Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 In-Depth Review: Should it be your next smartphone?

Xiaomi recently unveiled the much anticipated Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 in India. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 was one of the most selling smartphones in India and now its successor is finally here. The Redmi Note 5 packs in some good hardware at a decent price point, is this to one?

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC coupled with 3GB or 4GB of RAM. The dual-SIM handset comes with 32GB or 64GB of onboard storage. It sports a 5.99-inch FullHD+ IPS LCD display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. For the optics, it features a 12-megapixel camera at the back with f/2.2 aperture and a LED flash. Up front, there is a 5-megapixel selfie snapper also with a selfie flash. All of this is backed up by a 4,000mAh Battery.

The smartphone sports a metal and glass construction with plastic caps at top and bottom for the antenna. This gives the smartphone a premium look and feel in hand. It runs on Android 7.1.2 Nougat with MIUI 9. The smartphone is expected to be updated to Android 8.0 Oreo soon. It also includes a Fingerprint sensor, micro-USB port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Also, the Redmi Note 5 has an IR Blaster which is a rare feature nowadays.

Design

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 has mostly the same design language as the Redmi Note 4. The device sports a more curved design compared to its predecessor. The phone also sports an 18:9 aspect ratio display which has increased the screen size, reducing bezels while keeping the dimension of the phone the same.

The front of the handset houses a 5.99-inch IPS LCD display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. The device has a rear mounted fingerprint sensor and on-screen buttons so the bottom is void of anything. Above the screen, there is the earpiece and on the left of the earpiece, there are the sensors while on the right sits the 5-megapixel selfie camera.

The smartphone comes with a metal back. There is a plastic strip at the top and bottom of the phone for antenna purposes. The rear camera sensor lies just at the centre top of the smartphone. The dual-led flash is just below the camera sensor. The rear-mounted fingerprint sensor is below the dual-led flash. There is a Mi branding at the bottom of the phone. However, on the black variant we have, the branding is hard to notice.

The right of the smartphone sports the volume rocker and the power button. The left of the phone sports a removable hybrid dual sim card tray. The bottom of the phone sports a micro-USB slot for charging and data-sync in the centre along with speakers on the right and microphone on the left. The top of the phone sports a headphone jack at the left with a secondary microphone at its left. Also, there is an IR blaster at the top of the phone. This is such a rarity these days.

The phone sports a really generic design. The design is similar to the previous Redmi Note series devices. The design is nothing special. Overall the look of the phone is quite normal. However, the phone feels premium in hand. The phone is a bit slippery in hand. However, Xiaomi includes a case in the Box to help with that.

Software

The Xiaomi Redmo Note 5 runs on company’s MIUI 9.5.9 with Android 7.1.2 Nougat as its base. MIUI is a heavily modded skin and doesn't look anything like the stock android. It has special features baked into the ROM. These modifications give the user ability to completely customize and modify the device according to their will. The software also has a theme engine enabling users to change the look and feel of the operating system if they wish to. People have a mixed opinion about the MIUI. MIUI is basically a love or hate thing as few people love customisations while others love the fluidity of stock Android.

Also Read: How to use the gesture-based navigation on your Xiaomi Redmi Note 5

The software performance of the Redmi Note 5 was impressive. The software runs lag-free with nothing to complain in regards to the performance. Also, it's an Android phone so if you don't like the way it looks, you can always change it with third-party launchers and more. The included bloatware is nothing to be afraid of as these apps are mostly useful tools like screen recorder and more.

Performance

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is meant to compete with and dominate the budget smartphone segment. Hence, the performance is the main concern on the Redmi Note 5. With its specifications, it already matches the expected performance mark. However, as we have seen in the past performance not only depends on the hardware but also the construction of the smartphone and software. The Redmi Note 5 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC paired with the Adreno 506 GPU. The variant we tested had 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. However, there is also a 4GB+64GB variant available.

We ran our usual AnTuTu and the GeekBench benchmarks to evaluate the performance of the phone. The AnTuTu 7 yielded a score of 68795 while the GeekBench showed a single core score of 810 and multi-core score of 3887. The performance numbers of the device are fairly adequate compared to its competition.

Also Read: Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 5: Dethroning the king?

In light gaming such as Temple Run and Hill Climb Racing, the phone runs smoothly and cool. The situation is different with heavy games like PUBG. While the phone doesn't lag it has a serious heating issue. We would advise you not to play heavy games for a long duration.

Display

The smartphone has an average 5.99-inch display with 18:9 aspect ratio. A 5.99-inch display would seem like a large display, however, that's average by 2018 standards. Also, it's an 18:9 aspect ratio display, so it doesn't feel that big in hand. It also has a rounder display making it look better.  The display gets quite low and highly bright. The colours are average but considering the price tag, it is good enough. The sunlight readability is great. With the 18:9 aspect ratio display, the browsing and consuming content on this smartphone is a delight.

Camera

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 features a single rear 12-megapixel camera sensor with f/2.2 aperture. For the selfies, it packs a 5-megapixel front camera with LED flash. The cameras seem to be impressive at least on paper.

The indoor shots taken on the Redmi Note 5 are acceptable. However, the colours feel a quite boosted. Also, the focus on the indoor shots is not quite adequate. The camera requires good lighting to get good photos. The stabilization of the camera is good. The outdoor images from the device are exceptional. The colours aren’t natural as they are brighter than natural. However, the camera focuses really good with great lighting. The details are good and the exposure is also good.

Also Read: Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 In-Depth Review: Budget smartphone king?

The 5-megapixel front-facing camera with LED flash has the same story. The photos from the front camera are same as the back camera except for the white balance. Also, the white balance on the front camera is bad. Rest the camera quality is the same as the back.

The camera quality of the smartphone is really good. However, the true camera buffs might wanna stay away, as the colours at but unnatural. To the rest 99% of the people, the camera of the smartphone is really something they can do with. Also, there is a Google Camera port available for the Redmi Note 5 which improves the camera quality significantly. However, we fight our war with the arsenal we have and not the arsenal we could have had.

Battery

Packing a 4,000mAh battery, the expectations are quite high. Also, what a good performing phone if you need to charge it more than you use it. The device charges adequately fast with the included 2amp charger. It took the smartphone to completely charge from 0-100 around 2 hours 30 mins. The smartphone lasts more than a day with average usage. However, we advise charging the phone at the night so to avoid it shutting down in the middle of the next day.

We ran the PC Mark’s Work 2.0 Battery Life test which subjects the phone to extreme usage and finds out the battery life in that condition. The device achieved a result of 16 hours and 25 minutes which is better than the average considered the capacity of the battery.

Conclusion

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 comes with a starting price of Rs 9,999 for the 3GB RAM and 32GB storage variant. The upgraded 4GB RAM model with 64GB storage costs Rs 10,999. Considering the price tag, the smartphone is a great deal. The phone is good compared to its competition. However, you can pay a little extra and get something like the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 which comes with a much better processor and stock Android.

The IR blaster is definitely unique in the market right now. Also, the MIUI is something many people won't like. However, if you don't mind the MIUI then the Redmi Note 5 is definitely worth the price tag. Also, keep in mind Xiaomi doesn't have a good reputation for quality control and after-sales service. So, you might wanna avoid this phone if you can just because of that.