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Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 - 2GB RAM 16GB Storage - US $118 + US $8 Shipping (~AU $177) @ Dealsmachine

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Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 - 2GB RAM 16GB Storage - US $118 + US $8 Shipping (~AU $177) @ Dealsmachine
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batrarobin on 06/01/2016 - 12:59 dealsmachine.com (5688 clicks)
Last edited 12/01/2016 - 07:06 by 3 other users

A great spec'd phone, I am using it myself… The camera has a magnificent clarity, the battery life is great. Can't go wrong at this price.

Just install the Global ROM and it works like a charm.

Thanks Neoika for reminding about the cashback :

TopCashback now offers 8% cashback on your first Dealsmachine purchase,please sign up through [Ozbargain TopCashback random referral system] (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/goto/d25301?r=r) to help you and one member earn $10 if you are going buy this Xiaomi smartphone.

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closed Comments

  • garage sale on 06/01/2016 - 13:15

    What Australian 4G bads does it support ?

    • Jamesx on 06/01/2016 - 13:28
      +8

      it supports all the OZ bads you do on your phone :-)

      • syousef on 06/01/2016 - 16:17
        +1

        But does it deliver the goods?

    • DeafMutePretender on 06/01/2016 - 23:43
      +13

      What Australian bads does it support ?

      Red Kelly and Xiaopelle Corby.

  • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2016 - 13:22
    +3

    I'm using optus and another with telstra.
    You must updated the rom from here: http://en.miui.com/download.html with this http://en.miui.com/thread-92720-1-1.html
    Its very easy to do.
    Fantastic phone!!

    • gottacatchemall on 06/01/2016 - 13:37
      +2

      I installed cyanogemod on mine and am now much happier.

      • climaxpower on 06/01/2016 - 14:09

        which one did u use? Is there an official build for this model?

      • Bren20 on 06/01/2016 - 16:27

        how close is this to stock android? I imagine much closer than MIUI

        • bunnybash on 06/01/2016 - 18:08
          +3

          Cyanogen Mod is pretty much as close as you can get to stock Android without being stock. It looks completely stock except that you are able to customise a few extra things that stock will not allow. It's generally a fantastic option if you want to load "stock" android onto your OEM skinned device.

        • BadGiraffe on 19/01/2016 - 13:05
          +1

          I suggest using the Google Now launcher. You can slap that over MIUI, and it'll look like stock Android.

          If I were getting this, I'd flash the official MIUI rom (for driver compatibility, and some of the default apps), then put the G. Now launcher on top of that.

      • [Deactivated] on 08/01/2016 - 14:03

        Cool, I'll check it out, I like the miui for its extra features, but it can be a bit frustrating at times.

    • kolorijo on 06/01/2016 - 14:19
      +1

      What is the difference between STABLE & DEVELOPER ROM? I am just a normal user so I assumed I would be using STABLE. Sorry for the noob question.

      • gottacatchemall on 06/01/2016 - 14:58
        +1

        Developer is stable from my experience. There is another version called experimental which not everyone can access. That version is less stable but developer version is fine from my experience.

      • RichardL on 06/01/2016 - 15:56
        +2

        Read this thread - http://en.miui.com/thread-106428-1-1.html
        It explains the differences.

        • kolorijo on 06/01/2016 - 16:13

          Thank you for the thread. I know what I need now. Cheers.

        • RichardL on 06/01/2016 - 16:15
          +1

          @kolorijo: No problems, I was wondering myself last night haha.

    • Windows7forever on 06/01/2016 - 16:47
      +1

      Great price

      • compound on 06/01/2016 - 18:37

        For a budget phone definitley! I've got the Redmi 1s and so far so good though my screen scratches easily so make sure you put on a screen protector.

  • Benjamin7711 on 06/01/2016 - 13:22
    +2

    I also have this phone and it's awesome, especially at this price point is mental.
    Wouldn't say the camera has magnificent quality though, maybe "takes decent photos"

    • batrarobin on 06/01/2016 - 13:29
      +1

      Have you tweaked the camera settings from Settings - System apps - Camera…

      Try playing with the settings and see.. Also select Anti banding as 50hz…

      • Benjamin7711 on 06/01/2016 - 13:34

        Thanks mate, will do

      • [Deactivated] on 07/01/2016 - 10:46

        Still shit.

