The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 is one of the most popular smartphones not only in China but also in other markets where Xiaomi brand is popular, including India. Naturally, expectations in the Note 4 camp have been high as fans look forward to the launch of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5. But the question is will the new Redmi Note 5 fill in perfectly for the departing Note 4? Let’s discuss this.

It’s now over a year since the Redmi Note 4 launched and given the phone’s popularity, many expected that Xiaomi will follow it up with an equally powerful handset at an affordable price tag. Unfortunately, this might not be truly the case.

You might be a little disappointed to discover that the Redmi Note 5 isn’t such a massive upgrade over the Note 4. But why? Becuase there’s a Redmi Note 5 Pro, which you can read more about here.

As for now, let’s talk the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 and what it brings to the budget Redmi series.

The Redmi Note 5 is here, for real

For a while, it had remained unclear what Xiaomi’s plans for the Indian market were. Following the huge success of the Redmi 4 and Redmi Note 4, however, everyone expected that Indians will get successors to these two.

After periods of uncertainties, Redmi India took to Twitter to confirm that the company will unveil the new Redmi Note 5 on Valentine’s Day.

Read: Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 and Note 5 Pro specs and price

A recent leak gave out the full specs of the phone, which we can now confirm that they were indeed true to the latter. As expected, Xiaomi has simply rebranded the Redmi 5 Plus to a Note 5 for the Indian market.

The Redmi Note 5 has been here all along!

Xiaomi redmi note 5

Looking at the specs of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5, we can confirm that it’s indeed the Redmi 5 Plus that has been selling in China since late last year.

Thus, Redmi Note 5 buyers will be getting a 5.99-inch 18:9 display screen with a full HD+ resolution, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, 3/4GB RAM, 32/64GB storage and Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box. For the cameras, the Note 5 has a 12MP shooter on the back and a 5MP lens for selfies. Like the Redmi 5 Plus, the Note 5 has a 4000mAh battery unit that supports fast charging via a microUSB port and a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner.

Redmi Note 5

Although there are a few tweaks here and there, the Redmi Note 5 is basically the same phone as the Redmi Note 4, which has a Snapdragon 625 SoC, 3/4GB RAM and 32/64GB storage. In fact, you even get a slightly bigger 4100mAh battery on the Note 4, but this is negligible.

It’s disappointing that the Redmi Note 5 runs Android Nougat out of the box, but the good side of the story is that Oreo is on the way.

A subtle upgrade over Redmi Note 4

Redmi Note 5

Looking at the specs and features the Redmi Note 5 brings to the table in comparison to the Redmi Note 4, you’ll agree that the former is a subtle upgrade over the latter. In fact, the changes are mainly on the outside, with the inside remaining largely the same.

If your reasons for looking forward to the release of the Redmi Note 5 were to get a bigger display screen, a more powerful processor, bigger RAM and storage as well as a bigger battery compared to the Redmi Note 4, well, you might be a little disappointed. However, for a phone priced at INR 9,999, we shouldn’t even be complaning about anything.

We wished Redmi Note 5 had more!

redmi note 5 specs

If you compare the specs between Redmi Note 5 and Redmi Note 4, they are pretty identical except for the display panel. Where a 5.99-inch bezel-less display (18:9 ratio) on top of the Redmi Note 5 is anytime a direct improvement from the Redmi Note 4’s 5.5-inch 16:9 panel, the rest of the spec sheet is almost the same: the same Snapdragon 625 SoC, RAM, and storage.

And that does leave room for improvement — which is the only reason Xiaomi saw the need to throw in the Redmi Note 5 Pro that boasts better specs and features than the standard Note 5, including the Snapdragon 636, 6GB RAM, a massive 20MP selfie camera and an iPhone X-like design for the dual 12MP + 5MP rear camera.

With the Redmi Note 5 Pro, well, our wish of having more on the Redmi Note 5 is certainly granted.

Redmi Note 5 price and release date

  • Availability begins on February 22
  • Price starts at INR 9,999

redmi note 5 news

The base model of the Redmi Note 5 can be yours for as little as INR 9,999 while the high-end variant will set you back INR 11,999.

In addition to selling through Flipkart, the Redmi Note 5 will also be available through the official online Mi Store as well as offline stores beginning February 22, 2018.

And for what is worth, the Redmi Note 5 will be meeting stiff competition in the Honor 7X, which is a successor to Honor 6X that was Redmi Note 4’s main rival for the whole of last year.

So, thoughts?