Xiaomi Redmi Note 5

From the budget phone company that stole the people’s hearts comes the newer model, Xiaomi Redmi Note 5. Bringing in a change in the design and a good camera, Xiaomi is trying to set its mark in the tight competition with other budget flagship models. It made an innovative move by going for the fascinating 18:9 aspect ratio display. Priced at Rs 10,397, Redmi Note 5 proves yet again proves that Xiaomi is a true believer in building economic handsets. The problem is, it is not the only one anymore. It has to bring in a few changes in the new set and it needs to be seen if it can beat the many budget giants present in the current market.

Redmi Note 5 Price in India

The firm released two storage choices for the Redmi Note 5, one with 3GB RAM and the other with 4GB RAM. The Redmi Note 5 pricing for the 3GB RAM model is 10999, and the Redmi Note 5 price for the 4GB RAM option is 8443. This is the most recent price from Flipkart, an online buying site. Both versions, however, are now out of stock. You can buy the second hand Redmi Note 5 from store.cashify.in instead. 

At first, Note 5 would not feel any different from the previous model, Note 4. But there are some noticeable differences, though it may not be exceptional. It is slightly slimmer and lighter, at about 180 grams. It makes the phone a bit sturdy. But the main progressive change is the removal of the thick bezels, along with the capacitive navigation of the previous model. It has become a standard for recent flagship smartphones to remove the bezels, so this design decision puts Note 5 at par with the competing flagship sets. The users have to deal with the protruding camera, which seems like a design flaw. However, the fingerprint scanner is much faster.

The Redmi Note 5 has a 5.99-inch screen, which supports FullHD+ resolution of 2160×1080 pixels and has a pixel density of 403ppi. The flagship feature, however, is the 18:9 aspect ratio display – quite a sudden jump in the smartphone market. At this range, Redmi doesn’t compromise on the quality. It provides a crisp and bright display with good viewing angles. It has reasonable sunlight legibility when comes to reading. Even the reproduction of colours and screen is quite accurate.

Retaining the same processor from the predecessor, Redmi Note 5 comes with the dependable Snapdragon 625. It goes for an upgrade over Snapdragon 636 in the Redmi Note 5 Pro but plays it safe with this model. Multi-tasking works like a breeze as you hop from one app to another without feeling any slow down. It seamlessly plays videos even with over 20GB. When it comes to games, moderate games will run smoothly, but heavy games can get a bit jittery. This octa-core processor is teamed up with a 4GB RAM and 64GB storage space which is pretty good considering the range that it comes in. The processor does its job well, but Snapdragon 636 would have been a good upgrade for Note 5.

Redmi Note 5 comes with a decent rear camera of 12MP with an aperture size of f/2.2 and phase detection autofocus. It is the same camera that has been used for Mi A1. The images are excellent, and give a fighting competition to other budget flagship models. The aperture of f/2.2 is small and reduces visual noise bringing out crisp and bright pictures. The colour reproduction is reasonably accurate, and the pictures produced are detailed. However, do not set high hopes for low-light photography. The pictures took up a lot of visual noise and looked washed out.

The front camera comes at 5MP and does a good job with selfies, especially during the day.  It will produce sharp pictures with natural colours. However, in low-light, the selfies will appear grainy.

The decent processor is back with a powerful 4,000 mAh battery, which is ready for heavy-duty performance. Though it is the same as the Redmi Note 4, this powerful battery never ceases to impress. Even after some heavy gaming and web browsing, the battery chugged on throughout the day and some more. Moderate use will give it a fighting life of a day and a half. Considering the juice that this beast provides, the phone can charge from 0% to full within two hours only. It’s a great battery considering the price of the phone.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is a value-for-money phone. However, that is true for most Mi products. In general, Redmi Note 5 has not brought in any functional changes. Upgrading the display is not enough for any phone user. If you already have Note 4, upgrading it would be a waste of money unless you are going for the slight design modifications. A much better decision would be to opt for Redmi Note 5 Pro for far better performance with a newer processor.