Xiaomi Redmi 5A test - Small in size, but the weakest link

Whatever anyone says, the Xiaomi Redmi 5A is a HUGE disappointment. A huge positive disappointment. :D Recent phones I've got my hands on, Mi6, Mi Note 3, Mi Mix 2, Mi5s, Mi4c, Mi3, all at the top end. True I had MTK procis Redmi Note 3 for everyday use, it was nice for gaming and media because of the big screen, but it was slowly not enough in speed, so I switched to Mi series. The plain Redmi series as we know are strengthening the midfield, can be used for many things, but not for everything as much as a Mi series.

First impressions

Well. I started the Xiaomi Redmi 5A test with the idea that I should try a simple, small, cheap phone. Despite this, it's surprisingly agile, and I didn't notice any major hanging or thinking during normal use. Good it's not a powerhouse, at first when you get it clean, things go without a hitch. But then you start to use it, especially someone like me, who needs it for all communication platforms, accessories and applications. After a while, the Snapdragon 425 wasn't enough. Compared to its predecessor - Redmi 4A - it hasn't changed much, you could say it's just been given a facelift and even the battery has been cut down to 3,000 mAh. Let's run with the looks!

The Xiaomi Redmi 5A comes in the familiar orange cardboard box that all Redmi phones have come in recently and will continue to come in the future. The colourful exterior remains the prerogative of the Mi series. The back of the box has surprisingly few tick marks (none), mostly dominated by the English language, as indeed, it's already a Global version.

Global version?

The Global version comes with Global stable pre-installed so that new entrants don't have to deal with weekly and sometimes erroneous updates. But that doesn't mean that the stable branch is free of all bugs, but they always try to fix it in time. The stable version is updated roughly every 2-3 months, when the weekly developer features are stable and bug-free, they are migrated and become a stable system.

Xiaomi Redmi 5A Unboxing

Unsurprisingly, when you open the box, you find the phone inside, with the damn factory foil on it. I have spoken to people who have heard of someone leaving it on... :) First and foremost, put some glass foil on this cute little phone, it deserves it! The rest of the contents of the box are nothing new, the Global version gives you a European charger with a good quality USB cable.

The charger is not a fast charger, as it is not supported by the phone, although the Snapdragon 425 from Qualcomm supports Quick Charge 2.0. The charger can deliver up to 1A, so it's worth charging it at night to last up to 2 days on a single charge. For the gaming/Facebook/Youtube obsessed, it won't last a day...

I finally got the good old Redmi feeling when I started playing with it, as the phone's speaker is placed on the back of the device, like the others in the family. On the other hand, I am very unhappy with the bottom speaker of the Mi series, when you hold a Redmi in your hand your grip echoes the sound and it sounds like it is coming from the phone, a mono sound from the middle. And with Mi Series it's from either side, not to mention the poor stereo effect that the top speaker tries to improve.

Learning from its predecessors, the Xiaomi Redmi 5A has a small bump under the speaker so that it doesn't lose its sound when placed on the table, but on a soft surface, as if it were coming out of a box. The camera is in the usual place in the top left corner and the LED flash, which only flashes in one colour, is on the left side like its predecessor. It's a wonderful feeling when you slip your finger in and it burns the edge of the picture...

Lower section

It's clean, with no unnecessary holes at the bottom like the Mi series that fools many, a Micro USB socket and a speech microphone at the bottom of the phone. The top is more interesting, next to the 3.5mm Jack headphone jack in the middle is an infra transmitter, yes it replaces the remote control even.

I hope I'm not telling you something new or giving you a wicked tip, but you can do fun things with it in a hardware store! :D You can't miss the secondary microphone, which acts as a noise filter when you're on the phone, which is useful in noisy environments. However, one of the most annoying things is when you want to record a video of your favourite concert or the kids screaming at the top of their lungs, this little evil thing filters it out and you end up with an incomprehensible or very poor sound quality recording when you look back. Hello developers! A switch to the Camera app please!!!

The SIM and SD card are not in the same tray, but separate. In other words, the two SIMs are divided into two separate trays and the SD card is placed next to SIM1. Hence a big red dot. In addition to the 16GB of internal storage, you also need the possibility of expansion (up to 128GB) and you don't even need to stack the cards if you want to use all three at the same time!

Unfortunately, the physical buttons, like on the cheap Redmi models, are not backlit here either, don't even look for them in the menu!

