Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro Review, Review of Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro
xiaomi redmi note 4 ,review), has been the best-selling smartphone of 2017. As the year has changed, once again there are high expectations from Xiaomi. In such xiaomi redmi note 5 ,review) is a big responsibility and we believe that this phone has fulfilled this responsibility very well to a great extent. Xiaomi has also launched a more powerful model with a better camera. This Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro Will be known as. This is the first smartphone to come with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 636 processor. The chipset supports full-HD+ displays and features Qualcomm’s own custom Kryo CPU cores. On paper, these things are very tempting. But the question is, how much premium is Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro compared to Redmi Note 5? You will get the answer to this by reading the review of the phone.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro Design and Build Quality
From the front, the Redmi Note 5 Pro looks very similar to the Redmi Note 5. It also has curved edges of the 18:9 display. The phone still has visible bezels on the left and right sides. At the same time, the borders on the top and bottom are wider. This 181 gram phone feels a bit heavy, possibly due to the metal back and large battery. The white and gold trim on our review unit looked great. If you want, you can buy the phone in black, blue and rose gold colors.
The 5.99-inch display has full-HD+ resolution. Gorilla Glass has been used to protect the phone from scratches. You will not find any capacitive buttons, Xiaomi has used onscreen navigation buttons. Above the screen are a front camera, earpiece, diffused selfie flash and sensors.
The body is of metal and the grip is comfortable. When you hold the phone in your hands, you feel that the buttons are missing. But their response is good. Like other handsets of Xiaomi Redmi Note series, it also has an IR emitter on the top. There is a 3.5 mm headphone socket, microphone, micro-USB port and speaker grill at the bottom of the phone. According to us, being a Pro model, the company should have provided USB Type C port in it. There is a hybrid dual SIM tray on the left side. Here you can use two Nano SIMs or one Nano SIM with a microSD card (up to 128 GB).
The metal back will remind you a lot of the Redmi Note 4, especially with the matte finish and tapering edges. The fingerprint sensor is easy to reach when the phone is held in hands. It also detects fingers faster. The bulge of the camera is clearly visible. Frankly, this design seems to be heavily inspired by the iPhone The setup of lens and flash is also the same as in Apple phones. The bulge means that the phone sits at an awkward angle when placed on a flat surface. There is nothing else on the back. There is Xiaomi logo just at the bottom.
We received this unit without any packaging for review. Xiaomi has said that users will get a standard charger and silicone cover with this phone like Redmi Note 5.
The phone is quite long. Because of this it will not be as easy to keep it in the pocket. Apart from this there are no complaints. On the other hand, the width of the phone is fine. Because of this the phone can be easily gripped in one hand. After using the phone for two-three days, we also became accustomed to its weight. Overall, the build of Redmi Note 5 Pro is good and it looks beautiful.
Specifications and features of Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro
Xiaomi says the Redmi Note 5 Pro is truly redmi note 3 ,review) is an upgrade. This claim seems correct in terms of performance. The Redmi Note 3 raised the bar on performance in the Rs 15,000 price range. Redmi Note 5 Pro has also managed to do something similar. It is the first phone to come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor which was introduced in October last year. In our benchmark tests, the Redmi Note 5 Pro processor delivered an average of 10 percent better performance than the Snapdragon 625 processor.
In Redmi Note 5 Pro you will get the options of 4 GB RAM and 6 GB RAM. The storage of both the variants is only 64 GB. If needed, you will be able to use a microSD card up to 128 GB. The phone has Bluetooth 5, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, GPS, FM radio, USB-OTG and necessary sensors. 4G VoLTE support is available in the handset.
The MIUI software of the phone is still based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat. This is disappointing. The company has also not said anything regarding Android Oreo update. Android security patch is also not updated. Our test unit received the December 2017 update. It is possible that this is due to the unit having a beta build. In such a situation, we cannot consider Xiaomi guilty.
Custom Skins Recently Launched Xiaomi Redmi 5A ,review) And Xiaomi Redmi Y1 ,review) is the same. The interface is quite slick and the home screen is also quite smooth. There was no complaint of the phone being slow even in animation.
Many Xiaomi apps will be pre-installed in Redmi Note 5 Pro. Through Me Drop you can send files with the help of ad-hoc Wi-Fi networks. For this, there should be Me Drop in the other person’s phone also. You also get Mi Store and Mi Community which cannot be uninstalled from the phone.
