LAUNCH
Announced
2018, February
Status
Available. Released 2018, February
BODY
Dimensions
158.6 x 75.4 x 8.1 mm (6.24 x 2.97 x 0.32 in)
Weight
181 g (6.38 oz)
Build
Front glass, aluminum body
SIM
Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
DISPLAY
Type
IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size
5.99 inches, 92.6 cm2 (~77.4% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution
1080 x 2160 pixels, 18:9 ratio (~403 ppi density)
Multitouch
Yes
Protection
Corning Gorilla Glass (unspecified version)
– MIUI 9
PLATFORM
OS
Android 7.1.2 (Nougat)
Chipset
Qualcomm SDM636 Snapdragon 636
CPU
Octa-core 1.8 GHz Kryo 260
GPU
Adreno 509
MEMORY
Card slot
microSD, up to 256 GB (uses SIM 2 slot)
Internal
64 GB, 4/6 GB RAM
CAMERA
Primary
Dual: 12 MP (f/2.2, 1.25µm) + 5 MP (f/2.0, 1.12µm), phase detection autofocus, dual-LED flash
Features
Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, panorama, HDR
Video
1080p@30fps
Secondary
20 MP (f/2.2, 1/2.8″, 1µm), LED flash, 1080p
SOUND
Alert types
Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
Loudspeaker
Yes
3.5mm jack
Yes
– Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
COMMS
WLAN
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth
5.0, A2DP, LE
GPS
Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
Infrared port
Yes
Radio
FM radio
USB
microUSB 2.0
FEATURES
Sensors
Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
Messaging
SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
Browser
HTML5
– Fast battery charging (Quick Charge 2.0)
– DivX/Xvid/MP4/H.265 player
– MP3/WAV/eAAC+/FLAC player
– Photo/video editor
– Document viewer
BATTERY
Non-removable Li-Po 4000 mAh battery
MISC
Colors
Black, Champagne Gold, Rose Gold, Lake Blue
SAR
1.19 W/kg (head) 0.33 W/kg (body)
Price
About 200 EUR
| LAUNCH | Announced | 2018, February |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Available. Released 2018, February |
| BODY | Dimensions | 158.6 x 75.4 x 8.1 mm (6.24 x 2.97 x 0.32 in) |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 181 g (6.38 oz) | |
| Build | Front glass, aluminum body | |
| SIM | Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) |
| DISPLAY | Type | IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 5.99 inches, 92.6 cm2 (~77.4% screen-to-body ratio) | |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2160 pixels, 18:9 ratio (~403 ppi density) | |
| Multitouch | Yes | |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass (unspecified version) | |
| – MIUI 9 |
| PLATFORM | OS | Android 7.1.2 (Nougat) |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | Qualcomm SDM636 Snapdragon 636 | |
| CPU | Octa-core 1.8 GHz Kryo 260 | |
| GPU | Adreno 509 |
| MEMORY | Card slot | microSD, up to 256 GB (uses SIM 2 slot) |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | 64 GB, 4/6 GB RAM |
| CAMERA | Primary | Dual: 12 MP (f/2.2, 1.25µm) + 5 MP (f/2.0, 1.12µm), phase detection autofocus, dual-LED flash |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, panorama, HDR | |
| Video | 1080p@30fps | |
| Secondary | 20 MP (f/2.2, 1/2.8″, 1µm), LED flash, 1080p |
| SOUND | Alert types | Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones |
|---|---|---|
| Loudspeaker | Yes | |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes | |
| – Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic |
| COMMS | WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, hotspot |
|---|---|---|
| Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, LE | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS | |
| Infrared port | Yes | |
| Radio | FM radio | |
| USB | microUSB 2.0 |
| FEATURES | Sensors | Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
|---|---|---|
| Messaging | SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM | |
| Browser | HTML5 | |
| – Fast battery charging (Quick Charge 2.0) – DivX/Xvid/MP4/H.265 player – MP3/WAV/eAAC+/FLAC player – Photo/video editor – Document viewer |
| BATTERY | Non-removable Li-Po 4000 mAh battery |
|---|
| MISC | Colors | Black, Champagne Gold, Rose Gold, Lake Blue |
|---|---|---|
| SAR | 1.19 W/kg (head) 0.33 W/kg (body) | |
| Price | About 200 EUR |
Introduction
The Redmi Note 5 Pro is Xiaomi’s latest smartphone, just recently introduced to the Indian market alongside the cheaper Redmi Note 5. While the company does sell more expensive models, the Redmi Note series has always been its best-selling and most important range.
This year, the company has upped the ante significantly in terms of features, something the value conscious Asian markets are sure to find exciting.
