Xiaomi already sent out invites for the PH launch of the Redmi Note 5. A few days before the launch, we received the handset to test it out. Now, before we release our full review of the device, here’s our unboxing and first impressions of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5.
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| SPECS | Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 |
| Display | 5.99-inch FHD+ IPS 2160 x 1080 resolution w/ 2.5D curved glass at 403 ppi |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 |
| GPU | Adreno 509 |
| Memory | 4GB RAM, 64GB expandable via microSD card slot up to 128GB |
| Rear Camera | 12MP f/1.9 + 5MP f/2.0 w/ Dual Pixel PDAF and dual tone LED flash |
| Front Camera | 13MP w/ A.I. soft light LED flash |
| Connectivity | WiFi, 3G, LTE w/ VoLTE, Bluetooth 4.2, OTG, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, dual SIM (hybrid) |
| Battery | 4,000 mAh |
| OS | Android 8.1 Oreo w/ MIUI 9.5 |
| Price | TBA |
Table of Contents
What’s inside the box?
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 comes in a Red-Orange box with a big Redmi Note 5 written at the bottom part of the box and a small Mi logo at the top right corner. Also, a small Redmi Note 5 is written on the sides of the box with a sticker that says “Global version” at the bottom right.
Inside the box are the 5.99-inch Redmi smartphone, a 2A USB wall charger, USB charging cable, SIM ejector pin, some documents, and a super slim jelly case. Like other Xiaomi handsets, it doesn’t come with free earphones.
Design
The Redmi Note 5 has an aluminum unibody and surprisingly, it doesn’t bear a notched screen. We got the blue variant and we can say that it looks good for its price. On the front, we got the front-facing camera, the earpiece, and some sensors.
Going to the rear part of the smartphone, the dual cameras are positioned vertically at the top left together with its LED flash. There’s also a fingerprint sensor at the center. The Mi logo is visible at the bottom part of the handset.
The volume rockers and power button are located at the right side and the hybrid slot at the opposite side. The headphone jack, microphone, and speakers are positioned at the bottom bunk of the smartphone.
We recommend using the free jelly case included in the package since the handset tends to be a bit slippery when holding it.
Display
This Xiaomi smartphone features a 5.99-inch Full HD+ IPS display with 2160 x 1080 resolution. There’s no physical buttons and capacitive keys up front. Xiaomi put on-screen keys instead.
We tried to watch some movie trailers on this smartphone and it didn’t disappoint any of our expectations. The colors looked vibrant and accurate. We also took this phone out to take some photos and we didn’t encounter viewing problems so far.
We’ll dive more into its viewing experience in our full review, stay tuned!
Camera
It comes with a 12MP f/1.9 and 5MP f/2.0 rear cameras with LED Flash and a 13MP front camera. Here are some sample shots:
Other Features
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 chipset coupled with 3GB/4GB/6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage which is also expandable up to 128GB via microSD. It runs on Android Nougat with MIUI 9. It also packs a 4000mAh battery.
For user experience and gaming, we’ll definitely tackle about that in our full review.
Price and Availability
The Redmi Note 5 was launched last March in China and will be released in the Philippines on May 11. We still didn’t get any information about its official PH pricing but if we look into the Chinese pricing, the 6GB RAM with 64GB internal storage retails for CNY 1699, which is around PHP 14,000 when directly converted.
Hoping that Xiaomi Philippines will put a price tag not more than PHP 14.000 for this handset. We expect this smartphone to arrive with a price range 11-14k.
