• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Xiaomi and their fake advertising , is it true ?

mostafa2247

New Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2018
Messages
7 (0.00/day)
Hi everyone! I recently bought Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 standard edition (dual rear camera setup) (model number : MEE7s) , I had high expectations for the camera judging by all the fuss on youtube channels about how great the camera is and how it's "the best camera in the mid-range segment" but I was extremely disappointed with how my camera performed , images taken in medium light environment were extremely noisy and flat , the edges were poorly isolated and the overall picture quality was just worse than a 5 Mega Pixel camera, and I think that they did this on purpose via software update to force people to buy the new Redmi note 6 pro.

so I posted on all of their forums asking them what is going on ,and I contacted them via E-Mail 2 days ago but still no answer from them ,and I don't think that I will receive any answer soon (if I do at all).
is this problem only occurring with my phone or is it a common bug in all other phones ? and if the company did it on purpose can it be fixed manually by me by rooting and installing a custom camera app ? or does it HAVE to be fixed by them ?

please share your opinions here , everyone is welcome , thank you .
 
Joined
Mar 26, 2010
Messages
9,781 (1.90/day)
Location
Jakarta, Indonesia
System Name micropage7
Processor Intel Xeon X3470
Motherboard Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. P55A-UD3R (Socket 1156)
Cooling Enermax ETS-T40F
Memory Samsung 8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3
Video Card(s) NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800
Storage V-GEN03AS18EU120GB, Seagate 2 x 1TB and Seagate 4TB
Display(s) Samsung 21 inch LCD Wide Screen
Case Icute Super 18
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte
Power Supply Silverstone 600 Watt
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Sades Excalibur + Taihao keycaps
Software Win 7 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Classified
Megapixel is pic resolution not the quality
You may have bad camera, have you tried using any camera apps to test it?
Try to reset your phone too
If all gives you no better result RMA it
 

mostafa2247

New Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2018
Messages
7 (0.00/day)
Megapixel is pic resolution not the quality
You may have bad camera, have you tried using any camera apps to test it?
Try to reset your phone too
If all gives you no better result RMA it
yeah but 5 MP is usually bad resolution which leads to bad quality

I have tried custom camera apps without getting any improvements
can I return it to aliexpress seller ?
 
Joined
Nov 30, 2015
Messages
712 (0.23/day)
Location
Croatia
Processor Ryzen 5 3600 PRO
Motherboard AsRock B450 Pro4
Cooling Arctic Freezer 34 /w Noctua NF-P12
Memory Silicon Power XPower Zenith 2x8GB @1600 MHz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte RTX 2070 Super Gaming OC 8GB
Storage Crucial P5 Plus 1TB / Crucial MX 500 1TB
Display(s) Dell P2419H
Case Fractal Design Pop Air /w 3x Arctic P12 PWM
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster Z + Edifier R1000T4
Power Supply Super Flower Leadex III 650W
Mouse Microsoft Intelimouse Pro
Keyboard IBM KB-8926
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Turns on on the first try! Usually.
Have other users complained about the same issue? If they didn't I don't think it would be a valid reason for returning the phone. The reviews show images shot in a specific condition which you cannot usually reproduce so the image quality can sort of be deceiving.
 

mostafa2247

New Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2018
Messages
7 (0.00/day)
Have other users complained about the same issue? If they didn't I don't think it would be a valid reason for returning the phone. The reviews show images shot in a specific condition which you cannot usually reproduce so the image quality can sort of be deceiving.
I have seen 1 other complaint like mine , they said that after the recent update the camera started to produce terrible images , however I just bought the phone so I haven't tried the old software , the moment I opened the phone it told me it wanted to update , and I allowed it to do so (like any other human would do)

