In January 2018 Xiaomi promoted a new product again that is called as Xiaomi Redmi 5A. They claimed Redmi 5A is the best smartphone in their class but low in price. The price of Redmi 5A is about Rp 999.000 or Rs 4.999 or USD 74 only. Even the price is cheap but the quality is very good. Is it true? Let's proof it.
Design
The screen of Redmi 5A is 5 inch. It will be so comfortable for one hand usage. The body was made from plastic which looks like a metal. It makes them so tight on our hands. Actually the design of Redmi 5A is quite similar with Redmi 4A. There are Camera and LED flash at the back of the body. The speaker places in the same position, that is also at the back. Unfortunately, specially for Redmi 5A, it has not fingerprint. I think it is suitable with its price which is cheaper than others.
On the front side, there are selfie camera, earpice, and LED notification at the bottom. For the navigation button places outside the screen and there is no led indicator when we press them. So it will be difficult when we use it in the dark except we are already familiar with it.
Different with Redmi 4A that is using Hybrid external memory slot, Redmi 5A provides microSD slot separately. The capacity of the memory maximum 256 GB. Additionally, Redmi 5A is same with the other Xiaomis, it has already have IR Blaster sensor that can use to control many devices, such as TV, AC, Fan, and so on by using Mi Remote application.
Software
Redmi 5A uses the newest UI, that is MIUI 9 with Android 7.1.2 Nougat. Several great feature from MIUI 9 like Split Screen for running 2 application in the same time, Mi Drop for transferring files without internet, until Dual Apps for cloning application is running perfectly.
There are a lot of theme for changing the homescreen appearance and we can download it freely. There is also Reading mode feature for better experience in reading at night. It helps our eyes safe from irritation or sick because of the the screen light.
Hardware
Redmi 5A is claimed as the best smartphone with high specification but low in price. This smartphone provided Quad-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 1,4 GHz for the chipset and Andreno 308 for the graphic. It uses also 2 GB RAM and 16 GB internal memory.
Hardware
Redmi 5A is claimed as the best smartphone with high specification but low in price. This smartphone provided Quad-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 1,4 GHz for the chipset and Andreno 308 for the graphic. It uses also 2 GB RAM and 16 GB internal memory.
The benchmark test result by using AnTuTu version 6.2.7, Redmi 5A got about 32.000. It is not bad at all for low cost smartphone.
When we tried playing some big games like Mobile Lagend, Arena of Valor, Point Blank: Strike, and Assasin's Creed Identity, they were running well either using low graphic or medium.
While for the screen, HD 720p resolution with IPS panel has no problem even for outdoor usage. We just have to set the brightness to be maximum.
Xiaomi Redmi 5A uses irremovable battery Li-Ion 3.000 mAh. I think it is enough for playing games, chatting, streaming YouTube, and browsing for more than 5 hours.
Unfortunately, fast charging feature is not there in it. So, it needs charge from zero until full about 3 hours.
Camera
Redmi 5A provided 13 MP f/2.2 for the rear camera with PDAF feature. It has several mode, such as Panorama, Beautify, and Tilt-Shif to make blur effect.
When we tried to take a picture in the less light condition, the result is good enough. Moreover we use HDR mode, the picture will be better with noiseless.
For people who like selfie, there is 5 MP f/2.0 front camera with beauty feature that can be set ito two different mode, smart and pro. Smart mode gives 3 options that can be switch, there are low, medium, and high. Beside Pro mode gives 2 option that can be set, those are slim and skin.
Overall, everything that provided in Xiaomi Redmi 5A is better than the other smartphones that has the same price or even more expensive.
Spesification
| Network | ||
| Bands | : | GSM / CDMA / HSPA / LTE |
| 2G | : | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & |
| SIM 2 CDMA 800 & TD-SCDMA | ||
| 3G | : | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 |
| 4G | : | 8(900), 34(2000), 38(2600), 39(1900), |
| 40(2300), 41(2500) | ||
| Speed | : | HSPA, LTE |
| GPRS | : | Yes |
| EDGE | : | Yes |
| Launch | ||
| Announced | : | 2017, November |
| Status | : | Available. Released 2017, December |
| Body | ||
| Dimensions | : | 140.4 x 70.1 x 8.4 mm (5.53 x 2.76 x 0.33 in) |
| Weight | : | 137 g (4.83 oz) |
| Build | : | Front glass, aluminum body |
| SIM | : | Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) |
| Display | ||
| Type | : | IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
| Size | : | 5.0 inches, 68.0 cm2 (~69.1% screen-to-body |
| ratio) | ||
| Resolution | : | 720 x 1280 pixels, 16:9 ratio (~296 ppi density) |
| Multitouch | : | Yes |
| UI | : | MIUI 9.0 |
| Platform | ||
| OS | : | Android 7.1.2 (Nougat) |
| Chipset | : | Qualcomm MSM8917 Snapdragon 425 |
| CPU | : | Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 |
| GPU | : | Adreno 308 |
| Memory | ||
| Card slot | : | microSD, up to 256 GB (dedicated slot) |
| Internal | : | 32 GB, 3 GB RAM or 16 GB, 2 GB RAM |
| Camera | ||
| Primary | : | 13 MP, f/2.2, phase detection autofocus, LED |
| flash | ||
| Features | : | Geo-tagging, touch focus, face/smile detection, |
| HDR, panorama | ||
| Video | : | 1080p@30fps |
| Secondary | : | 5 MP, f/2.0 |
| 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 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | : | 4.1, A2DP, LE |
| GPS | : | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS |
| Infrared port | : | Yes |
| Radio | : | FM radio |
| USB | : | microUSB 2.0 |
| Features | ||
| Sensors | : | Accelerometer, proximity |
| Messaging | : | SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, |
| IM | ||
| Browser | : | HTML5 |
| - Xvid/MP4/H.265 player | ||
| - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/FLAC player | ||
| - Photo/video editor | ||
| - Document viewer | ||
| Battery | : | Non-removable Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery |
| Misc | ||
| Colors | : | Gold, Dark Gray, Rose Gold, Blue |
| Price | : | About 110 EUR |