Between his names such as Micromax’s India Series and Carbon A40 Indian, Xiaomi has described his Redmi 5A as a ‘country smartphone’. But with this title, the company does not mean unclear and perhaps it can mean low price. Apart from this, the phone is Made in India or it also promises a strong battery life. But, the most important thing of this launch is that Xiaomi is offering a discount of Rs 1,000 on its lower-end model, after which the price of 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage variants of Redmi 5 one comes to Rs 4,999.
We are curious to know what is actually changed in the new Redmi 5A and what are the benefits of customers in the new phone. Let’s know in the review.
Xiaomi Redmi 5A Look and Realization
If you have used an entry-level Android smartphone in the last one or two years, then there is not much to say about the look of Redmi 5A. It is made of plastic and design is also common. However, a little metallic finish can be seen on the rear. Xiaomi says that the phone will be sold in dark gray, gold and rose gold color. But just only two options have been listed for the first cell. The front of our Gold Review Unit is white. And we feel that we liked the dark gray coming with the black front.
Redmi 5A has a 5 inch screen but has a very empty space above the screen. The phone is easy to use with one hand. Despite the thickness of 8.35 millimeters, the grip is good and the phone weighs 137 grams. Comparing Redmi 4A, the difference is very low. There is a difference of less than 1 millimeter in the length and width of both variants.
Capacitive navigation buttons are given below the screen which are not backlits. But this price is expected to be available. As usual, Xiaomi has given a status indicator under the home button which is turned on only when the phone is charging or else it seems completely disappeared.
The phone has power and volume buttons on the right side and the phone has two trains on the left side which can be used for a microSD card in addition to two Nano-SIM cards. On the rear of the phone, the camera has an LED flash and the phone’s speaker is downwards on the grill rear. There is a micro-USB port on the lower edge, but at the top you will get a 3.5mm audio jack. A special feature is the IR Ameter given on the upper edge of the phone. It can be used to control home appliances.
In the box you will find a micro-USB cable and charger but not the headset like every time. The special thing is that it seems that the company is paying more attention to the Redmi Broading, there is a redmi branding on the box, while Xiaomi’s name and logo are written in small letters.
Xiaomi Redmi 5A Specification and Software
It is a bit shocking that most of the specifications of Redmi 5A are similar to the Redmi 4A. The phone has the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor that runs on 1.4 GHz. The 5 -inch screen comes with 720×1280 pixels resolution. The phone has a 13 megapixel rear camera and 5 megapixel front camera. Apart from this, the phone has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM radio and GPS support. In addition to 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage, you get the option of 3 GB RAM and 32 GB stores. If you compare in both phones, then nothing is different.
Redmi 5A has a 3000 mAh battery which is less than 3120 mAh given in Redmi 4A. The phone has a separate microSD card slot that is better than the hybrid dual-sim slot given in Redmi 4A. In the new phone, Nano SIM card can be used instead of micro SIM card and the capacity of microSD card has been increased from 128 GB to 256 GB. The only difference is that both phones have something better and some less.
Apart from the IR Ameter, the phone has no other special features. Fingerprint reader, front flash, large battery, secondary rear camera or 18: 9 screen -like devices, Xiaomi maintains an all -rounder device at this price.
But talking about software, some new things have come. Xiaomi runs on Android 7.1.2 Nougat based Custom MUI 9 in Xiaomi Redmi 5A. This is a single layer UI in which there is no way to enable the app drawer. And for the first time it is not bad for Android users. We saw that there are some unnecessary animations on the icon on the homescreen. Apart from this, there is also an option to choose some theme. You can also download many more themes from the themes app. Along with this, wallpapers, fonts and ringtones can also be downloaded. Right now they all look free but maybe Xiaomi starts recovering money for these downloads in future.
If you want, you can bring a quick togle to the notification center. For this, the Settings app is given in the option. There is also an option to set up second space user profiles, gesture shortcuts and additional work through Android navigation button for privacy. The phone also has a dual app function through which you can run two accounts for an app. App access can be limited through app lock. The phone does not have a fingerprint sensor, so you have to use unlock pattern.
Xiaomi has given the Microsoft Office app, such as Skype Light, Amazon Shopping, WPS Office and UC News in the phone. The second feature of Xiaomi in the phone has Mi Apps App Store, Mi Store for Xiaomi’s product, Mi Community Forum App, Me Drop (Apple Aircraft -like clone) and different custom apps instead of the default Android app.
Xiaomi Redmi 5A Performance
As entry-level phones are increasing, Xiaomi is able to maintain better coordination in the price and performance. Redmi 5A is a daily function for daily functions such as web browsing, social apps and messaging devices. We also played graphics games from the phone, although the performance was not very good. We had some problems in the phone when we did heavy tests or played games. All other work in the phone is correct but the situation becomes worse when the second space feature is enabled.
Talking about the benchmark, the device scored a great score. Our Test Unit was 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage. That is, more RAM variants will surely improve the performance of the phone.
The screen of the phone is quite sharp and the small text also looks good. Viewing angles are good and brightness is also sufficient for external use. However, the colors do not emerge and the video and game seem to be a little bit during the video and game. Although there is a speaker grill on the entire rear panel, the voice actually comes out of the same place. The audio in the phone is a bit weak and the sound on the high volume bursts badly.
You will see a menu with a shortcut for the Mi Remote App and Me Home when swipe on the right side of the Redmi 5A on the lockscreen. The remote app is basic and it will take you some time for the process of controlling home appliances. The phone has an IR profile for the private-labeled store brand besides Indian TV, set-top box and AC brand. Apart from some other low -priced phones, third party apps can also use IR Ameter. Me home app can be used to control popular air purifiers such as Xiaomi devices with Wi-Fi capacity.
The cameras of Redmi 5 one are average, but once again we have to maintain balance in our expectations from this low -price phone. There is not much detailing in the picture. The edges in the object are often blurred and texture is also not excellent referrons. We saw that the colors are very light and this happens when the phone is seen on the screen. We were successful in taking some fantastic close-up shots but the distant shots are not good. The quality of the pictures at night gets very bad and we failed to capture it on which there was no artificial light. Autofocus works rapidly during the day in the phone. Video recording can be up to 1080 pixels, but we found that the clip looks very artificial.
The front camera of the phone applies the beautification as a default, and the faces seem to be very artificial. The phone has a Pro beauty mode and a smart beauty mode. Pro mode gives you slim and skin slider while smart mode tries to recognize your age and penis. Disabled them makes it clear that the front camera is very weak.
The camera app is very common and you have to tap twice when you go to the menu with default mode. But you will not get the menu in many mode.
Xiaomi praised the Redmi 5A battery life and described it as part of the ‘smartphone of the country’. And we were happy that the phone’s battery with general use remained 20 percent even after running a whole day. In our HD video loop test, the phone battery lasted for 11 hours and 9 minutes which affects.
Our decision
Xiaomi has also impressed us this time with a low -priced device. However, there is nothing different from anything new or Redmi 4A in Redmi 5A. If you are successful in buying 2 GB RAM/16 GB storage for Rs 4,999 under the launch offer, then you will not regret it. And even with a regular retail price of Rs 5,999, you will not get many options that can challenge this phone. This is a great phone for the first time users. The camera quality of the phone is a big doubt and if the camera is necessary for you, then you have to spend a little more.
The price of 32 GB variants is Rs 6,999 and this deal is slightly less attractive. There are many other options in this price and you will get big screen, fingerprint sensors in addition to RAM and storage in this price. It is worth noting that Redmi 4 (Review) and Redmi Y1 Lite are in this list. And instead we would suggest to wait for the launch of more powerful Redmi 5.