 30fps; if you speed it up to normal, it will be 60fps. As it turned out later, maybe 120, but more on that below.
Sound... What's the sound? - External speakers are loud, the sound is clear, you can hear it clearly, without interruptions.
The fact that this is not a player is clear from the fact that it is a smartphone. (Your Captain Obvious)
Advantages and disadvantages
And finally, we move on to the “debriefing”Pros of Xiaomi Redmi Note 2:
1.2) low price with very good characteristics;3) strong and lightweight body, thoughtful design;
4) good cameras;
5) excellent GPS reception;
6) 2 SIM cards;
7) support.
Advantages of the Chinese version of Xiaomi Redmi Note 2:
1) even lower price;2) it heats up less.
Disadvantages of Xiaomi Redmi Note 2:
1) the lid creaks in 3 places when strongly compressed;2) 1 radio module (LTE works only in 1 slot);
3) you can’t just install root;
4) lack of Google Apps;
5) MIUI detects subscribers only at “+7”, but not at “8”.
Disadvantages of the Chinese version of Xiaomi Redmi Note 2:
1) crooked firmware from the seller2) slightly less power The first and most tricky thing I came across was a crooked firmware of an incomprehensible version from the seller, downright infected with advertising.
Here, as they say, if you want it cheaper, know how to do it yourself. Flashing to the official firmware.
I. Flashing TWRP
Taken from here:Download .
1) Install the ADB and USB VCOM drivers in the “ADB - Drivers” and “USB VCOM - Drivers” folders.
2) Turn off the smartphone.
3) You need to simultaneously press and hold “sound -” and “on” until the device starts to boot.
4) Fastboot has loaded, connect the USB cable.
5) Run “Recovery-Flasher (RUN ME).bat”.
II.Install the firmware
1) Download the firmware (weekly - rooted, stable (monthly) - no).- English site (top - stable, bottom - weekly).
- Chinese site (top - stable, bottom - weekly, updated more often than in English).
- Russian site with localized firmware.
2) Copy the file to your smartphone.
3) Turn off the phone.
5) Section Wipe, swipe from left to right along the Swipe to Factoy Reset strip.
6) Install section, select the firmware file, swipe from left to right along the Swipe to Install strip, then click Wipe Cache/Dalvik and then Reboot System.
III.Connect mobile internet
Current on TELE2, possibly some other providers. TELE2 provides Internet in VSP (Virtual Service Provder) format using Rostelecom facilities, which is probably why it doesn’t work without roaming.1) Lower the curtain, swipe from right to left, find the gear at the bottom and click, the settings section opens.
2) Go to SIM cards and mobile networks, turn on Data enabled.
3) Go to Overseas Roaming, enable Overseas data roaming.
4) go to the desktop, open the Tools folder, open Downloads there, click on the 3 dots in the upper right corner, select Settings.
5) In the Download size limit item, set the value to Unlimited and click OK.
IV.Install Google Apps
1) Go to the site2) Select ARM64, Android 5.0 (you can see the current version in the About Phone settings), and micro (or any other configuration, this is enough for me).
3) Download and upload to your phone.
4) Turn off the phone.
5) Boot into TWRP (press “sound +” and “on”).
6) Install section, select the GAPPS file, swipe from left to right along the Swipe to Install strip, then click Wipe Cache/Dalvik and then Reboot System.
V.Install ROOT
Taken from here:Here you need to make a reservation that if you installed “Developer’s” (weekly) firmware, then you already have ROOT installed, let’s start from point 6.
But if the “stable” version is installed, that’s a different matter.
We proceed as follows:
1) download the flashable SuperSU binary from here:
2) Transfer it to your phone.
3) Turn off the phone.
4) Boot into TWRP (press “sound +” and “on”).
5) Install section, select the SuperSU.zip file, swipe from left to right along the Swipe to Install strip, then click Wipe Cache/Dalvik and then Reboot System.
6) Install from the SuperSU market.
7) Go to the Tools-Security-Permissions-Root access folder, enable SuperSU access (you will have to click on “Allow” several times)
8) Login to SuperSU, update the binary, if required, reboot.
VI. Making “RAW” - photographs
Taken from here:We will need:
1. Phone with the ability to enter the engineering menu.
2. .
3. A computer with OS Windows and Adobe Photoshop with Camera RAW installed (should be the default).
Instructions:
1) Enter the engineering menu on your phone using the combination *#*#3646633#*#* and go to the Hardware Testing tab, select Camera.
2) Set Capture type to Processed Raw, leave the rest as it is (in fact, you can change it and play with the settings) and click Start Preview. We take pictures.
3) Launch Adobe Photoshop and drag the raw file into it. In the dialogue window we set the following parameters: resolution 4192 by 3104, 1 channel, 16 bits, IBM PC, and click OK.
4) We get Malevich’s black square. Select Filter - Other - Custom, in the dialog box change the average value to 64 and click OK.
5) We get a B/W image. Next Save As and select Photoshop RAW format.
6) Download the raw2dng.zip file and unpack it. All the necessary settings are already written here in the ini file. We copy our RAW saved and processed in Photoshop into this folder. Next, take our RAW and drag it to raw2dng.exe and wait until the same DNG file appears in the folder. That's it, this file is ready for further processing in Photoshop.
