Xiaomi, back in January introduced the Redmi 5 in China, alongside the Redmi 5 Plus smartphone. The latter hit the Indian market as Redmi Note 5, while the former is making its way with the same moniker to the country on March 14. Obviously Xiaomi has performed very well in the past one year, and their phones have set a benchmark in the industry. The Redmi 5, in particular, is an excellent smartphone as it boasts of excellent hardware and will be a great successor to the Redmi 4 smartphone.
Here are some reasons why the Redmi 5 is an exciting buy:
The Display
The Redmi 4 had bezels on the top and bottom side which would make it seem like an outdated smartphone in today’s time. Xiaomi made it to the headlines because of the launching of their bezel-less phone the Mi Mix a couple of years ago. The Redmi 5 is following on the same footprints by sporting a 5.7-inch HD+ display which has small bezels making the phone appear very 2018.
Hardware
Xiaomi is master at the craft when it comes to clubbing design and performance into a single phone. They have not failed to impress us since their time with the Redmi Note 3. The phone comes packed with Snapdragon 450 chipset in a 2GB/3GB variant and with 16GB/32GB internal storage.
This is surely an upgrade compared to what we get to see on the last Redmi 4 and Redmi 3s. The fact that Snapdragon 450 SoC is one of the best processors out there to be powering these devices makes the Redmi 5 an appealing buy. Phones like Vivo V7 and V7+ run the same chipset and offer a decent experience when it comes to performance standards.
Camera
The camera on the Redmi 5 is 12MP with a f/2.2 aperture and 1.25micron pixels. The camera is similar to the one present on the Redmi Note 5 smartphone, and it will surely be a step up from what we have seen on the Redmi 4 and Redmi 3s. However, the front camera sadly hasn't been revived, and it still stays at 5MP.
Software and Battery
Unlike the previous Redmi 4 which shipped with MIUI 8, the Redmi 5 will ship with MIUI 9 based on Android Nougat out of the box.
The major downgrade over the Redmi 4 is the battery capacity. The Redmi 4 arrived with a 4100mAh battery, whereas the Redmi 5 has a much smaller 3300mAh battery. However, do make that the Snapdragon 450 SoC used on the Redmi 5 is built on the 14nm manufacturing process, meaning it will be power efficient. This could be the reason for Xiaomi opting for smaller battery capacity.
Conclusion
Xiaomi stirred the entire smartphone industry in 2016 by launching the Redmi 3s at Rs 6,999. Back then, it offered metal unibody and excellent hardware at an impeccable price. The Redmi 4, on the other hand, was an incremental update to the Redmi 3s, however, the Redmi 5 comes with a much-better and power efficient chipset.
Then we have that Xiaomi's 'Honest' pricing. Like the previous iterations, the Redmi 5 is expected to arrive with a price tag of Rs 6,999 for the base 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage option. And the premium 3GB RAM and 32GB storage variant could cost Rs 8,999. Offering a Snapdragon 450 SoC at Rs 6,999 will take Xiaomi to a whole new level in the Indian market.
