Xiaomi Redmi 5A Hands-on, First Impressions

Xiaomi has officially launched two smartphones as part of its return in the Philippine market. One is the Redmi 5 Plus which we already reviewed, while the other is the affordable Redmi 5A. Check out our initial impressions of the Xiaomi Redmi 5A below.

One of the first things you’ll notice about the Redmi 5A is its size. It’s pretty much a small device which can be attributed to the 5-inch screen. It has its advantages like it’s easier to hold and comes with a decent 294ppi pixel density despite its HD resolution.

Speaking of the display, it uses an IPS panel which gives off good viewing angles. Colors are natural and have decent brightness for outdoor use. There’s no mention of Gorilla Glass or 2.5D glass but it’s nice and clear to look at.

Located above the display are the earpiece, sensors, and 5MP shooter for selfies. Down below are three unlit capacitive navigation keys for Recent Apps, Home, and Back which can be a problem when used in the dark. As for the notifications light, it is located just below the Home key.

On the right are the power/lock button, and volume rocker.

On the left are the trays with dedicated slots for two nano-SIM cards and a microSD card.

Found up top are the 3.5mm audio port, Ir blaster, and secondary microphone.

Down below are the micro USB port and main microphone.

Flip it on its back and you will see the 13MP camera, LED flash, and the loudspeaker.

In the hands, the Redmi 5A doesn’t feel that premium due to its plastic build, but it’s solid with a decent heft at 137g. The rounded corners and rear that tapers at the edges make it easy to grip despite the 8.35mm thick body.

Powering the device is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 quad-core chipset, Adreno 308 GPU, 2GB RAM, 3,000mAh battery, and MIUI 9 based on Android 7.1 Nougat. So far performance is smooth for an entry-level device and light gaming is more than possible based on our initial testing. We also ran AnTuTu v7 on it and we got a score of 44,334 which is decent for a phone of this class.

The Xiaomi Redmi 5A is priced at Php4,590 and will be available on Lazada starting March 15. Stay tuned for our full review.

Xiaomi Redmi 5A specs:
5-inch HD IPS display, 294ppi
1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 quad-core CPU
Adreno 308 GPU
2GB RAM
16GB storage
MicroSD up to 128GB
13MP f/2.2 rear camera w/ LED flash
5MP f/2.0 front camera
Dual-SIM (nano, hybrid)
4G LTE
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.1
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
Ir blaster
3,000mAh battery
MIUI 9 (based on Android 7.1 Nougat)
140.4 x 70.1 x 8.35mm
137g
Champagne Gold, Rose Gold, Grey