Xiaomi Redmi 5 vs Redmi 4: What’s different?
Xiaomi has announced another new smartphone in India. The Chinese smartphone maker has launched the Redmi 5 as the successor to last year’s Redmi 4. The smartphone is being dubbed as a ‘compact powerhouse’ by the company, and it is set to go on its first flash sale on March 20 at 12:00PM.
The Redmi 5 launched in China alongside the Redmi 5 Plus in December last year. The company launched Redmi 5 Plus as Redmi Note 5 in India last month, and it is now bringing the Redmi 5 as the replacement to Redmi 4. The most important thing here is that Xiaomi is relying on these smartphones to remain the leading smartphone brand in the country.
Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 4, Redmi 4 and Redmi 4A were the top three smartphones last year. Manu Jain, MD, Xiaomi India made it clear that the company wants Redmi Note 5, Redmi 5 and Redmi 5A to be the leading devices for this year. If you have a Redmi 4 then the new Redmi 5 is a major improvement in areas like performance and design. So, here is a look at what has changed between the Redmi 5 and the Redmi 4.
Design and Display
The most important change with the Redmi 5 is in the design department. Like the Redmi Note 5 and Redmi Note 5 Pro, Xiaomi has trimmed the bezels around the display on the Redmi 5 as well. Placed next to the Redmi 4, the Redmi 5 will definitely look modern thanks to its 18:9 display, and also premium in certain aspects.
Apart from thinner bezels, the smartphone is mostly identical to what we have seen from Xiaomi in the past. The device features a metal unibody design, and comes in black, gold, rose gold and lake blue colors. It has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and the corners are rounded for a more comfortable fit. The power button and volume rocker are placed at right side while SIM and memory card slots are at the left. There is a 3.5mm audio jack and microUSB for charging.
The front houses the 5.7-inch Full HD+ display, which now includes more pixels with resolution of 1440×720 pixels. The display supports taller 18:9 aspect ratio which will make the device look more pixel dense than its predecessor. The back of the device features the primary camera setup with LED flash, fingerprint sensor and Mi logo.
Specifications
In terms of specifications, the Redmi 5 makes a jump from a processor based on 28nm architecture to one based on more efficient 14nm process. The Redmi 5 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 SoC, an octa-core chipset with eight Cortex A53 cores and clocked at 1.8GHz. The chipset also includes Adreno 506 GPU, which should bring major improvement to the graphics performance along with upgrade to hardware performance.
The smartphone comes in three storage options – 2GB RAM variant with 16GB storage, and another model with 32GB storage as standard with option for either 3GB or 4GB RAM. The smartphone runs Android 7.0 Nougat layered with Xiaomi’s own MIUI 9 user interface. It comes with 3,300mAh battery, which is smaller than the 4,100mAh battery found in Redmi 4.
The Redmi 5 should, however, last longer thanks to its refined user interface and updated processor. The Redmi 5 relies on microUSB port for charging, and it would have been a welcome change if the company has switched to USB Type-C port. It supports connectivity features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and 4G LTE.
The Redmi 5 features a 12-megapixel rear camera, which is same as the one found on the back of Redmi Note 5. The primary sensor uses the same 1.25 micron pixel size, which should lead to brighter pictures compared to the camera on the Redmi 4. The sensor supports phase detection autofocus, and comes with LED flash for shooting in low-light.
The front camera uses a 5-megapixel sensor with support for 1080p video recording. Like the Redmi Note 5 Pro, there is a selfie flash up front that will be ideal for taking selfies in low light conditions. The Redmi series is not really known for its cameras and Xiaomi has tried to offer the best in this price segment.
Pricing
The Redmi 5 starts at Rs 7,999, which makes it one of the cheapest smartphones to support the modern design language. As stated previously, the Redmi 5 comes in three storage options with the 2GB RAM variant being priced at Rs 7,999 and the 3GB RAM variant priced at Rs 8,999. The 4GB RAM variant with 32GB storage is priced at Rs 10,999.
