On the heels of Xiaomi launching their affordable Redmi 5A, another new handset from Micromax’s ultra-affordable Bharat series, the Bharat 5 was rolled out for Indian consumers. The latest entries set competition in the entry-level 4G smartphone segment for home-grown Micromax and Xiaomi’s “Bharat Ka Smartphone” initiative.
If you are looking for a budget smartphone, clearly now is the time to act. In case you are wondering which device to pick, we have compared below the Bharat 5 and Redmi 5A.
Design and Display
In terms of design, Micromax’s latest Bharat 5 comes with an all plastic back and prominent bezels at the front. The design is similar to that of its predecessors, the Bharat 3 and 4. The Redmi 5A, on the other hand, sports a plastic unibody design and curves which gives a premium metallic like feel to it. Overall the design aspect of both devices is similar, but the Redmi 5A offers a better design language.
Up front, the Micromax Bharat 5 sports a 5.2-inch IPS LCD display with 720p resolution and 2.5D curved tempered glass on the top. The Redmi 5A offers a slightly smaller screen, coming with a similar 5.0-inch 720p IPS LCD display with 2.5D Curved tempered glass protection. If movies or videos is your thing, the Bharat 5’s larger screen is certainly a plus.
Performance
When it comes to hardware, Xiaomi Redmi 5A is a clear-cut winner. The Micromax Bharat 5 is powered by MediaTek’s entry-level quad-core 1.3GHz processor paired with 1GB RAM. The Redmi 5A comes with a highly efficient Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 SoC and 2/3GB LPDDR3 RAM. The Snapdragon 425 has much better CPU, and GPU performance than MediaTek powered device. Both devices also come with dedicated microSD card slots for expansion.
Coming to software, the Xiaomi Redmi 5A runs the latest MIUI 9 based on Android Nougat and is speculated to receive Oreo update down the lane. The Bharat 5 too runs Android Nougat with a custom UI, but there is no information on the software updates so far.
Camera
Micromax’s Bharat 5 comes with a typical entry-level setup of the 5MP rear sensor and a 5MP selfie shooter with LED flash modules. The Redmi 5A once again takes the lead. The device comes sporting a 13MP rear sensor with f/2.2 aperture, Phase Detection Autofocus and LED flash. On the front is a 5MP shooter with f/2.0 aperture.
Battery
One of the USPs of Micromax Bharat 5 is its mammoth 5000mAh battery that company claims will deliver two days of battery life and a standby time of up to 3 weeks. However, it doesn’t support fast charging and take more than 3 hours to charge completely. The Redmi 5A packs a similarly optimised 3000mAh battery that Xiaomi claims can last for 8-days on standby. Micromax has undoubtedly outdone Xiaomi in this aspect.
Price
Launched as entry-level smartphones, it is the pricing that finally will define the future of Bharat 5 and Redmi 5A. The Micromax Bharat 5 will retail for the price of Rs 5,555. Xiaomi, on other hand, announced the two variants - 2GB RAM + 16GB storage and 3GB + 32GB will go for Rs 5,999 and Rs 6,999. However, Xiaomi is also giving a Rs 1000 discount for first five million customers, which effectively brings down the price of Redmi 5A to Rs 4,999.