A Wi-Fi calling option is also provided in the Settings app. But you will not be able to activate it. Because this service will be provided by the cellular network provider. You can change the UI theme if you want. The app can be locked with the fingerprint sensor and photos can also be captured. You will get features like Quick Ball, One Handed Mode and Dual Apps of MIUI.
Performance, camera and battery life of Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro
We reviewed the 4 GB RAM variant of Redmi Note 5 Pro. Its performance in general use was excellent. Fingerprints remain on the screen, but dust and stains do not stick to the rest of the body. Call quality is good. The speaker produces enough volume for alerts and media playback. The phone often remains cold. It gets a little hot even while playing games. Even after using the camera for a long time, it does not get too hot, which is a good thing.
Xiaomi has also provided its own music and video app for media playback. However, if Google’s media player is already installed, there is no need for these apps. Apart from this, an app like MX Player equipped with many useful features is also available for free. This phone can also play 4K videos. There is also an option for audio enhancement for headphones, which can be activated from the Settings app. Good quality sound comes from the headphones.
Xiaomi says that cameras are one of the important features of Redmi Note 5 Pro. Our experience is also that the camera performance is commendable. There are two sensors on the back. The primary sensor is 12 megapixels which has F/2.2 aperture. At the same time, the 5 megapixel secondary camera is used to assess depth in portrait mode. The distinction between the human face and the background remains clear. But in other objects it is not very accurate.
The Redmi Note 5 Pro’s cameras take decent pictures in most situations. In daylight, the 12-megapixel sensor captures photos with detail. The phone has some trouble maintaining white balance in bright light, but the results are accurate most of the time. Autofocus becomes a bit slow in low light. The problem of shutter lag also arises. But the quality of the image does not deteriorate too much. Landscape shots have decent level of detail and noise is also limited. Color reproduction is good in macro shots. Portrait mode delivers impressive results even in low light.
Our review unit was running on Beta ROM so it did not support 4K video recording. However, Xiaomi told us that this phone will probably come with this feature at the time of sale. Full-HD videos look good in natural light. Colors are saturated. The level of detail is also good. The Note 5 Pro has electronic image stabilization, which works well.
However, the continuous autofocus wasn’t very impressive when recording video. As soon as we switched off, autofocus started working more smoothly. There is also an option for slow motion and time-lapse video which works well. Short video shooting mode records a 10-second video clip, but the audio quality is very average. Panorama mode also works well and it makes quick work of combining frames. But its manual mode is very limited, you will only be able to control white balance and ISO.
The 20-megapixel front camera takes great selfies. There is Bokeh mode, it does a good job in edge detection. This is possible through Xiaomi’s AI learning algorithm. It works well in use. In the test shot, this feature blurred most of the background of our photo, except for one or two spots. It also has a selfie light. This is helpful in low light. Beautification mode can be switched on if needed. You can set the level of the effect and even modify some of your facial features.
Battery life is also strong. The 4000 mAh battery of Redmi Note 5 Pro easily supported us throughout the day in normal use. The battery supports fast charging, but the 10 watt charger provided with the handset will not work for this. We used our Qualcomm Quick Charge power adapter with this phone. After this, a notification was visible on the lock screen saying that the phone is charging fast. Apart from this, the charging icon in the status bar has also been changed to Quick Charge logo.
our decision
Overall, there is nothing wrong in spending more money for the Redmi Note 5 Pro compared to the Redmi Note 5. You will get better cameras. Battery life is also a bit better and there is a more powerful processor. Due to all these reasons your experience will be better. It may take some time for you to get used to the weight of this phone. Even though it doesn’t look unique, the build quality is solid. We liked the long screen, which is sharp and there is no problem in reading on it even in sunlight.
Portrait mode works for the front and rear cameras and comes with reliable battery life. App and system performance is also praiseworthy. Being a ‘Pro’ model, we were expecting more features in this phone. The company should have provided fast charger and USB Type-C port. Apart from this, the design should also be such that it would give a distinct identity to this phone. Having Android Oreo out of the box would have been another nice feature for Xiaomi fans.
With a starting price of Rs 13,999, this phone goes far ahead of the rest. At the same price you have Xiaomi as an alternative. m a1 ,review) is also there. This phone is for those who want a stock Android interface like the Google Pixel series. In this price range we have so far offered our readers Moto G5S Plus ,review) have also been suggesting to buy. But considering the price, Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro has no match in terms of performance and features.
