Xiaomi Redmi 5 first impression: Nokia 5 and Samsung Galaxy J7 to face tough competition

The Budget smartphone leader Xiaomi has yet again hit the market with its latest smartphone, the new Redmi 5  has been priced below the Rs 12,000 bracket. The price segment is very crucial for the smartphone giants like Samsung, Nokia, Lenovo along with Xiaomi. The smartphone has been launched just a month after the Redmi Note 5 was launched.

The Key features of the phon include a 5.7-inch 18:9 display, a fairly large 3300mAh battery, and an LED flash for the front-facing camera. The Xiaomi Redmi 5 has been priced at Rs. 7,999 for the 2GB of RAM and 16GB storage version. The variant with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage has been priced at Rs 8,999; and the one with 4GB/64GB comes at 10,999.

The device will be available through the flash sales to be organised weekly starting from March 20 on Amazon.in and Xiaomi's official website Mi.com.

The 18:9 display has almost become a norm even for the budget section smartphones now. However, Xiaomi always provides its customers with extra features compared with other players in the market for the price it charges. The most interesting thing about the phone is that it comes with 5.7-inches of screen space with a body that is smaller than the iPhone 8 plus which sports a 5.5-inches display. The smartphone has a really impressive screen to body ratio.

The new Redmi 5 resembles company's latest sensation Redmi note 5 in more than one way. The phone comes with an almost identical metallic body that is the common feature between the two phones. The phone is a 151.8mm tall, 72.8mm wide, and 7.7mm thick device which comes with a TPU cover in the box that makes the metal-body phone slightly less slippery.

The phone is a new one and the first complete review is yet to come. However, we have some basic and significant key points to introduce the phone to you. The phone dons a 12-megapixel camera with f/2.2 aperture, phase detection autofocus, HDR, and an LED flash. Phones in the Redmi series haven't been known for their camera performance, and the Redmi 5 is no exception. The phone performs pretty well in the day-light conditions but struggles to get the best shot when the lights are low.

While Redmi provides the latest hardware and other features but this cannot be said about the Android Versions they come up with. The latest model from Xiaomi runs MIUI 9 on top of Android 7.1.2 Nougat, out of the box. Much like other MIUI-based Xiaomi phones, the Redmi 5 also has a number of customisations and preinstalled apps. There has been information on an Android Oreo rollout yet.

 Also To Read- Xiaomi Redmi 5 Review: A quick look at the pros and cons to help you decide your purchase