About the display

The screen of the Xiaomi Redmi 5A reflects its price. Compared to the top end, the colours are pale and lifeless, although the resolution is good for the screen size, with sharp outlines. Compared to other Redmi series, there is no noticeable difference, you really get what you pay for. But! For those of us who didn't grow up on 100e+ phones, it will be amazing at first, fear not, it will meet all your needs! You can see the pixel lines clearly when zoomed out in the pictures, but rest assured, you can't see this with the naked eye, only the Mi5s used for photography renders it this way.

The test phone is xiaomishop and the smaller version of that, the 2/16th. I would like to mention here that if you are also a Xiaomi sales person and would like to see your device and your business in a great test article, don't hesitate to contact us at hello@helloxiaomi.hu email address!

Internal values

So let's see what this little one can really do, and get to the inside:

We've talked about the display, we've talked about the processor, let's see the graphics performance. Just for fun, I checked the Antutu test. It did run, which is a good sign, but it was so poor, it really earned those few points. But let's face it, it's not a powerhouse.

Want to play a game?

It says Amazing(Amazing)... :D Although Antutu says it on everything, how would I look if it says: well it goes. Not the phone for Antutu bastards! You can't flash it in the isi! But we'll get to the usage suggestions at the end. The science didn't stop there, I also grabbed the Real Racing 3 game from the Play store - since it's Global, it's on by default. Noooooo chop chop, let's have a really rough 3D race, let's see how the Redmi 5A eats it! Like this:

Sorry for the paralysis! :D I think it holds its own, which is why it's a positive disappointment. In the video you can see that it was not run on a virgin phone, an email just came in from About Hungarian MIUI forum. I am convinced! Snapi 425, Andreno 308 or not, it's going well.

B20! BT and GPS will work as they should, but WiFi is only 2.4GHz, so we can't take advantage of 5GHz.

Battery

The battery. Now here I got no spark. Did you really have to sacrifice battery capacity for price and size? The Redmi 4A is 3,120 mAh, while the Redmi 5A is 3,000 mAh. The casing has been made very slightly smaller compared to its predecessor, but the price has been slimmed down by 1,000 Indian rupees, which translates to 4,000 HUF. Yes, this is also like the Redmi 4A, it is destined for India, where the purchasing power is the lowest for more serious and expensive devices.

Camera

The camera. Always the camera. Don't forget the price of the phone! You can get it for around 30.000 Ft (we'll get to that at the end) here at home and for that no one should expect a high end camera. It's as simple as wood, but it gets the job done. You can use it and take good pictures with it sensibly! Although I never push the fudgey-set-up-very-lighted-good-glowing-picture tests in our tests. I try to show what it can do in real life and in real situations. So let's see some pictures and videos!

Just the usual. During the day, in good light, I can't see anything wrong with the pictures, you can click on nests or other social platforms, indoors it works fine in bright light with HDR turned on. Flash max 3 meters, but you'd rather get close to the subject than zoom in on a long shot later. Don't. Video recording during the day is perfectly average, but at night, how shall I put it nicely, don't push it! I haven't seen quality like this in maybe 8 years. Here it is:

It looks the same with a Mi5s phone:

Yes, this is where processing power is most affected. But as I said, it's a 30.000 forint phone, not 60-100e!!!

However, kudos to the developers, the phone doesn't come with the latest stable MIUI system, but it has been updated to the latest stable MIUI9, Android 7.1.2, for the first time.

What has not yet been mentioned? I think I've covered enough, but if you still have questions about the Xiaomi Redmi 5A, you can contact me at on our facebook page I am at your disposal!

Is the Xiaomi Redmi 5A worth it?

Here's the cue. I think it's a very good buy! But for whom? Not for Antutu warriors, not for gamers, not for photo freaks... simply for those who want a phone and not a gigamega powerhouse, who want to make calls - because it has that functionality - and who want to have some contact and boredom relief. It will be good for people who don't hang out on it all day, a work tool, or for someone who doesn't know or care about high tech. Second to the big screen, for kids, so parents can reach it anytime. And kids want to play games, 50 games and listen to music and chat and... not for them.

Before buying, always consider whether this knowledge will be enough. Don't let the price decide and be disappointed, because 70 apps don't run smoothly at the same time. But if you do decide to buy the Xiaomi Redmi 5A, look around, avoid unknown shops, try to buy it at home, from real shops. I do not recommend buying abroad, the few, really a few thousand forints should decide whether you opt for the Hungarian warranty or the sure extra expense.