Consumers reportedly consider Xiaomi’s Redmi Note series as one of its best-selling smartphone models. Rumors of the Redmi Note 5’s upcoming release have obviously generated excitement among its followers. The fifth version’s predecessor, the Redmi Note 4, obviously met great success, which is why the Chinese smartphone manufacturer is preparing a follow-up model. Interested buyers can expect excellent mid-range specs with an entry-level price range when the handset becomes available.
Premium design and looks
Rumors of the smartphone in development have already created a buzz among consumers, but a couple of leaked product slides have finally revealed its overall appearance.
The Redmi Note 5 sports a brushed metallic body and frame with gently-curved edges. The front flaunts your typical mobile phone setup with an earpiece situated on the top half. Its proximity sensor is set on the left, while its front-facing imaging sensor is on the right. The bottom portion carries an elongated oval fingerprint sensor just below its display.
The back cover houses its primary camera on the top left side corner with its horizontally-positioned dual-LED flash. Xiaomi’s company logo sits along the bottom portion of the rear panel along with the regulatory information. The antenna lines can be seen on both the top and bottom edges of its rear housing. The bottom portion of the frame holds its USB Type-C port and four bottom-firing speaker grilles, which likely seem to be a stereo setup.
Since the top side was not shown in any of the images, it can be safely assumed that a 3.5mm headphone jack might be there.
The Redmi Note 5 places its buttons on the right flank of its frame. The volume keys are positioned close to the top with the power key just below. The side of the device reveals a SIM tray housed on the upper part of the border.
The entire unit apparently measures 7.5mm only, which gives it a slim profile.
Hardware and imaging details
According to the leaked Xiaomi product slides, the Redmi Note 5 will flaunt the same full-HD 5.5-inch IPS display featured by its predecessor. The fifth-generation handset will also come in two CPU variants along with corresponding RAM sizes.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 option will come with a 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage. However, its Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 version offers a 32GB or 64GB internal storage selection with a 4GB RAM on both. The rechargeable battery on the new model is rated at 3,790mAh, which is lower than the 4,100mAh on the Redmi Note 4 and QuickCharge 3.0 is also confirmed to be onboard. The smartphones will also run on MIUI 9 based on Android Nougat.
The new models will showcase single-camera setup, unlike most flagship top-end and mid-range models from other manufacturers. The rear-camera will be a 16-megapixel unit with a Sony IMX234 image sensor and a f/2.0 aperture that flaunts a 0.3s PDAF (Phase Detection Auto-Focus) lock.
The selfie camera is going to be a 13-megapixel unit that unfortunately lacks a dedicated front-mounted LED flash module.
Prices and release date
Based on several reports, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is scheduled to release sometime this month. The prices for each of the available variants are $175 USD for the 32GB/3GB RAM model with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 chipset, $205 USD for the 32GB/4GB RAM, and $220 USD for the 64GB/4GB RAM options.
