Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro Review

In 2017, the most important feature of many Android flagship smartphones was the screen with very thin borders. Gradually, this feature became a part of mid-range phones and now even budget phones are trying to attract customers with this special type of display. InFocus Vision 3 and Honor 9 Lite (Review) are some such options. Xiaomi has been the leader in the budget segment and now this company has also turned to full-screen display.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Review) was the best-selling smartphone in 2017. The year has changed and once again, there are high expectations from Xiaomi. In such a situation, there is a big responsibility on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 (Review) and we believe that this phone has fulfilled this responsibility very well to a great extent. Xiaomi has also launched a more powerful model with better camera. It will be known as Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro. This is the first smartphone to come with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 636 processor. This chipset supports full-HD + display and has Qualcomm’s own custom Kryo CPU cores. On paper, these things are very attractive. But the question is how premium is the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro over the Redmi Note 5? You will get the answer to this by reading the review of the phone.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro Design and Build Quality

From the front, the Redmi Note 5 Pro looks very similar to the Redmi Note 5. The 18:9 display has curved edges. The phone still has visible edges on the left and right. The top and bottom borders are wider. Weighing 181 grams, the phone feels a bit heavy, possibly due to the metal back and the larger battery. The white and gold trim on our review unit looked pretty good. You can buy the phone in black, blue, and rose gold colors.

The 5.99-inch display has a full-HD+ resolution. Gorilla Glass has been used to protect the phone from scratches. You will not find any capacitive buttons, Xiaomi has used onscreen navigation buttons. Above the screen there is a front camera, earpiece, diffused selfie flash and sensors.

The body is made of metal and the grip is comfortable. When you hold the phone in your hands, the buttons feel far away. But their response is good. Like other handsets of the Xiaomi Redmi Note series, it also has an IR emitter on the top. There is a 3.5mm headphone socket, microphone, micro-USB port and speaker grill on the bottom of the phone. According to us, being a Pro model, the company should have provided a USB Type C port in it. There is a hybrid dual SIM tray on the left side. Here you can use two nano SIMs or one nano SIM with a microSD card (up to 128 GB).

The metal back reminds you a lot of the Redmi Note 4, especially with the matte finish and tapering edges. The fingerprint sensor is easy to reach when you hold the phone in your hands. It also recognises fingerprints quickly. The camera bump is clearly visible. To put it simply, the design seems to be heavily inspired by the iPhone X. The lens and flash setup is also similar to Apple’s phone. The bump means that the phone sits at an awkward angle when placed on a flat surface. There’s nothing else on the back. There’s just the Xiaomi logo at the bottom.

We received this unit for review without any packaging. Xiaomi has said that users will get a standard charger and silicone cover with this phone like the Redmi Note 5.

The phone is quite long. Due to this, it will not be easy to keep it in the pocket. Apart from this, there is no complaint. On the other hand, the width of the phone is decent. Due to this, the phone can be easily gripped in one hand. After using the phone for two-three days, we also got used to its weight. Overall, the build quality of Redmi Note 5 Pro is good and it looks beautiful.

Specifications and Features of Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro

Xiaomi says that the Redmi Note 5 Pro is a true upgrade over the Redmi Note 3 (Review). In terms of performance, this claim seems to be true. The Redmi Note 3 raised the bar for performance in the Rs 15,000 price range. The Redmi Note 5 Pro has also managed to do something similar. It is the first phone to come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor, which was introduced in October last year. In our benchmark tests, the processor in the Redmi Note 5 Pro gave 10 percent better results on average than the Snapdragon 625 processor.

You will get the option of 4 GB RAM and 6 GB RAM in Redmi Note 5 Pro. The storage of both variants is 64 GB only. If needed, you can use a microSD card up to 128 GB. The phone has Bluetooth 5, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, GPS, FM radio, USB-OTG and essential sensors. The handset has 4G VoLTE support.

The phone’s MIUI software is still based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat. This is disappointing. The company has not said anything about the Android Oreo update either. The Android security patch is also not updated. Our test unit received the December 2017 update. It is possible that this is due to the unit having a beta build. In such a situation, we cannot blame Xiaomi.

The custom skin is similar to the one seen on the recently launched Xiaomi Redmi 5A (Review) and Xiaomi Redmi Y1 (Review). The interface is slick and the home screen is smooth. There were no complaints of the phone slowing down with animations either.

