Is The Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus A Worthy Upgrade Over The Redmi Note 4?

Budget smartphones in India have to be the best in class to gain any sort of attention from the consumers. This is thanks to the overcrowding in the segment and some great devices that have been launched over the past year or so. One of them has been the Xioami Redmi Note 4. By the company’s own admission, the Redmi Note 4 is Xiaomi’s most successful smartphone in India.

Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus

In what might be a shock move, the Chinese smartphone maker might not launch a successor to the Redmi Note 4 and instead market the Redmi 5 Plus as the successor to the Redmi Note 4. According to a Supermoderator on the MIUI forum, the Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus is going to remain the company’s only large-screened affordable option. This is not an official confirmation but, it as close as it gets to one.

In India, Xiaomi has historically launched phones with different names in India and it won’t be surprising if the Redmi 5 Plus is launched as the Redmi Note 5. The ‘Note’ moniker will matter a lot as the consumers already associate the term ‘Note’ with a big phone, and the Redmi 5 Plus falls into that category with a 6-inch display.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4

However, does the Redmi 5 Plus pose enough of an upgrade over the Redmi Note 4 which will persuade the Redmi Note 4 owners to upgrade? Let’s find out.

Although specs on paper never really tell the whole picture, a comparison on paper is sometimes enough to show a clear picture. That is the case with the Redmi 5 Plus and Redmi Note 4 debate. If Xiaomi launches the Redmi 5 Plus as the Redmi Note 5 in India, it will end up disappointing a lot of consumers which the Chinese smartphone maker will not want.

A refresh of the Redmi Note 4 with a better chipset and the same design as the Redmi 5 Plus might just do the trick. The design of the Redmi 5 Plus is a definite upgrade to the same-old class Redmu design of the Redmi Note 4. But, when you look at what the Redmi 5 Plus has to offer over the Redmi Note 4, it falls short in a lot of aspects.

Possible Redmi Note 5 Leak

It has a marginally smaller battery than the Redmi Note 4 despite having a larger screen size. It has the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset despite coming out almost a year after the Redmi Note 4.

Even though you shouldn’t expect a lot from a one-generation upgrade, the Redmi Note 4 to Redmi 5 Plus just doesn’t make sense, at least on the paper. Let’s hope Xiaomi scraps the idea of dropping the ‘Note’ lineup and launches a worthy successor to the beloved Redmi Note 4.