Redmi 5A Review: Is It The Best Smartphone Under 5k?

Xiaomi has risen significantly in the Indian smartphone market with their variety of smartphones in sub 10k category. Now eight months after the launch of their very popular entry level smartphone Redmi 4A, Xiaomi has launched the Redmi 5A.

Xiaomi patriotically marketed Redmi 5A as ‘Desh Ka Smartphone’ which Micromax did with Bharat series and Karbonn with A40 Indian.

Redmi 5A comes in two RAM+Storage variants of 2GB+16GB and 3GB+32GB which are priced at Rs 4,999 and Rs 6,999. However the cost of 2GB RAM variant is Rs 5,999 but Xiaomi will sell its first five million units with a discount of Rs 1,000.

Design and Display  

The Redmi 5A looks similar to Redmi 4A, nothing has changed from the design perspective. The handset is made of plastic with metal finishing. The volume rockers are placed on the right and power button is just below the volume buttons.

On the left side is the SIM and a MicroSD card tray. This time, Xiaomi has added a dedicated MicroSD card slot in the Redmi 5A which was absent in its predecessor Redmi 4A. Now, it will be very convenient as users won’t have to remove their second SIM to make way for memory card.

Xiaomi sent us gold colour unit of Redmi 5A, it also comes in dark grey and rose gold colours.

The 3.5mm audio-jack is on the top along with the infrared sensor with which you can control other devices like TV, the Micro USB port is placed at the bottom.

The primary camera and flash are at the top-left corner of the rear panel and speaker grille is at the bottom of the back panel. The handset weighs only 137 grams and feels good to hold.

On the front is the 5-inch HD (1280x720) display which is surrounded by huge bezels. Below the display are the capacitive buttons which are not backlit. Being an entry-level smartphone, the display works impressively. 

Performance

Xiaomi Redmi 5A runs on MIUI 9 based on Android 7.1 Nougat. The phone comes with some pre-loaded apps like UC News, Amazon, WPS Office, Skype, and Microsoft Office.

The handset is powered by 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 quad-core processor coupled with 2GB/3GB RAM. It comes with 16GB/32GB internal storage which is expandable up to 128GB through a MicroSD card.

I got the 2GB RAM unit of Redmi 5A for reviewing and the overall experience while using the phone was smooth.  You might experience some stutters while multitasking though loading apps is very smooth on this phone. Heavy games like Asphalt 8 will lag a little bit on this device but it is acceptable from a phone of this price.

On AnTuTu, it scored 36,410 which is similar to Redmi 4A’s benchmark score.

Redmi 5A has a 3000mAh battery against the 3120mAh battery of Redmi 4A but the battery usage time didn’t reduce. Redmi 5A’s battery easily lasts for more than 24 hours which means you don’t need to carry your charger at work daily.

Connectivity options are- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 4.1, micro-USB ports, Infrared, 3.5mm audio-jack, GPS.

Camera

Redmi 5A sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with f/2.2 aperture and LED flash. On the front is a 5-megapixel selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture. Pictures clicked in daylight were quite decent but you won’t be happy with the camera’s performance in low light and indoor conditions which is pretty acceptable because the phone only costs 5,000 bucks. 

When compared to other smartphones in this price segment, Redmi 5A’s camera did a much better job.

Conclusion 

Redmi 5A is not for Redmi 4A users because the smartphone doesn’t offer anything new instead it is targeted towards first time smartphone buyers. Redmi 5A easily stands out among its competitors in this price range. Talking about this segment only, Redmi 5A is an all-rounder which ticks all the right boxes. If you are a feature phone user who is switching to entry level smartphone, then Redmi 5A is the right choice.