We have a taller aspect ratio display, new cameras on the front and back, a powerful new processor, faster memory and the same big battery that the series has come to be known for. If the competition isn’t already worried, it should be.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro specs
- Body: Plastic + Aluminum
- Screen: 5.99-inch, 2160×1080 IPS LCD, 403 PPI
- Rear Camera: 12MP (1.25μm), f2.2, Sony IMX 486 PDAF primary, 5MP (1.12μm), f2.0, Samsung depth sensor; 1080p video
- Front Camera: 20MP (1.0μm), f2.2 Sony IMX 376, LED flash; 1080p video
- Chipset: 14nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 636, Kryo 260 (4x Cortex-A73 @ 1.8GHz + 4x Cortex-A53 @ 1.6GHz), Adreno 509
- Memory: 4/6GB LPDDR4X, 64GB eMMC 5.0 + microSD (up to 128GB)
- OS: Android 7.1.1; MIUI 9
- Battery: 4000mAh; Quick Charge 2.0
- Connectivity: Hybrid dual SIM (4G+3G), 4G VoLTE, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou, Wi-Fi Direct, FM Radio, IR blaster, microUSB, headphone jack
- Misc: Fingerprint sensor, face unlock (coming later)
As you can see, Xiaomi is clearly not messing around this year. The jump to a Snapdragon 636 alone puts it in a different league compared to its competition. It has also been paired with LPDDR4X memory, which is only seen in high-end devices. Lastly, the phone also has one of the best cameras Xiaomi has shipped on a phone.
We will be taking a deeper look at the device at a later date but for now, let’s take a quick look at some of the features and general performance.
Design
The Redmi Note 5 Pro is markedly different in appearance from its predecessor, with a completely different body.
On the front is the new taller 18:9 display with curved corners. The bezels around the display aren’t the thinnest around but they are definitely thinner than its predecessor.
Unfortunately, three out of the four color versions come with a white front panel, which has very prominent looking bezels that destroy any illusions of a bezel-less design the phone could have had. They aren’t particularly noticeable while using the phone in portrait mode but become an eyesore while watching a video and you can tell precisely where the display ends and the bezels begin. If this is the sort of thing that will annoy you then the black model is your best bet.
Around the side, we have the power and volume control buttons on the right. The buttons are well placed and have an incredibly satisfying tactile response that is neither too soft nor too firm. On the opposite side is a hybrid SIM tray that sits flush and blends perfectly with the body.
The back of the phone looks rather familiar. If you cover up the camera for a second, it looks like almost any other recent Xiaomi phone. And if you look at the camera then, well, the inspiration is obvious. The camera module juts out considerably from the back; this makes the phone wobble on a hard surface.
Despite the minor annoyances, the design has evolved and has become more refined over the years. The glass on the front has a gentle curve around the edges and is now made out of Corning Gorilla Glass. The metal sheet on the back has a greater curvature and feels more secure in hand. The metal also blends in with the plastic bits at the top and bottom better, with improved color matching and tighter tolerances. All of these contribute to a design that feels a bit more opulent than any of the previous Redmi devices. It is still, however, a step down from true unibody aluminum designs and we would like to see Xiaomi go in that direction in the future.
Also, it’s worth pointing out that this is a big and heavy phone. This phone is noticeably taller than its predecessor, so those with smaller hands are going to have an even harder time reaching the top of the screen. The weight has also gone up significantly and there is a considerable heft to this phone that might deter some buyers.
Display
The Redmi Note 5 Pro has a 5.99-inch, 2160×1080 IPS LCD with an 18:9 aspect ratio. The display has multiple settings to adjust the color, contrast and temperature. By default, it is set to Automatic mode, which automatically adjusts the contrast to ambient lighting. The Increased contrast mode locks it down to a high contrast and saturation setting with a cool color temperature. Or you can set it to the Standard mode, which has more normalized color, contrast and color temperature closer to sRGB values but not precisely so. If you want color accuracy, this is the mode to use, which is what we did on our unit.
We still wish Xiaomi followed the industry trend to provide standardized color presets for sRGB and DCI-P3 color spaces instead of arbitrary values but we were still happy with what we got out of the Standard mode.
In the Standard mode, image quality is excellent. This is down to the panel itself, which has wonderful colors, contrast and gets plenty bright (and plenty dark). The display is also very closely laminated to the glass on the surface, which makes the images that much livelier.
Software
The Redmi Note 5 Pro ships with Android 7.1.1 underneath MIUI 9. Our non-retail review unit came with 9.2.2.0 Nightly build, which we hope and assume isn’t too different from the version that will ship with retail units later this week.
As is the case with MIUI devices, the software on the Redmi Note 5 Pro is more or less identical to what you get on other Xiaomi devices running MIUI 9. The differences are usually hardware specific and can be seen in things like the Camera app (which we will talk about later) but, by and large, the experience is similar. Basically, if you have used one MIUI 9 device, you have used them all.
