It was rumored that we weren’t ever going to see the Redmi Note 5 after the Redmi 5 Plus was to allegedly replace it. This came from a mod that worked in the Xiaomi forums, however, clearly, he was wrong. The Redmi Note 5 Pro and now this new Redmi Note 5 is out and this is really just a tweaked Redmi Note 5 Pro Indian variant, however, Xiaomi made sure it ships with Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box and not Android 7.1 and improved the front and rear cameras.
The main improvement is the primary rear camera sensor, which is now a Samsung S5K2L7 1.4 micrometer ISOCELL Sensor with dual pixel phase detection autofocus, basically a super-fast form of autofocus that flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S7, S8, and S9 use. And now it’s being used in a budget mobile phone. So the pixel size is up .2 um which means it should capture more details and the lens aperture is now a brighter f1.9 stop instead of f2.2 as found on the Indian variant of this model. In other words on paper, it has a better camera. And the front camera is also meant to be better, even if it has been downgraded from 20MP to 13MP. Unfortunately, I don’t have the Indian Redmi Note 5 Pro so I cannot compare them side by side. (Anyone in Europe that can send me one, please get in touch!)
This model has a new AI assistant feature I found that it only seems to work in Chinese for now so it’s pointless to me. It’s an application called Xiao Ai.
The global ROM version is on pre-order now at Gearbest for $229 USD here.
Below is my Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Chinese variant unboxing and hands-on preview of the phone with some video samples and photos. Further below my first impressions:
Video index: 01:27 – Unboxing 02:40 – Design & Build 04:18 – Weight & Thickness 04:36 – First Boot 05:45 – Screen 06:11 – OS & MIUI 07:12 – Face & finger unlocking 07:41 – Treble Support? 08:04 – Quick Charge support? 08:18 – Camera sensor info 09:09 – Loudspeaker sample 09:49 – Antutu benchmark 10:27 – Camera App settings 12:01 – Video samples 13:49 – 4k video (Open Camera) 14:34 – Front camera 14:52 – Photo samples (Auto) 16:00 – First Impressions 16:15 – Pros & Cons
Xaomi Redmi Note 5 First Impressions & further info:
- The phone is very quick and snappy. I’ll be testing some games on it soon like PUBG Mobile and this will be in the review.
- The build quality exactly the same as the Redmi 5 Plus I reviewed.
- The screen is an IPS with scratch resistant glass, possible Dragontail or Gorilla Glass. No official word on this from Xiaomi.
- The build isn’t a unibody, as we have a plastic top and bottom.
- Still no Type-C ports with Xiaomi on budget models! It’s really about time, they must be clearing their stockpile of Micro USB ports still???
- The loudspeaker is fine for this price range of mobile. No dual loudspeaker earpiece like the Mi 5X or Mi Max 2.
- The camera is a Samsung S5K2L7, not the Samsung Galaxy S7 sensor the S5K2L1 as some first units had. (But a very similar sensor)
- The autofocus performance is at a flagship level, very quick, exactly like my Galaxy S7 camera.
- Photos so far punch well above this phones price tag. No 4K in the stock camera app, but use Open Camera for 4k video recording
- The camera when recording video holds it’s frame rate of 30 fps in EIS 1080p, low light and even 4k using Open Camera.
- The EIS on 1080p is very steady, I’m impressed so far with just how Google Pixel like stable it is.
- You get around 52GB free on first boot, this is on the 64GB version. Don’t forget it supports MicroSD. But you give up a nano sim slot.
- The phone has support for Treble, but only access to system partition A and not both A & B
- The new MiUI full-screen gesture model works well, takes only a few minutes to get used to
- The Snapdragon 636 is a big step up over the Snapdragon 625 found in many Redmi mobiles like the Note 4 and Redmi 5 Plus.
- The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Antutu score is 116082 Vs the 67916 my Mi Max 2 got with the SD625
- The Redmi Note 5 supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3 and it works, just the included charger is a standard 5volt charger
I don’t want to speak too soon, but based on my first impressions this looks like the best budget phone around or at least that I have tested. The price, spec and what’s offered is really something. Okay the Meizu E3 might better this, but until I get hold of that mobile I just don’t know.
Of course, it’s not all perfect, no mobile is and as I outlined in my hands-on review there are some cons:
- No Type-C other budget phone brands have been using Type-C for over a year now.
- No LTE Band 20 (Wait for the EU version due in a few weeks)
- Chinese ROM with bloatware. There is a flashable Global ROM, but the camera app crashes when launched.
- The audio when recording video is still poor. 96 kbps, it should really be 192 kbps to reduce the compression and improve the recording.
You can also win a Redmi Note 5, we are giving one away! Make sure you enter the giveaway
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 international giveaway.
Front & rear, video and audio camera comparison in the works. Galaxy S7 S5K2L1 Vs Redmi Note 5 S5K2L7 (CN version) some results I never expected from a budget Vs 2 year old flagship. Comparison video in 1-2 days as this edit is a real nightmare. #RedmiNote5 #RedmiNote5Pro pic.twitter.com/vcyAoz2Ec6
— TechTablets (@TechTabletscom) March 30, 2018
Some Redmi Note 5 photo samples taken directly from the mobile and uploaded. Auto mode, no editing. Same goes for the video footage shown in my hands-on video it’s all just dropped into the timeline with no tweaks.
Low light Redmi Note 5 photos:
Notes on the photos:
- The photo of the red hibiscus flow is over exposed, some clipping of the brightred.
- Portrait mode bokeh stitching works okay, it is sometimes off and works best on people.
- The front camera often overexposes and needs tweaking by Xiaomi.
- Low light performance isn’t amazing, but the photos are brighter than most in this price range.
- The Samsung ISOCell can take a great photo in good light to match even a Samsung Galaxy S7.
- The focus is normally always on target (Finally!).