I don't really care about the camera since I rarely take any photos , but I bought multiple units in order to give to family and friends , and the camera aspect is important to them
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
20,902 (5.97/day)
Location
The Washing Machine
Processor i7 8700k 4.6Ghz @ 1.24V
Motherboard AsRock Fatal1ty K6 Z370
Cooling beQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 3
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200/C16
Video Card(s) ASRock RX7900XT Phantom Gaming
Storage Samsung 850 EVO 1TB + Samsung 830 256GB + Crucial BX100 250GB + Toshiba 1TB HDD
Display(s) Gigabyte G34QWC (3440x1440)
Case Fractal Design Define R5
Audio Device(s) Harman Kardon AVR137 + 2.1
Power Supply EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse XTRFY M42
Keyboard Lenovo Thinkpad Trackpoint II
Software W10 x64
If you bought multiple for relatives then check a few of them and see if the camera is equally shit on those.

If it is, you know its normal. If its not, you can RMA the bad one. Don't believe the internet based on search hits... its proven extremely unreliable.
 

dorsetknob

"YOUR RMA REQUEST IS CON-REFUSED"
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Messages
9,105 (1.31/day)
Location
Dorset where else eh? >>> Thats ENGLAND<<<
yeah but 5 MP is usually bad resolution which leads to bad quality
Not True the Camera unit fitted to Phones Vary in quality ( and so price )
in the End you get what you pay for
a 3mp Carl zeiss as fitted to many phones will out perform a no brand 5mp
 

mostafa2247

New Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2018
Messages
7 (0.00/day)
Not True the Camera unit fitted to Phones Vary in quality ( and so price )
in the End you get what you pay for
a 3mp Carl zeiss as fitted to many phones will out perform a no brand 5mp
I do get what I pay for , but I wonder how every youtuber said the camera is good , while what I see in front of me is not
 

newtekie1

Semi-Retired Folder
Joined
Nov 22, 2005
Messages
28,472 (4.24/day)
Location
Indiana, USA
Processor Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz
Motherboard AsRock Z470 Taichi
Cooling Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans
Memory 32GB DDR4-3600
Video Card(s) RTX 2070 Super
Storage 500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache
Display(s) Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28"
Case Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s) Onboard is good enough for me
Power Supply eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3
Software Windows 10 Pro x64
the best camera in the mid-range segment

You have to realize that this isn't saying much. You bought is cheap phone, and while it has a decent camera in good lighting, no phone this cheap is going to take any kind of decent picture in low light. Heck, really expensive phones still struggle to take decent low light pictures.

In fact, the first review I watched on the Redmi Note 5 specifically points out the phone takes good pictures if you have plenty of light, but the pictures are blurry and grainy in low light. The second review says pretty much the same thing about low light. So it seems the issues you are complaining about is just how the phone is, and has been since it came out because these reviews are now several months old from when the phone launched.


 
Last edited:

mostafa2247

New Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2018
Messages
7 (0.00/day)
You have to realize that this isn't saying much. You bought is cheap phone, and while it has a decent camera in good lighting, no phone this cheap is going to take any kind of decent picture in low light. Heck, really expensive phones still struggle to take decent low light pictures.
but room lighting is not that low , my Samsung galaxy J7 2015 used to take better photos than the RN5 in the same lighting conditions.
 

newtekie1

Semi-Retired Folder
Joined
Nov 22, 2005
Messages
28,472 (4.24/day)
Location
Indiana, USA
Processor Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz
Motherboard AsRock Z470 Taichi
Cooling Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans
Memory 32GB DDR4-3600
Video Card(s) RTX 2070 Super
Storage 500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache
Display(s) Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28"
Case Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s) Onboard is good enough for me
Power Supply eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3
Software Windows 10 Pro x64
but room lighting is not that low , my Samsung galaxy J7 2015 used to take better photos than the RN5 in the same lighting conditions.