        I wouldn't want to fiddle around with the camera settings when I just want to take a photo. By the time the camera's ready, the photo opportunity is gone.

        • illumination on 07/01/2016 - 10:52

          Just set it up as default and then forget?

          Unless it's something that needs to be actively changed each time.. that would be a bit annoying.

        • batrarobin on 07/01/2016 - 12:47

          Sorry I only meant a one-time setting.

  • douglasb on 06/01/2016 - 13:28

    The US$118 phone is the TDD version. I think that means it'll only do Optus' version of '4G'.

    • batrarobin on 06/01/2016 - 13:32
      +2

      What I have found is the there is no hardware difference between TDD-LTE and FDD within this phone. Just flash the Global ROM and it will work in Australia with all major 4G networks.

      I also bought TDD-LTE version and can confirm that 4G works on it here in Australia.

      • scrimshaw on 06/01/2016 - 13:45
        +2

        Same it makes no difference which version you buy.

    • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2016 - 13:54
      +2

      TDD is FDD just the software is different. flash the global rom and the TDD phone turns into the FDD opens up all the bands

      • garage sale on 06/01/2016 - 16:00

        Does it support the band's eg 700mhz for opus and telstra or just the 1800mhz ?

        We have multiple bands for 4G and some are more congested than others, some work better inside buildings.

        So it might just support 1 band not the 3-4 that are available

        • Jackson on 08/01/2016 - 23:43

          From memory none support 700, but someone confirm who is closer to this phone than I am please. Most people don't seem too affected in real use cases as from what I have read these freqs are not very wide spread (just some people in Canberra and Darwin and who cares about them anyway

  • batrarobin on 06/01/2016 - 13:30

    I am using with Vodafone 4G. Works great.

  • Sevenofnine on 06/01/2016 - 13:37

    will this work in Australia out of the box? I am with Optus.

    • batrarobin on 06/01/2016 - 13:38
      +3

      Yes, but still suggest installing the Global ROM, takes less than half an hour.

    • garage sale on 06/01/2016 - 16:36

      Every carrier supports 1800mhz 4G it's the extra bands that are tricky

  • OoLLaWa on 06/01/2016 - 13:43

    Is this site reliable? How's the shipping time?

    Also, can this phone be rooted and install CM or some other custom rom? Had an android phone 3 years ago and been out of the loop for a while.

    • scrimshaw on 06/01/2016 - 13:46
      +3

      I am using SMIUI7
      http://www.smiui.net/

      'Build' your own ROM here. You can even pre-package a tweaked miband app if you have xiaomi fitness band.

      CM12.1 is available here
      [updated to newer link]
      http://forum.xda-developers.com/redmi-note-2/development/rom…

      http://forum.xda-developers.com/redmi-note-2/development

    • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2016 - 13:54

      I got mine in 3 weeks, its SLOW

      • OoLLaWa on 06/01/2016 - 13:56

        ahh that's no good. Might look at another site that provides faster shipping.

        • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2016 - 14:29
          +2

          vickmall is good, 129 USD free delivery or pay extra 20 get it here in a few days via DHL

          comes with free silicon case and screen protector and they remove the chinese firmware and apps and flash english language version with no malware

          http://www.vickmall.com/xiaomi-redmi-note-2.html

        • OoLLaWa on 06/01/2016 - 15:49

          @Makoto: oh wow, you can request the phone to be checked and root before it gets sent? that's pretty good. have you personally ordered from them?

        • RichardL on 06/01/2016 - 17:13

          @Makoto: Seems like they increased the price, unless there's some coupon code I'm not aware about.

        • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2016 - 17:46
          +1

          @RichardL: price just went up 5 dollars after I posted the link

          I got mine from vickmall, check whirlpool heaps of people recommend them the best

        • RichardL on 06/01/2016 - 17:48

          @Makoto: My brother's purchased the Redmi 2 from Vickmall, so I have no problems with them. Just wanted to make sure I didn't miss out on a coupon code.

        • rickxs on 07/01/2016 - 10:49

          @Makoto: got mine through Vick they sell heaps to Greece & the EU —-Sing post 10 days to Nth Vic ,why pay extra??
          great phone ,running MIUI 7

  • matta on 06/01/2016 - 13:46
    +1

    Good timing, I was just looking at this phone this morning. What have people's experiences with DealsMachine been like?

    Also a decent price at EGlobal ($190 with express delivery) - http://www.eglobaldigitalcameras.com.au/xiaomi-redmi-note-2-…

    • batrarobin on 06/01/2016 - 14:10
      +1

      I have used Dealsmachine at two occasions. With the normal post, the item arrived in 3 weeks from the date of order. With expedited shipping option it arrived in 1 week through TNT.

  • cureforanitch on 06/01/2016 - 13:50
    +7

    People might be more comfortable with this supplier for a little extra $

    http://www.eglobaldigitalcameras.com.au/xiaomi-redmi-note-2-…

    • garage sale on 06/01/2016 - 16:26

      Only an extra $10 and says delivered in under 1 week

    • eddie386 on 06/01/2016 - 17:03
      +5

      "WELCOME" takes another $5 off at check out :D

      • zappy32 on 07/01/2016 - 05:51

        Thanks! That extra $5 was enough to convince me. Now lets wait and see how long it will take…

    • iWouldDie4u on 07/01/2016 - 12:43

      $50 shipping for two phones kinda kills it for me.

  • Tomika on 06/01/2016 - 14:14
    +1

    comment superceded. be cool.

  • cycleri3 on 06/01/2016 - 14:18
    +1

    I had this phone for 2 months but then sold it and bought a local stock Moto G. main reason - battery life absolutely sucked for me. Barely got through a days use. Idle time was great though, dropped 0% overnight. But when playing games like Boom Beach or using GPS navigation, it dropped at about 1% a minute. Moto G destroys it for battery life, easily lasts 2.5-3x as long. Paid $254 for the G in last weeks new years deal.

    Will not recommend.

    • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2016 - 14:29
      +11

      should of updated the software to MIUI 7, no problems at all with battery life now. fixes battery drain and GPS issues are now resolved

      a lot of the battery drain problems are related to the fact many re-sellers include malware in the firmware that is constantly running, connecting to things, downloading ads, etc

      once that is gone its a great phone

      • sinners007 on 06/01/2016 - 15:15
        +2

        Makoto is spot on. I easily get through a day with heavy usage & the RN2 hammers the Moto G in ever other way - at this price it is a bargain!

      • cycleri3 on 06/01/2016 - 15:50

        I had flashed stock MIUI 7, also tried Xiaomi.eu and various AOSP ROMs. But yes, mine was terrible. I am not a newbie I have tried everything. Maybe they had a bad batch. Will never buy again. But yeah try your luck I guess.

      • Make it so on 06/01/2016 - 16:51

        Can you tell me which method/tool you used? There are a few ways out there, and I want to make sure I pick the simplest and safest one. I helped someone buy this phone, and will need to flash it to help get rid of the adds. Did you have issues with the IMEI being forgotten after flash?

    • BFM on 06/01/2016 - 14:33
      +3

      I had these problems initially after installing the second sim (phone running CM11). However, I found that by playing with the mobile network setting preferred type I was able to resolve the problem. LTE drains the battery fast, but when set to WCDMA preferred and only connecting data when needed I find I can get up to four days out of the phone without heavy use. I understand that many people want to be connected 24/7 with 4G though, so definitely something worth considering. Still a good deal IMO though.

    • batrarobin on 06/01/2016 - 14:39
      +5

      Apparently the Chinese distributors for these phones install a lot of adware, spyware etc that chew up a lot of battery and nag the user with pop ups etc. That's why I suggested in my post that when you receive it, just flash the Global ROM and you'll be alright.

