Amidst patriotism in the name of phones like Micromax’s Bharat series and Karbonn A40 Indian, Xiaomi has described its Redmi 5A as ‘the smartphone of the country’. But what the company means by this title is not vague and perhaps it could mean low prices. Apart from this, the phone is Made in India or it also promises strong battery life. But, the most important thing about this launch is that Xiaomi is giving a discount of Rs 1,000 on its lower-end model, after which the price of 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage variant of Redmi 5A comes down to Rs 4,999.
We are curious to know what exactly has changed in the new Redmi 5A and what benefits customers will get in the new phone. Let us know in the review.
Xiaomi Redmi 5A look and feel
If you’ve used an entry-level Android smartphone in the last year or two, there’s not much to say about the looks of the Redmi 5A. It is made of plastic and the design is also common. However, a slight metallic finish can be seen on the rear. Xiaomi says that the phone will be sold in dark grey, gold and rose gold colors. But currently only two options have been listed for the first sale. The front of our Gold review unit is white. And we think we would have liked the dark gray with the black front more.
The Redmi 5A has a 5-inch screen but there is a lot of empty space at the top and bottom of the screen. The phone is easy to use with one hand. Despite the thickness of 8.35 mm, the grip is good and the weight of the phone is 137 grams. Compared to Redmi 4A, the difference is very less. There is a difference of less than 1 mm in the length and width of both the variants.
Capacitive navigation buttons are provided below the screen which are not backlit. But this much is expected at this price. As usual, Xiaomi has provided a status indicator below the home button which turns on only when the phone is charging, otherwise it seems to be missing completely.
The power and volume buttons in the phone are given on the right side and there are two trays on the left side of the phone which can be used for two nano-SIM cards as well as a microSD card. There is an LED flash near the camera on the rear of the phone and the speaker grill of the phone is at the bottom on the rear. There’s a micro-USB port on the bottom edge, but on the top you’ll find a 3.5mm audio jack. A special feature is the IR ammeter given on the top edge of the phone. It can be used to control home appliances.
In the box you will get a micro-USB cable and charger but like every time there is no headset. The special thing is that it seems that the company is paying more attention to Redmi branding. There is Redmi branding on the front and back of the box while Xiaomi’s name and logo are written in small letters.
Xiaomi Redmi 5A specification and software
It is a bit surprising that most of the specifications of Redmi 5A are the same as Redmi 4A. The phone has the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor which runs at 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. Apart from 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage, you get the option of 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage. If we compare both the phones, there is nothing different.
The Redmi 5A has a 3000 mAh battery, which is less than the 3120 mAh battery in the Redmi 4A. The phone has a dedicated microSD card slot which is better than the hybrid dual-SIM slot on the 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 some are better and some are inferior in both the phones.
Apart from the IR ammeter, there is no other special feature in the phone. Instead of a single device with features like a fingerprint reader, front flash, large battery, secondary rear camera or an 18:9 screen, Xiaomi aims to deliver an all-rounder device at this price point.
But if we talk about software, some new things have come. Xiaomi Redmi 5A runs on custom MIUI 9 based on Android 7.1.2 Nougat. It’s a single layer UI with no way to enable an app drawer. And that’s not bad for a first-time Android user. We noticed that there are some unnecessary animations on the icons on the homescreen. Apart from this there is also an option to choose some themes. You can also download many more themes from the Themes app. Along with this, wallpapers, fonts and ringtones can also be downloaded. All of these appear to be free for now, but Xiaomi may start charging for these downloads in the future.
If you want, you can bring any quick toggle to the Notification Center. For this, the option is given in the Settings app. There’s also the option to create a second space user profile for privacy, set gesture shortcuts, and perform additional functions via Android navigation buttons. The phone also has dual app function through which you can run two accounts simultaneously for any app. App access can be limited through App Lock. The phone does not have a fingerprint sensor, so you will have to use the unlock pattern.
Xiaomi has pre-installed Microsoft Office apps on the phone, like Skype Lite, Amazon Shopping, WPS Office and UC News. Other Xiaomi features in the phone include Mi Apps app store, Mi Store for Xiaomi products, Mi Community Forum app, Mi Drop (a clone like Apple AirDrop) and many custom apps in place of the default Android app.
xiaomi redmi 5a performance
As entry-level phones are on the rise, Xiaomi is able to strike a better balance between price and performance. The Redmi 5A is a capable device for everyday tasks like web browsing, social apps and messaging. We were also able to play graphics games on the phone, although the performance was not very good. We faced some problems with the phone when we did heavy tests or played games. All other functions work fine in the phone but the situation becomes worse when the Second Space feature is enabled.
Talking about benchmarks, the device scored brilliantly. Our test unit had 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage. That means the variant with more RAM will definitely improve the performance of the phone.
The screen of the phone is quite sharp and small text also looks good. Viewing angles are good and brightness is also sufficient for outdoor use. However, colors don’t pop and appear a bit dull during videos and games. Although there is a speaker grill covering the entire rear panel, the sound actually comes out from a single place. The audio on the phone is a bit weak and at higher volumes the sound cracks badly.
By swiping right on the lockscreen of the Redmi 5A, you’ll see a menu with shortcuts to the Mi Remote app and Mi Home. The remote app is basic and the process of controlling home appliances will take you a little time. The phone has IR profiles for Indian TV, set-top box and AC brands as well as private-label store brands. Unlike some other low-cost phones, third-party apps can also use the IR ammeter. You can use the Mi Home app to control Wi-Fi enabled Xiaomi devices such as popular air purifiers.
The cameras on the Redmi 5A are average, but once again we have to balance our expectations from this low-cost phone. There is not much detailing in the pictures. The edges of objects are often blurry and textures are not reproduced very well. We noticed that the colors are very light and this also happens when viewing images on the phone screen. We managed to get some great close-up shots but the distance shots don’t come out great. The quality of photographs becomes very poor at night and we failed to capture anything that was not illuminated by artificial light. Autofocus works fast in the phone during the day. Video recording can be up to 1080p, but we found clips to look very grainy.
The phone’s front camera applies beautification by default, and faces look very artificial. The phone has a Pro Beauty Mode and a Smart Beauty Mode. Pro mode gives you slim and skin sliders while Smart mode tries to identify your age and gender. By disabling these it becomes clear that the front camera is very weak.
The camera app is very basic and you have to tap twice to get to the menu from the default mode. But in many modes you will not get the menu.
Xiaomi praised the battery life of Redmi 5A and described it as ‘the country’s smartphone’. And we were pleased that with normal usage, the phone’s battery remained at 20 percent even after a full day of usage. The phone’s battery lasted an impressive 11 hours and 9 minutes in our HD video loop test.
our decision
Xiaomi has impressed us this time too with its low-cost devices. However, there is nothing new or different from Redmi 4A in Redmi 5A. If you manage to buy 2GB RAM/16GB storage under the launch offer for Rs 4,999, you will not regret. And even with a regular retail price of Rs 5,999, you won’t find many options that can challenge this phone. This is a great phone for first time smartphone users. The camera quality of the phone is a major drawback and if camera is important to you then you will have to spend a little more.
The 32 GB variant is priced at Rs 6,999 and this deal is a little less attractive. There are many more options in this price and apart from more RAM and storage, you will get a bigger screen, fingerprint sensor at this price. It is worth noting that Redmi 4 (Review) and Redmi Y1 Lite themselves are in this list. And instead we would suggest waiting for the launch of the more powerful Redmi 5.