So, we will skip the summary and talk about the general pros and cons. The pros include a lot of features and functionality built into the OS that you don’t get in stock Android. Things like Dual apps (which lets you run two instances of a single app with different accounts), App lock, theme support, Second space (which creates a separate profile on the same phone), and Caller ID (which identifies some unknown numbers and also warns if enough people have reported it as spam).
Xiaomi also does a lot of localization, so you get features like a messaging app that can automatically detect SMS with train ticket info and presents it in a more readable format, ability to filter notification SMS into a separate folder and also an option to copy the OTP easily. There is also a video player built-in that could play everything we threw at it. All of these are useful additions that people have come to appreciate.
Unfortunately, MIUI still looks like something designed primarily for the Chinese market, and just like other Chinese ROMs out there, the iOS influence looms large. This means overuse of white everywhere in the UI, no app drawer and forced square borders around all the icons. Xiaomi also resolutely ignores many of the new UI features in the latest versions of Android; the notifications still cannot be expanded, many of the default apps still require you to press and hold the multitasking key to access the ‘Menu’ function (something that died in stock Android years ago), the share sheet is straight up ridiculous and you can’t press and hold the app icons to access app shortcuts. This is just the tip of the iceberg and listing all the shortcomings in MIUI will require its own separate article.
Bottomline is, Xiaomi has done some good work to make MIUI more relevant and functional to its users. However, it is all built upon a somewhat outdated user interface that needs to be brought in line with Google’s UI design guidelines, not Apple’s.
Performance
The Redmi Note 5 Pro is the first smartphone to have Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon 636 processor. While the 600-series has largely been rather here nor there, things are now starting to look up a little. The reason for that is the inclusion of the semi-custom Kryo 260 CPU, which is a combination of 4x Cortex-A73 and 4x Cortex-A53 CPU cores from ARM. It’s the A73 part that really excites us, as that is exactly what’s found inside the more powerful Kryo 280 on the Snapdragon 835.
While last year’s Redmi Note 4 was no slouch, it did lack some of oomph from the Snapdragon 650 running Redmi Note 3 and was more serviceable than exciting. But the Snapdragon 636 has us excited again, not just for the Redmi Note 5 Pro but for all the mid-range devices that will be shipping with it in future.
Using the Redmi Note 5 Pro for a while reassured us that our excitement was well grounded. The performance on this device is a noticeably improved over its predecessor and genuinely good for most parts. There were times when someone could have told us there was a Snapdragon 835 inside and we would have believed with little hesitation. Other times, you do see some hitches while scrolling or opening apps but this could easily be fixed with some more optimization down the line.
Some of the credit for the performance likely also goes to the use of the more expensive LPDDR4X memory, which is an inspired choice, especially at a time when memory prices worldwide have gone up considerably.
Graphics performance has also seen a small improvement over its predecessor. It’s not quite the same leap we saw over on the CPU side but the GPU is now powerful enough to play almost every game you throw at it perfectly fine. The device also maintains its temperature quite well during gaming and we didn’t notice any undue heating.
We tried running our usual suite of benchmarks but for some reason, a lot of them refused to run on our test unit, so we only have limited results available at the moment.
Connectivity
Our review unit had no issues with call quality and network performance and both worked admirably. Both the earpiece and the loudspeaker are perfectly clear for calls and the loudspeaker is loud enough for ringtones but doesn’t sound especially good for music.
It’s good to see the Redmi series step up to Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 5.0, even though this is exclusive to just this particular model for now. IR continues to be part of these devices and the Mi Remote app works great with a bunch of devices. The phone also has a headphone jack as well as an FM radio.
Camera
The Redmi Note 5 Pro has a dual camera system on the back, with a 12MP primary sensor and a 5MP secondary depth sensor. This is the first Redmi Note device to have a dual camera system on the back. On the front is a single 20MP camera with an LED flash.
The camera application is similar to other MIUI 9 devices but has been updated to include the option for portrait mode. All the options are laid out at the bottom similar to the iOS camera app. At the top you can enable the HDR mode, which has no Auto mode for the rear camera (but has for the front camera somehow) and a filter mode with a bunch of new filters.
Battery Life
Within our brief testing, the battery life on the Redmi Note 5 Pro was just as impressive as we expected it to be. We consistently got around 8 hours of screen-on time with one full day of usage. Less demanding users will be able to make the phone last for two days but even if you wring the life out of it you can still expect it to last you an entire day with ease.
Conclusion
In our week with the device, we were generally impressed with the Redmi Note 5 Pro. Xiaomi likes to call the Redmi Note series an ‘all-rounder’ and it has never been truer before. A quality display, an excellent performance from a new processor, fabulous cameras and the same incredible battery life, the new Redmi Note 5 Pro delivers on nearly every count. While the budget segment has always been about making compromises, we really don’t see a lot that was sacrificed here in order to achieve these great results, which makes the highly competitive pricing even more outstanding.