      It's shame that it didn't work for you however the battery of this phone is really good.

      • cycleri3 on 06/01/2016 - 15:50
        +2

        I had flashed stock MIUI 7, also tried Xiaomi.eu and various AOSP ROMs. But yes, mine was terrible. I am not a newbie I have tried everything. Maybe they had a bad batch. Will never buy again. But yeah try your luck I guess.

        • munted on 06/01/2016 - 16:14
          +6

          Minus 8 votes in your top reply for giving a well written review of your experience which got a good discussion going…

          Anyone want to say why they down voted you comment or was it just because it wasn't a positive review? Rest of the comments make less sense if your top comment is hidden due to down votes.

        • illumination on 07/01/2016 - 00:41
          +2

          @munted: Sure I'll share (although I didn't neg)

          I don't agree with his assessment on battery life and I feel it is actually, in contrast to what you said, not a very well written review. It's one of those, I am frustrated so I will blurt out a bunch of negative adjectives to describe the experience, and top it off by saying "never buy this item" or "would not recommend".

          In particular, it only looks at one aspect of the phone - battery life. As a specific review on battery life, it's not too bad. He elaborates on what was good (standby/idle) as opposed to playing games and using GPS. 1% a minute also sounds like an exaggeration - but if that really was the case, I would have to agree that it would've been an absolutely terrible experience, and he most likely had wakelocks from a badly coded app, got a bad batch of the phone, or a combination of both.

          In my experience, the battery life on this phone is about standard to slightly above average. It is definitely improved by changing to the MIUI7 ROM mentioned here several times. I think I get about 3.5 hours screen-on time before it drops to about 20-25% (after about 12 hours from last charge) and using one SIM. This screen on time does not include gaming and at most, maybe 10 minutes of videos. Everything else is browsing and texting.

          Other than that, this is basically a really good "bang for your buck" phone. It's not a world beater, but you can't expect a world beater at this price point. For its price, it has a great processor, great multi-tasking, decent battery life, camera is absolutely fine (I am not a camera person but from my experience, the daylight shots are quite nice but low-light is a bit poor). In addition to all this, this phone has a removable battery, dual SIM, AND expandable memory (without sacrificing dual SIM functionality). I'm finding these last 3 points are quite rare in the current market of smartphones. I also find that it's actually quite stable for an Android (i.e. not many force closes or apps randomly closing).

          For a bit more context, my previous phones so that you can get a rough idea of my previous experience (from most recent to oldest): Galaxy S3, Galaxy S4 (yes I downgraded to a S3), Galaxy S2, Nexus S.

          However, I will admit, the stock ROM that it comes with is filled with annoying bloatware that pops up randomly while you're using your phone. I was getting quite annoyed with it when it was occurring, and I'm quite tolerant with phones. Once I changed ROMs though it has been absolutely flawless.

        • cycleri3 on 07/01/2016 - 07:54

          If you know what Wakelocks were then you wouldn't be mentioning them in response to my review. Wakelocks affect the standby time, not the awake time when the phone is actively being used - such as a game, which obviously causes a screen wakelock.

          Source: I am an Android developer.

        • illumination on 07/01/2016 - 10:52

          @sylon: You are right. Forgot the specific definition (I have read and looked into it before because my previous phones had wakelocks) - just remembered it only as something that was bad on battery life.

          What do you think the reason was then for your poor battery life? It sounds like a case of poor power management (in relation to how the hardware and software interact). I think you'd have a better understanding and insight into it than someone like me.

        • cycleri3 on 07/01/2016 - 12:43

          @illumination: I think this phone has a gorgeous screen and its very bright, it is probably the biggest cause of drain, unless you have it on a very dim setting.

          I also tried downclocking the CPU from 2.2Ghz (my Note 2 Prime) to 1.4Ghz max and it didn't little to help especially during gaming or GPS use, so i think its mostly the screen and perhaps the inefficient Mediatek CPU architecture.

          I could very well have had a bad batch, I don't have the equipment or the time to test the battery capacity before selling it off but I was just happy I was able to get rid of it.

