Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Review - Top middle class

Foreword: Xiaomi Redmi Note 5

Long-awaited and finally available - the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 has appeared in a global version. The smartphone is delivered with the MIUI Global ROM, which among other things enables German language selection and has the Google Play Store preinstalled. Furthermore, only the global version supports the LTE band 20, which is often used in this country, so that unrestricted LTE cellular use is possible. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Global can be recognized by the model number "M1803E7SG". 

Design, workmanship and delivery

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 relies on a classic design with a metal case back and an equally metal case frame. For better (cellular) reception, the antenna area that closes off at the top and bottom is made of plastic. The dimensions are 158.6 x 75.4 x 8.05 mm. The weight is 181g. The smartphone is available in black, blue, gold and rose gold.

 The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is constructed as follows: 

A large part of the front is covered by the 5.99 inch display, which is rounded towards the edges. So-called 2.5 curved glass ensures a better feel and look. The loudspeaker is typically located in the middle above the display, the front camera to the left, the distance and brightness sensor, a front LED and a single-color notification LED to the right. You won't find any physical control buttons on the plain front. Operation is via virtual display buttons and gestures.

The housing frame includes the dual SIM slot in the upper left part. The volume rocker and the power button underneath are on the opposite side. The top of the frame is equipped with a microphone and an infrared transmitter. On the underside there is a (no longer contemporary) micro-USB socket in the middle, to the right of it the mono speaker, to the left of it another microphone and, in turn, a 3.5 mm jack audio output.

The back is rounded towards the sides and edges, making the smartphone easy to hold. A circular fingerprint sensor is located in the upper third of the back. The dual main camera was placed at the top left, the sensors of which were arranged vertically with a central LED flash. The main camera protrudes slightly from the back of the case, which is why the smartphone lies on the back of the camera.

As is typical for Xiaomi, the quality of workmanship of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is convincing. The individual housing elements are assembled without any irregularities or unattractive gaps. The smartphone feels very good in the hand. The metal control buttons are easy to reach, sit firmly in the housing frame and offer a comfortable pressure point. The scope of delivery includes the smartphone, a silicone protective cover, a charger (5V 2A), a microUSB cable, a SIM needle and a user manual.

Display

The display has a diagonal of 5.99 inches with 2160 x 1080 pixels. The aspect ratio is 18: 9, the point density is a razor-sharp 403 PPI.

display measurement

Display measurements showed a maximum display luminance of around 487 cd / m². The measured black value was 0.22 cd / m². The display is evenly illuminated without any visible irregularities. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 still adheres to the sRGB color space in the standard color mode to an acceptable degree.

Display in everyday life

The display impresses with its strong colors, albeit with a slightly cool note. The viewing angle stability is nothing to complain about. Even from flat angles, there is no significant deviation in the representation. The display is still easy to read outdoors in high ambient light, even if the display glass is slightly reflective and fingerprints and streaks are visible.

Display settings and functions

The color temperature can be changed between "Warm", "Standard" and "Cool" within the display settings. A continuous color adjustment is not possible. An automatic contrast mode adjusts the contrast according to the ambient brightness. Another display function is the reading and night mode. Time-controlled, this mode automatically filters blue light, which has a negative effect on our sleep-night rhythm. With “Tap-to-Wake”, the switched-off screen can be activated by tapping twice.

Touchscreen

The touchscreen recognizes a maximum of 10 simultaneous inputs (multi-touch). Inputs are recognized precisely. Unwanted "ghost touches" do not occur. A special coating on the display glass ensures good sliding properties. However, the display glass is not spared fingerprints and streaks. The display glass used is not a specifically named branded glass, but it turned out to be extremely scratch-resistant in the test. After several weeks of use without a protective film, no scratches are noticeable.

Performance

Qualcomm Snapdragon 636

A Qualcomm Snapdragon 5 system-on-chip (SoC) works inside the Xiaomi Redmi Note 636. The CPU of the mid-range SoC is made up of, among other things, 8 Kryo 260 processor cores that clock at up to 1.8 GHz. The SoC's GPU is Adreno 509. The system also offers a fast LPDDR4X memory connection (~4925 MB/s) and an eMMC5.1 data storage connection (~206 MB/s reading - ~229 MB/s writing), which is common in mid-range systems. Memory expansion using a MicroSD memory card is possible. Because of the “hybrid slot”, memory expansion is only possible at the expense of one of the two SIM slots.