That's the roll of the dice you take with budget phones. I think your expectations of the camera is just too high. I haven't seen any review of the Redmi Note 5 that praises the camera, they all say it is mediocre at best, but good for a budget phone.
 

mostafa2247

New Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2018
Messages
7 (0.00/day)
That's the roll of the dice you take with budget phones. I think your expectations of the camera is just too high. I haven't seen any review of the Redmi Note 5 that praises the camera, they all say it is mediocre at best, but good for a budget phone.
well then it doesn't matter anymore , I only care about the performance and it's perfect for me (currently) , so I better sell those "gift" phones and buy new ones for my relatives

thank you for your reply
 

silentbogo

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 20, 2013
Messages
5,473 (1.44/day)
Location
Kyiv, Ukraine
System Name WS#1337
Processor Ryzen 7 3800X
Motherboard ASUS X570-PLUS TUF Gaming
Cooling Xigmatek Scylla 240mm AIO
Memory 4x8GB Samsung DDR4 ECC UDIMM
Video Card(s) Inno3D RTX 3070 Ti iChill
Storage ADATA Legend 2TB + ADATA SX8200 Pro 1TB
Display(s) Samsung U24E590D (4K/UHD)
Case ghetto CM Cosmos RC-1000
Audio Device(s) ALC1220
Power Supply SeaSonic SSR-550FX (80+ GOLD)
Mouse Logitech G603
Keyboard Modecom Volcano Blade (Kailh choc LP)
VR HMD Google dreamview headset(aka fancy cardboard)
Software Windows 11, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
is this problem only occurring with my phone or is it a common bug in all other phones ? and if the company did it on purpose can it be fixed manually by me by rooting and installing a custom camera app ? or does it HAVE to be fixed by them ?
If it's just you and a handful of people, it may simply be a defective phone or you've set your expectations way too high.
For the first example, my new Nokia 8 has a glitchy autofocus, and that's a high-end phone. In regards to the second situation - it happens a lot more often: most of the time if the review says "the camera is good", people expect it to be "great". In reality, when they realise that the camera is simply "good", they immediately complain that it's awful.

In general their cameras are quite adequate. I am still using my Mi4 as a work camera at my office. Low-light conditions make those pics look a lot worse, but that's expected from any non-flagship phone.
You also need to look out for fingerprints and dirt on the camera glass, cause it may add some unwanted blur to the image.

This awful pic was taken on a cloudy rainy day after 5 cups of coffee. My weird flower, which blooms only once a year around Dec-Jan, decided to do it one more time in June...
IMG_20180506_153931.jpg
More stuff from work
IMG_20180427_120251.jpg
 
Joined
Aug 4, 2018
Messages
82 (0.04/day)
Unfortunately, not only Xiaomi makes good advertising which is not reflect the real quality of the phone characteristic.
 

mostafa2247

New Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2018
Messages
7 (0.00/day)
If it's just you and a handful of people, it may simply be a defective phone or you've set your expectations way too high.
For the first example, my new Nokia 8 has a glitchy autofocus, and that's a high-end phone. In regards to the second situation - it happens a lot more often: most of the time if the review says "the camera is good", people expect it to be "great". In reality, when they realise that the camera is simply "good", they immediately complain that it's awful.

In general their cameras are quite adequate. I am still using my Mi4 as a work camera at my office. Low-light conditions make those pics look a lot worse, but that's expected from any non-flagship phone.
You also need to look out for fingerprints and dirt on the camera glass, cause it may add some unwanted blur to the image.

This awful pic was taken on a cloudy rainy day after 5 cups of coffee. My weird flower, which blooms only once a year around Dec-Jan, decided to do it one more time in June...
View attachment 108322
More stuff from work
View attachment 108324

as a matter of fact , my phone's camera takes pictures that are a LOT worse than these , I'd say that these are pretty decent , and if my phone took pictures with this quality then I would definitely not complain.
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
75 (0.04/day)
as a matter of fact , my phone's camera takes pictures that are a LOT worse than these , I'd say that these are pretty decent , and if my phone took pictures with this quality then I would definitely not complain.

Care to share some of those photos? Just so we can see if it really seems to be a defect or just how the normal Xiaomi phone would capture photos.
 
Top