Redmi 5 has been launched in India[1], the final piece of Xiaomi’s[2] popular affordable smartphone range. Launched last year in China, the Redmi 5[3] comes with an overhauled design compared to its predecessor, a faster processor, selfie flash, and — once again — a competitive price tag. It will be up for grabs starting next week, in weekly flash sales. We take a closer look at the key design elements of the new Redmi 5.
Redmi is a mass market smartphone aimed at the affordable segment of the Indian mobile phone industry. It is positioned between its siblings Redmi 5A[4] and Redmi Note 5[5], and competes directly with the Redmi Y1[6] in pricing and features.
The new Redmi 5 has a 5.7-inch HD+ (720x1440 pixel) display with 18:9 aspect ratio. Its bezel-less design allows the handset to pack a much larger display panel in a body roughly the same size as the predecessor.
It runs on Android Nougat-based MIUI 9 customer software, and keeping everything running is the 1.6GHz octa-core Snapdragon 450 SoC. The handset comes with dual-SIM (Nano), as well as microSD card support.
It comes in three variants, with the 2GB RAM/ 16GB storage option priced at Rs. 7,999, 3GB RAM/ 32GB model at Rs. 8,999, and 4GB RAM/ 64GB variant at Rs. 10,999. Its major rivals will include the likes of Xiaomi Redmi Y1, Moto G5S, and Nokia 5[7].
For photography, the Redmi 5 sports a 12-megapixel rear camera with f/2.2 aperture, PDAF, and LED flash. The front camera has 5-megapixel sensor and a LED flash for better selfies for lowlight conditions, as well as...