Xiaomi Teases Redmi 5 Launch In India On The 14th Of March
Xiaomi India launched the Xiaomi Mi TV 4A 32 inch and 43 inch on March 7th. However, the launch video of the television ended with a twist. At the end of the video, Xiaomi teases a new smartphone, which will be announced on the 14th of March. Hence, it seems like the Redmi 5 could be launched in India.
The video shows a phone’s side profile, which looks similar to the recently launched Redmi Note 5. The Redmi Note 5 is basically the Redmi 5 Plus which was launched along with the Redmi 5 in China back in early-December 2017.
The Xiaomi Redmi 5 is a miniature version of the Redmi Note 5. The smartphone has an identical design with a slightly compact form factor and inferior hardware.
Xiaomi Redmi 5 Specifications
The Xiaomi Redmi 5 has a 5.7-inch 1440 x 720 px display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. However, the bezels are still very visible, especially in the Gold colour variant.
Under the hood, the Redmi 5 has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chipset, a 1.8GHz octa-core processor, Adreno 506 GPU, 2GB, 3GB or 4GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB of onboard storage which will be expandable via microSD card. In fact, the Snapdragon 450 is an underclocked Snapdragon 625 chipset, which is used in the Note 5.
There is a fingerprint sensor placed at the back of the phone just below the camera. However, that is mainly a signature Xiaomi decision and not due to the lack of bezels on the front. Powering the device is a 3300 mAh battery which, Xioami claims has a standby time of up to 12 days. The battery is charged via a micro USB slot which means no fast charging. There is a 3.5mm headphone jack placed next to the charging port as well.
The Redmi 5 has a 12MP camera at the back with 1.25-micron pixel size. The camera surprisingly only records 1080P videos at 30fps. To the front of the device is a 5MP camera with Beautify 3.0, which is Xiaomi’s software for enhanced selfies.
Conclusion
The Redmi Note 5 is priced at Rs. 9999 for the base variant. The Redmi 5, if launched, will have to be priced below that. However, at a lower price, this could be a better option than the likes of the Redmi 5A priced at Rs 6999. Hence, it looks like the conundrum of the Redmi 5 and its position in the India market will only be solved on the 14th of March.