Redmi Note 5 Pro will have many Xiaomi apps pre-installed. With Mi Drop, you can send files using ad-hoc Wi-Fi network. For this, the other person’s phone should also have Mi Drop. You will also get Mi Store and Mi Community which cannot be uninstalled from the phone.

There is also a Wi-Fi calling option in the Settings app. But you will not be able to activate it. Because this service will be provided by the cellular network provider. You can change the UI theme if you want. The fingerprint sensor can be used to lock the app and also capture photos. You will get features like MIUI’s Quick Ball, One Handed Mode and Dual Apps.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro performance, camera and battery life

We reviewed the 4GB RAM variant of the Redmi Note 5 Pro. Its performance was excellent in normal use. Fingerprints are visible on the screen, but dust and stains do not stick to the rest of the body. Call quality is good. The speaker is loud enough for alerts and media playback. The phone usually stays cool. It heats up only slightly while playing games. It does not heat up too much even after using the camera for a long time, which is a good thing.

Xiaomi has also provided its own music and video apps for media playback. However, there is no need for these apps as Google’s media player is already installed. Apart from this, an app like MX Player, equipped with many useful features, is also available for free. This phone can also play 4K videos. There is also an option of audio enhancement for headphones, which can be activated from the Settings app. The sound quality from the headphones is good.

Xiaomi says that the camera is one of the key features of the Redmi Note 5 Pro. Our experience is also that the camera performance is commendable. There are two sensors on the back. The primary sensor is 12 megapixels with f/2.2 aperture. At the same time, the 5 megapixel secondary camera is used to estimate the depth in portrait mode. The difference between a human face and the background is clear. But it is not very accurate in other objects.

The Redmi Note 5 Pro’s cameras take good pictures in most conditions. In daylight, the 12-megapixel sensor captures detailed photos. The phone has a little trouble maintaining white balance in bright light, but the results are accurate in most cases. Autofocus becomes a little slow in low light. There is also a problem of shutter lag. But the image quality is not too bad. Landscape shots have a decent level of detail and noise is also limited. Color reproduction is good in macro shots. Portrait mode gives decent results even in low light.

Our review unit was running on a beta ROM and so did not support 4K video recording. However, Xiaomi told us that the phone will probably come with this feature when it goes on sale. Full-HD videos look good in natural light. Colours are saturated. Detail levels are also good. The Note 5 Pro has electronic image stabilisation, which works well.

However, the continuous autofocus was not very impressive while recording videos. Once we switched it off, the autofocus worked better. There is also an option for slow motion and time-lapse videos which work well. The short video shooting mode records a 10-second video clip, but the audio quality is average. The panorama mode also works well and it quickly adds frames. But the manual mode is very limited, you will only be able to control the white balance and ISO.

The 20-megapixel front camera takes great selfies. There is a bokeh mode, which does a good job at edge detection. This is made possible by Xiaomi’s AI learning algorithm. It works well in use. In test shots, this feature blurred most of the background of our photo, except for a few places. There is also a selfie light. This is helpful in low light. Beautification mode can be switched on if needed. You can decide the level of effect and also modify some of your facial features.

Battery life is also solid. The Redmi Note 5 Pro’s 4,000mAh battery easily lasted us a full day of normal use. The battery supports fast charging, but the 10W charger provided with the handset is not going to work. We used our Qualcomm Quick Charge power adapter with this phone. After this, a notification was displayed on the lock screen saying that the phone is charging fast. Apart from this, the charging icon in the status bar also changed to the Quick Charge logo.

Our verdict

All in all, there is nothing wrong in paying more for the Redmi Note 5 Pro over the Redmi Note 5. You get better cameras, slightly better battery life, and a more powerful processor. All of these factors make for a better experience. The weight of this phone may take some getting used to. While it doesn’t look unique, the build quality is solid. We liked the tall screen, which is sharp and easy to read even in bright sunlight.

Portrait mode works for both the front and rear cameras and it offers reliable battery life. App and system performance are also commendable. Being a ‘Pro’ model, we were expecting more features in this phone. The company should have provided a fast charger and USB Type-C port. Apart from this, the design should also have been such that it would have given a different identity to this phone. If there was Android Oreo out of the box, it would have been another good feature for Xiaomi fans.

At a starting price of Rs 13,999, this phone is way ahead of the rest. At the same price, you also have Xiaomi’s Mi A1 (Review) as an option. This phone is for those who want a stock Android interface like the Google Pixel series. In this price range, we have been suggesting our readers to buy Moto G5S Plus (Review) till now. But considering the price, Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro has no match in terms of performance and features.