Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro Review

Xiaomi did an excellent job with the last year’s Redmi Note series device the Redmi Note 4. It was an instant hit and many people liked the same for its battery life. Although the device had a mediocre camera but development on the device, and the overall performance boosted the sales of the Redmi Note 4. The successor to the Redmi Note 4 in India is the Redmi Note 5, which is more or less the same device with an 18:9 ratio display. Xiaomi was keeping the device priced so competitive that there was no space for better hardware at the same pricing.

Hence the real successor the Redmi Note 5 Pro came in with a better processor, a better camera unit, same display and same battery as that of the Redmi Note 5. Let us see if the Redmi Note 5 Pro do wonders in the performance and other factors to achieve the premium in the pricing. Let’s watch in the review ahead.

Design and Build Quality

The phone comes with a vertically placed camera unit at the top left of the device. It has two cameras and a single dual tone flash in the center of both the camera units. Exactly in the center, there is a circular fingerprint scanner. A Mi logo at the bottom and some other branding information, apart from this the rear looks quite empty and boring just like the old Redmi Note 4. The device has plastic bits both to the top and the bottom of the device for better reception. On the right side, we have all the three buttons which read volume up, volume down, and power button, from top to bottom.

The front of the device is having just the display which is an 18:9 unit, with a LED flash to the top right corner, camera unit, earpiece, and a LED Flash. Overall the device looks and feel solid but is on a heavier side. This does strain your hands while using the device for a longer time period. Rest the device is built quite well and will surely be keeping with you in the long run.

Display

The display on the Redmi Note 5 Pro is a 5.99-inch unit. This is the same as what we find on the Redmi Note 5 which is the cheaper alternative of the device. There are many features loaded with MIUI such as blue light emission controls, contrast and color selection, and many other options so the display produces a better output.

For starters, the device’s factory setting for display doesn’t do a justice for the pricing, although you can calibrate the display to your liking with a good vibrancy and a better contrast and it is going to churn out better results. The thing to note is MIUI is all about customizations and hence Xiaomi bundles the factory setting that is soothing to the eye and produces an even result.

Performance

The device comes with the Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 636 processor which makes it the first smartphone to be powered by the chip. Bundled with the processor is the 4GB RAM unit and 64 GB Internal Storage. Although the device feels snappy for daily usage still it might have done better if we did have stock UI running on the same. MIUI 9.0 comes overlaid on top of Android this makes using most of the things easy and does help the device to perform better with its own MIUI optimization.

Coming to the real world performance the device scored 100031 on Antutu Benchmarks while on GeekBench 4 it was 1772 and 4227 for single-core and multi-core respectively. Overall the performance of the device was lag free at least for a couple of apps but as you increase the numbers beyond 5 apps, the applications were struggling to be in memory. The device is good if you are using it for social media and casual gaming. Although it will struggle for some high – end gaming hence it is better if you stay away from gaming on this device.

Camera

The phone comes with a 12MP and 5MP sensor bundled at the back. Both the sensors are RGB sensors and hence are used for depth sensing. The primary camera in the bundle uses a f/2.2 aperture while the second one rocks f/2.0 aperture. The camera is able to produce some great images with the help of its Beautify 4.0 AI algorithm. For the front, it comes with a 20 MP sensor and is able to have created the depth effects on the front too. The device also has dedicated selfie light which makes getting some great effects in low lighting situations.

The color reproduction on the camera was quite great and even the UI was easy to use and understand. Overall the camera on the device is good enough for daily pictures to show to your friends and post on social media.

Battery

On the battery front, the device comes with the same battery as we found on the Redmi Note 5. The device has a 4000 mAh non-removable battery. MIUI optimizes the battery and hence it can churn out a respectable amount of screen on time and can live to almost one and a half working day on a full charge. Although if you are a heavy user then you might have battery issue where you might have just 20 – 25% battery left at the end of the day.

Verdict

The Redmi Note 5 Pro is a great device in terms of all the different factors. The phone bundles a great processor and a great display. The camera on the device is also good for daily usage and will churn some great results. The 4GB RAM and 64 GB Internal Storage version will come at 14,999 INR which is a really good pricing. Another version of the device which comes with 6GB RAM comes for 16,999INR which is a bit overpriced and according to us, the 4GB RAM Variant holds a better value.

There are many more devices in the competition and the main competitor of the device is Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1. You must surely have a look at other also before finalizing with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro. As per the pricing and performance, it is a great device for daily usage.