Xiaomi has recently unveiled the successor for one of its best-selling smartphones, the Redmi Note 4. The new Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 not only convinces with its affordable price but also its great dual-camera setup, its premium look, and its solid performance. In this review, we'll find out whether the Redmi Note 5’s performance is as impressive as its price is or not.
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Xiaomi Redmi Note 5
With Redmi Note 5, the Chinese Xiaomi aims to continue their momentum staying at the top. Don't forget that Xiaomi has recently become the biggest smartphone vendor in India.
Also, Xiaomi smartphones are becoming more popular in Europe; especially the Redmi series. Redmi devices have always combined good quality at a reasonable price.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is a progressive update to its predecessor, the Redmi Note 4, the best selling smartphone in India in 2017 with 9 million units sold.
The new Redmi Note 5 combines performance and good quality at a reasonable price.
In this review, we will find out whether the new Redmi Note 5 is worthy of those great expectations.
Specifications
The Redmi Note 5 has a dual rear-facing camera setup with a 12MP, f/1.9 main camera and a 5MP, f/2.0 secondary camera.
Xiaomi claims to have used an AI-powered Computing engine on its smartphone’s cameras to enhance the overall image quality.
However, the secondary camera is only used to create depth in the photos.
As for the front-facing camera, Note 5 has a 13MP sensor, making it a great phone for selfies.
The phone is also capable of 1080p video at 30fps.
Redmi Note 5 comes in several color variations, such as black, gold, rose gold, blue, and flame red. It also has an aluminum body with plastic edges to improve the reception quality.
The display is a FullHD IPS LCD at 5.9 inches, with an 18:9 aspect ratio and 493 PPI pixel density.
Xiaomi Note 5 comes with Android 8.1.0 Oreo, with MIUI 9.5 as a custom skin. In fact, Xiaomi always offers great support for their phones. So, it's almost certain that it will get Android P and the new MIUI 10 when it's globally released.
The smartphone is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 636, alongside with Adreno 509 for graphics. That keeps the phone in the mid-range category, but without any performance lag, capable of handling graphics-intensive games.
With 3 or 4GB of RAM and 32 or 64GB of storage space, there is enough space for every need. We can also expand the storage using a micro sd card.
You can check out GSMArena for the full specifications list.
Unboxing
The package has a beautiful orange color and minimalistic design, as well as the device's name on the front.
On the back, we will see the device's main features.
Inside the box, we will find the Note 5, with all the necessary accessories.
All in all, the small package contained the charger, a micro USB cable, a SIM needle, a TPU case and a quick start guide.
Price
As for the price, the black version of Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 costs around $200 on Gearbest at the time of this writing.
We can also get it on Amazon.
First Impressions
The Redmi Note 5 Pro has a premium look and feel, and offers a great screen-to-body ratio with small bezels.
The LCD IPS display makes the colors bright and accurate, and we didn’t face any problems with the brightness outdoors.
However, the big surprise is the protective case which we usually find in more expensive devices.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro comes with an enhanced processor, which makes it capable enough to handle multi-tasking and heavy games.
As is the case with its predecessor, Note 5 has a 4.000 mAh battery which gives the phone enough time to last a day and a half with regular use.
Xiaomi's skin, MIUI, has gotten better, especially in terms of performance and app startup times. With the above hardware, Redmi Note 5 offers a fluid software experience with no performance issues.
Camera
In fact, the dual camera setup did a great job. Additionally, AI assists in improving the quality of photos in portrait and beauty mode.
The quality of our photos in daylight was very impressive, considering that it is a mid-range smartphone.
As you can see, the images preserve their details, the focus is excellent, and the colors look vivid.
Besides that, the HDR algorithm works pretty well.
As usual, though, in low-light situations, photos tend to look more grainy, with fewer details and extra noise. In the case of Note 5, low-light photos were surprisingly good for a budget smartphone.
The video quality is excellent as well, and it definitely met our expectations. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 supports 4K video resolution using only third-party apps like Open Camera.
Here, you will find all the images in full resolution.
Performance
To test its performance, we ran the most popular mobile benchmarks on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5. You can see the results on the image below.
We also compared the device to other similar budget options.
On the table below, we can see that Xiaomi Note 5 won the benchmarks against the older but still powerful Xiaomi Mi A1, and its precursor, the Xiaomi Note 4X.
Compared to Xiaomi's flagship, Mi Mix 2, it scored high as well.
Is it worth it?
In general, Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is a real budget phone, and it is definitely worth every dollar.
At the same price range, you will struggle to find another device with similar performance and specifications. It's safe to say that the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is the King of the mid-range category.
At this price, there is not much more anyone can ask for.
If you are interested in a budget smartphone with a good camera, impressive battery life, and solid performance, then that's the phone for you.
We enjoyed every minute of using it, and we can say that there are not any disadvantages in this price range.
Pros
- Attractive design
- Small Bezels
- Bright display
- Good all-round camera experience
- Solid performance
- Long battery life
- 3.5mm earphone socket
- FM Radio
- Fast & reliable fingerprint sensor
- IR remote
Cons
- Lack of USB Type-C connector
- 4K Video recording is achievable only with 3rd party app
- Mono speaker audio quality
Did you like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5?
We tested the phone, using it for quite a while, and we enjoyed our time with the device in every respect.
How about you? Did you like our Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 review? If you have any questions about the phone, feel free to leave a comment below.
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