Xiaomi, in China announced the successor to the popular Redmi 4 that is the Redmi 5. This time they announced an additional 'Plus' version which as the name suggests has slightly larger screen and some minor changes with internals. Xiaomi, like most other manufacturers has been quite influenced by the newer aspect ratio which made them to implement it on the Redmi 5 and the 5 Plus. The main highlighting factor is that we get 18:9 aspect display in a budget price.
 |
| Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus |
| SPECS | Redmi 5 | Redmi 5 Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 5.7 inch 2.5D curved glass | 5.99 inch 2.5D curved glass |
| Resolution | 1440×720 (HD+) | 2160×1080 (fHD+) |
| SOC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 8 Cortex A53 at 1.8gHz | Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 8 Cortex A53 at 2.0gHz |
| GPU | Adreno 506 | Adreno 506 |
| RAM and storage | 2GB - 16GB 3GB-32GB |
3GB - 32GB 4GB-64GB |
| Rear camera | 12MP f/2.2 | 12MP f/2.2 |
| Front camera | 5MP | 5MP |
| Video recording | 1080/720p at 30FPS | 1080/720p at 30FPS |
| Battery | 3300 mAh | 4000 mAh |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 4.2 WiFi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4gHz GPS | Bluetooth 4.2 WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n 2.4 & 5gHz GPS |
| Sensors | accelerometer proximity ambient light fingerprint gyroscope | accelerometer proximity ambient light fingerprint gyroscope |
The Redmi 5 and the 5 Plus both have considerable changes when compared with the Redmi 4. The 18:9 display, better SOC are some of the improvements however in terms of battery, the Redmi 5 comes with almost 700 mAh capacity lesser than the Redmi 4 although the Redmi 5 Plus has maintained the 4000 mAh mark. The smaller battery capacity indicates slightly lesser thickness on the Redmi 5 which stands at 7.7mm as against 8.05mm on the 5 Plus.
The Redmi 5 Plus has identical specifications to the Redmi Note 4 that was announced in the beginning of 2017. It has better screen resolution than the Redmi 5 and comes with Snapdragon 625 SOC. Both the 625 and 450 are based on 14nm process with identical GPU i.e Adreno 506. The only difference between them is the clock speed where the 625 is clocked at 2.0gHz and the 450 at 1.8gHz.
The cameras on both these devices are identical with 12MP f/2.2 aperture and 1.25 micron pixel size. The performance is expected to be better than the 13MP unit on the Redmi 4 however Xiaomi's camera quality have never been in the spotlight even with their flagships.
On the software front they come with Android Nougat based on MiUi 9.
The devices have been announced in China and at present there is no word on the Indian or Global release. The Redmi Note 5 should also be releasing soon which is expected to come with dual cameras and better hardware although nothing has been confirmed yet. The Redmi 5 and 5 Plus will be available in Black, Gold, Rose Gold and Light Blue colors.
Pricing:
| RAM & Storage | Redmi 5 | Redmi 5 Plus |
|---|---|---|
| 2GB-16GB | ¥799 | - |
| 3GB-32GB | ¥899 | ¥999 |
| 4GB-64GB | - | ¥1299 |