Welcome back to our roundup of all the tech happenings of the week. It was a busy week for Xiaomi[1], as the Chinese device maker announced new products in India, starting with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5[2] (review[3]). It was launched on Wednesday with a starting price of Rs. 9,999, and goes on sale from February 22. The Redmi Note 5 is powered by a Snapdragon 625 SoC, and it has a solid 4000mAh battery.
We reviewed the 4GB variant[4] of the phone, priced at Rs. 11,999, and came away impressed[5] but the build quality, the battery life, and most of all, the camera quality. The Redmi Note 5 took good shots both during the day and in low light, and macros turned out better than expected. However, selfies are a little grainy, although they're still usable for social media.
If you want something that's a step up, you could also consider the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro[6] (review[7]). Launched at the same time as the Redmi Note 5, the Note 5 Pro features higher end internals, and therefore starts at a higher price of Rs. 13,999. It has almost the same dimensions, complete with the 5.99-inch full-HD+ display, and the 4000mAh battery. However, the Redmi Note 5 Pro has 4GB and 6GB RAM variants, compared to the 3GB and 4GB variants for the Redmi Note 5. Aside from that, the Pro is based on the Snapdragon 636 SoC, and the big difference is in the cameras.
As we noted in our Redmi Note 5 Pro review[8], the phone has a dual-camera setup at the back, with 12-megapixel and 5-megapixel sensors, and...