          It was my first Mediatek and they have massively put me off their phones now. They do not release kernel sources for developers either. But Xiaomi are equally to blame for that.

          I will stick to Qualcomm chipsets.

    • cycleri3 on 06/01/2016 - 15:52

      Thanks for all the negative votes. Check out my comparison review with Moto G 2015. I wasn't making this up.

      http://forum.xda-developers.com/redmi-note-2/general/redmi-n…

      • [Deactivated] on 07/01/2016 - 10:49

        from my experience, we seem to have many sensitive Chinese users here.

        Anything negative associated with China gets a downvote, regardless of whether it's true or not.

  • fryandlaurie on 06/01/2016 - 14:44

    I'm getting conflicting information online. Does this phone have a microSD slot?

    • batrarobin on 06/01/2016 - 14:50
      +2

      Yes it has.

    • Asx10000 on 06/01/2016 - 14:52
      +3

      Yes, the one that doesn't have a microSD slot is Redmi Note 3

      • Bren20 on 06/01/2016 - 16:34

        I think the redmi note 2 prime also doesn't have a micro SD either

        • hotwinter on 06/01/2016 - 18:13
          +4

          No, Prime does have 2 sim and 1 SD slot!

        • foojm on 06/01/2016 - 19:07

          It most definitely does have micro SD. I have the Prime, installed a 128GB card. Works great.

        • bluebluebird on 06/01/2016 - 20:57

          @foojm:

          I did not know it can take 128GB card? I thought max is 32gb.

        • layzor on 07/01/2016 - 08:34

          @foojm:
          How did you get 128gb SD card to work? Thought 32gb was max

        • foojm on 07/01/2016 - 11:51

          @bluebird77:

          I used GUI Format with default FAT32 allocation unit size to format my Samsung Evo 128GB. The phone reports 119GB available out of 129GB.

          I tried two other formatting methods (Windows 10 exFAT, built-in Redmi Note 2 formatter) but neither worked for me.

        • foojm on 07/01/2016 - 11:51

          @layzor:

          I used GUI Format with default FAT32 allocation unit size to format my Samsung Evo 128GB. The phone reports 119GB available out of 129GB.

          I tried two other formatting methods (Windows 10 exFAT, built-in Redmi Note 2 formatter) but neither worked for me.

        • Bren20 on 07/01/2016 - 23:01

          @hotwinter:
          Cheers, I probably should have double checked before posting!
          Neg deserved

  • beerbudget on 06/01/2016 - 14:46

    I have the same problems with pop ups and battery drain.

    What is the difference between global rom,cm, and miui7?

    • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2016 - 14:57
      +3

      when you buy these from some chinese resellers they install malware and crap on the phone so you get ads and popups and all kinds of nasty stuff on there

      download the global rom from here http://en.miui.com/download-274.html

      and you'll have no dramas with it, it has instructions on the mi site linked

      • Benjamin7711 on 06/01/2016 - 16:41

        I managed fine with my phone to do this but my brothers no luck. Comes up with "signature verification failed" every time I try. I'm on dev rom china for about 4 months, but when trying to flash any other Rom, I'm now getting the same error. Nothing I've been able to try/find on the net has worked to get around this.
        any ideas?

    • batrarobin on 06/01/2016 - 14:58
      +1

      Xiaomi official ROM for global users is Global MIUI7… It is available from xiaomi website from the above link.

      CM stands for Cyanogenmod and is an unofficial ROM.

      • beerbudget on 06/01/2016 - 19:10

        Thankyou, that's what I thought, but there sems to be quite a few custom ROMs available for this phone so I wasn't sure if Global was something else besides Miui7

  • pointnlarf on 06/01/2016 - 15:01
    +1

    This or deal at everbuying? http://www.everbuying.net/product1120444.html

    • fryandlaurie on 06/01/2016 - 15:45

      Everbuying seems to have faster shipping.

      • Clear on 06/01/2016 - 16:06

        Which is funny, because their sister site Gearbest doesn't.

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