Performance in everyday life

The Redmi Note 5 does well in everyday use. The Snapdragon 636 delivers enough power to enable a smooth user experience. Apps are opened quickly, without major delays and even when multitasking, with several apps open at the same time, the smartphone does not noticeably slow down. Thanks to the generous 4GB or 3GB of RAM (depending on the model), the smartphone is able to store open apps in the RAM so that they are immediately available on demand. Animations of the user interface are displayed smoothly. Fast scrolling movements take place without any major hangs.

Gaming

There are limitations with regard to gaming performance. Especially with graphically demanding games, such as the recently released PUBG, you can feel that you are not looking at a high-end smartphone. The performance-hungry PUBG is definitely playable with low graphics settings. Nevertheless, there may be drops in the frame rate and a delayed reloading of the textures during a battle. The smartphone reached a noticeable, but overall unproblematic temperature of 38 ° C after an hour of continuous load.

user interface

 The entire Xiaomi smartphone range uses MIUI. This is also the case with the Redmi Note 5. This is an in-house custom ROM that differs visually and functionally from Stock Android. The pre-installed MIUI 9.5 Global is already based on Android 8.1 (Oreo). 

MIUI is a thoroughly beginner-friendly user interface. Due to the extensive range of functions, MIUI is hardly dependent on additional, system-expanding apps. An extensive settings menu enables profound setting options for the system, the network, the display and the apps.

The global version of MIUI has been specially adapted for the western market. Accordingly, the system language can be changed to German, among other things. Chinese bloatware or Xiaomi apps, which are mainly intended for Chinese users, have been removed. Instead, MIUI Global offers pre-installed Google apps, especially the Google Play Store, as well as a selection of Microsoft apps, such as Word, Excel or PowerPoint. A big advantage of the MIUI is the regular updates that are distributed OTA (Over The Air).

Camera

The main camera is a 1 / 2.56 inch Samsung ISOCELL S12K5L2 image sensor with a native resolution of 7 megapixels. The pixel size of the sensor is 1.4 μm. The aperture has a value of f / 1.9. The second sensor with 5 megapixel resolution also comes from Samsung and is called ISOCELL S5K5E8. The sensor size is 1/5 inch with a pixel size of 1.12 μm. This is purely an auxiliary sensor that enables the so-called “bokeh effect”. The front camera is an OmniVision OV13855 PureCel Plus image sensor, which has a resolution of 13 megapixels.

Practical test of the main camera

Photo mode

The dual main camera of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is currently one of the best camera solutions in the price range under € 200. Colors are shown taken in good lighting conditions. From the center of the image to the edges of the image, images show an even distribution of focus. The level of detail is not outstanding, but is convincing in normal image view.

 More full-resolution test shots can be found at this one Link 

As is so often the case with smartphone cameras, the dynamic range is rather narrow. Accordingly, high-contrast scenes are sometimes overexposed or underexposed, which means that details are lost. To compensate, the Redmi Note 5 is equipped with an HDR mode, which is automatically activated according to the scene. Serious imaging errors in the form of chromatic aberration can occur occasionally, but are rather rare.

The recording quality deteriorates increasingly in poor lighting conditions. Image noise is noticeable quite early on, details are lost and the color reproduction is also falsified, even if only slightly.

A lossless telezoom is not used. Instead, an 8x digital zoom is available. Accordingly, the zoom is severely limited in terms of recording quality, so that fine details are lost and a slight image noise occurs from a double magnification.

A feature of the main camera is the so-called "bokeh mode", a photographic sharpness effect that brings people and objects to the fore. The background should be blurred out of focus. Xiaomi has succeeded in implementing it, using the bokeh mode of smartphones in higher price ranges, such as the  Xiaomi Mi 6 However, the Redmi Note 5 does not come close. Rough outlines are extracted cleanly. Fine detail outlines, such as hair or leaves are often packed in the blurred background. Serious extraction errors do not occur.