VII.Shooting 120FPS
Taken from here:! Attention! This disables the Slow-motion function in the standard application.
Download .
Take the file media_profiles.xml and put it on the device in system/etc, set the rights to rw-r--r--. You can return the camera to normal mode by deleting media_profiles.xml. I'm planning to buy +26 Add to favorites I liked the review +25 +61
If you look at information from forums dedicated to Xiaomi devices and working with them, you can find information about the firmware of the devices. For Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 firmware needed to fix errors and bugs, optimize its language and the operation of installed programs, i.e. this is an important and useful thing! Let's find out what types of firmware for Note 2 exist, determine their habitats, as well as the advantages of each version.
Xiaomi.com - it’s already clear from the name that official firmware for the Chinese and world markets is located here. Their firmware includes Google services, as well as an extensive language package, which includes Russian.
The next option is Xiaomi.eu, an international unofficial project in which users offer firmware independently translated into many languages. The assembly system consists of hand-written scripts using apktool programs.
On the official Shaomi fan site in Russia, Miui.su, they mainly use other people’s firmware, taken from other sites. And online reviews about the work of these guys often begin with a complaint about problems with the miui.su firmware. The website provides Ukrainian and Russian language translation systems.
Another contender for searching for firmware Мultirom.me. This is a Ukrainian-Russian project, unofficial. They use the innovative B.A.R.S. system. for patching, firmware translation. Thanks to this innovation, the percentage of translation and operational errors in the system has been reduced. The size of the translated application is smaller due to the optimization performed. Russian + Ukrainian are the languages of the system translation.
Miui.ru is another place where the user will find the firmware for the Redmi Note 2 system. There are no unusual proprietary firmwares here, only versions developed by other people are presented. Basically, this is a forum site where users share their impressions of working with the Shaomi device, as well as the accessories purchased for it. For example, questions are being resolved about which case for Redmi Note 2 or other versions of the device is better, and where they can be purchased.
It is important to remember that downloading firmware from an unofficial source is risky! You can download firmware that will harm the device or completely disable it. You can read about how to install the downloaded firmware on the site from which it was downloaded, or on the forums, if you trust other users and their advice.
Accessories that are important for the owner of a Xiaomi smartphone
What do you know about mobile device security? How can it be fully realized without significant financial costs? This can be done easily if you buy a case for Xiaomi Redmi Note 2, as well as a screen protector. By format, type of material used, design and other criteria case for Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 may be different, the main thing is that it is compatible with the device’s parameters and the location of its buttons. And then the protection against abrasions, chips, cracks, and scratches will be unsurpassed. Glass and film protect the smartphone display, which is fragile and susceptible to external negative influences. Make your favorite smartphone better, and high-quality firmware and add-on accessories are important tools for achieving such an important goal!
Products mentioned in the review
Detailed instructions for flashing the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 smartphone to the new Russified, custom firmware.
With firmware version 5.10.15, Xiaomi began signing its firmware with a unique encrypted key. And this leads to the fact that, through standard (stock - mi) recovery, only original Anglo-Chinese firmware will be flashed, no matter what method! If you try to flash any other firmware through it, an error will appear signature verification failed!
Firmware for custom TWRP Recovery
Download drivers for connecting your PC with your Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 phone – MTK_USB_Al_0.9. 7, download and then install.
If you want to flash Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 with custom firmware or Russian firmware, you first need to install custom recovery in your smartphone.
Download the program Flash Tool or Flash Tool for Linux and the custom recovery itself TWRP_Recovery for Xiaomi Redmi Note 2.
Stock (original recovery) Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 – stok recovery for flashtool
Unzip the contents of the archive into a folder on drive “C”.
Run the program as an administrator, click the button that says Scatter-loading and point to the Android_scatter file in the folder where you unzipped the custom recovery.
A red loading bar appears, then a yellow one and an OK sign.
All. Remove the cable and insert the battery. Press two buttons simultaneously (on/off and volume +) until the white Mi icon appears on a black background. You let go and wait. On the first screen that Mount appears, before the sentence Never show this screen during boot again, check the box, then swipe and that’s it. Reboot System everything works.
Removing NVRAM via TWRP2.8.7.0-bilingual edition
We go into recovery using one of the methods.
1.Method Press and hold power (on) and volume+ at the same time, as soon as the logo appears, release power and hold volume+. Your recovery will boot.
2.Method Update—>click the three dots at the top (...)—>Select “Reboot to Recovery”
Go to Backup—>check the NVRAM box, other checkboxes can be unchecked—>and move the slider to the right.
Firmware for Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
Official global firmware – miui_HMNote2Global_5.11.12_3eeec798f4_5.0
Copy the firmware file to the SD card
We go into recovery using one of the methods.
Method #1 Press and hold the power button and volume+ at the same time, as soon as the MI logo appears, release on, hold down volume+. We boot into the previously installed recovery.
Method #2 We look for the Update program icon on the desktop, go to -> click on the three dots at the top (...) -> Select “Reboot to Recovery”.