The dual pixel autofocus is surprisingly good. Focus changes are quick and precise. The release time is slightly delayed, but is still within an acceptable range. The LED flash provides sufficient illumination so that portraits can also be taken at night.

video mode

 The main camera records videos with the MIUI camera app in 480p, 720p and maximum 1080p resolution. The frame rate is limited to 30 frames per second.

 High-resolution 4K is not (yet) available, at least in the MIUI camera app! 4K video recordings are also possible with alternative camera apps. Recordings can be stabilized using electronic image stabilization (EIS).

 The video recording quality does not quite come close to the image recording quality. Usable video recordings are still possible in good lighting conditions. In poor lighting conditions, there is quite a lot of picture noise. Focus problems and drops in the frame rate do not occur in video mode. The EIS shows itself from a good side and also compensates for fast movements precisely. Again, the weak dynamic range is to be criticized, which is subject to high-contrast scenes and makes recordings structureless. There is another point of criticism regarding the sound recording quality. This sounds very harsh and slightly tinny.

Practical test of the front camera

The front camera mode of the MIUI camera app is equipped with numerous beauty filters. There is also an auto HDR mode, a portrait mode (bokeh effect) and various (color) filters to choose from.

Images made with the 13 megapixel front camera show a pleasant image sharpness and a decent level of detail. Unfortunately, photos are often overexposed, which results in falsified colors. Especially in selfies this leads to pale faces or skin tones.

connectivity

Telephony

 The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Global supports all common mobile radio frequencies and bands in this country. In addition to LTE bands 3, 7 and 20, LTE band 8 (Telekom), which is currently being expanded, is also supported. In mobile communications, the smartphone proves to have a strong signal and impresses with its good signal quality. What is said is transmitted in a clear and understandable manner.

 Dual SIM enables two nano SIM cards to be used at the same time. Both SIM slots are 4G LTE capable. Voice over IP over LTE (VoLTE) enables improved voice quality.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

The WiFi protocols 802.11a / b / g / n / ac (dual-band) are now supported in the mid-range segment. The data throughput achieved in the WLAN is average. A high connection range and continuous connection stability are maintained even through several walls. Bluetooth is available in the current version 5.0. Here, too, the Redmi Note 5 shows a good connection quality without dropouts.

GPS and sensors

A GPS fix is ​​established within a few seconds. The position determination proves to be precise and remains constant during the navigation. Even a location inside the building is accurate to within a few meters. An e-compass helps to determine the direction of the compass, so that precise pedestrian navigation is also possible.

The sensor equipment consists of a proximity sensor, a gyroscope, an acceleration sensor, an e-compass, an ambient light sensor and a Hall sensor. NFC is not available. Thanks to the infrared transmitter, the smartphone is able to act as a remote control, for example to operate a television. The "Mi remote control" app is already pre-installed on the smartphone.

The rear fingerprint scanner enables secure unlocking. This unlocks the smartphone reliably and without major delays. The face unlock feature was not yet included in the global version of MIUI 9.5 at the time of testing. If you still want to take a look at the function, all you have to do is change the region to “India” in the system settings.

Audio

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is equipped with a mono speaker and a 3.5 mm audio jack. The sound quality through the speaker is acceptable, if a bit flat. The maximum volume is pleasant without distorting. Music played back via the audio jack sounds full and the playback is trouble-free. Various sound profiles, a sound enhancer and an equalizer are already integrated in MIUI and can be configured via the settings.

Battery

The battery has a capacity of 4000 mAh. In everyday life, the smartphone proves to be extremely economical. Under normal conditions of use, the screen-on-time is approximately 9 hours. That is enough to easily get through the day with one battery charge.

The smartphone is charged via a (no longer up-to-date) micro-USB socket. Xiaomi does not specifically mention a quick charge function, but Qualcomm's Quick Charge is still supported. However, the charger supplied is not Quick Charge compatible. A complete charging process takes about 2 hours and 40 minutes with the charger included in the scope of delivery. Wireless Qi charging is not possible.