We unbox the Redmi Note 5!

Xiaomi’s about to release a new Redmi smartphone in the Philippine market come May 11. The Redmi Note 5 has been subsequently teased by the Facebook page of the Chinese company, and gauging from the comments on our initial post, a lot of people are waiting for the phone to arrive. While Xiaomi Philippines has not announced pricing for the device as of yet, the most expensive version of the phone is just around 14K in China.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 specs

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 octa-core processor
• 3GB/4GB/6GB RAM
• 5.99-inch Full HD+ IPS display
• 64GB expandable storage, via microSD (up to 128GB)
• 12-megapixel f/1.9 and 5-megapixel f/2.0 rear cameras with LED Flash
• 13-megapixel front camera with LED Flash,
• Dual-SIM
• 4G LTE
• WiFi, Bluetooth
• GPS/A-GPS/GLONASS, Fingerprint scanner
• Android Nougat with MIUI 9. 5
• 4000mAh battery

Packaging and contents:

The Redmi Note 5 comes in the same bright red packaging as the other members of the Redmi family. Once you open the box, you’ll see the phone inside, along with a USB charger, USB cable and a silicone case as freebies.

As per the usual, Xiaomi does not include a pair of headphones in the package.

Initial Impressions: Pretty solid for the price, and the internals are not too shabby

Before we go further, a few clarifications are in order. Xiaomi announced a Redmi Note 5 in India a few months ago, with a slower Snapdragon 625 chip with Android Nougat and different design. Along with that, the company also announced the Redmi Note 5 Pro that’s essentially this phone that we’re unboxing, only with worse cameras plus Android Nougat on board.

The Redmi Note 5 that Xiaomi that we’re unboxing is distinctly different from the Note 5 released in India both in design and specs. For clarity’s sake, we’re just going to refer to this phone as the Redmi Note 5 moving forward, but it’s something to note if you’re doing your own research before you buy the phone.

Anyway, moving on. Xiaomi has resisted going with a glass body in the Redmi Note 5, instead utilizing an aluminum unibody. The dual rear cameras are stacked vertically and is placed on the upper left side of the phone, with the fingerprint scanner on the usual place at the back.

Speaking of dual cameras, the Redmi Note 5 uses a 12-megapixel rear sensor with an f/1.9 aperture lens, paired with a 5-megapixel f/2.0 aperture lens.

While we like the aluminum rear since it’ll resist scratches better than glass backed-phones, the raised dual camera module makes it susceptible to scratches when you place the phone on a flat surface facing up.

The bottom of the phone sits the 3.5mm jack, speaker grille and regular micro USB port. We would have assumed that Xiaomi used a Type-C connector on the Redmi Note 5. On the top of the phone sits the IR blaster and mic.

On the front sits the 18:9, 5.99-inch full HD+ non-notched display. If you’re the type of person to hate on notches, then the Redmi Note 5 may just be for you.

Inside the Redmi Note 5 is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 636 processor paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. That’s the initial variant that Xiaomi will be selling in the Philippines, though you can expect the phone to come in additional flavors once it’s officially launched.

Aside from the fast processor, the Redmi Note 5 also comes with a large 4000mAh battery, as well as Andriod Oreo on top of MIUI 9.5. Overall the phone felt fast and snappy, with the Snapdragon 636 processor making quick work of the apps we installed in the phone to start.

Xiaomi hasn’t placed a price tag on the Redmi Note 5 yet, but if they stick to their commitment of sticking to the stated Chinese sticker price of their phones when it arrives in the Philippines, then you can expect the 4GB/64GB version of the phone to hover around the Php 11.4K price point.

If that’s the case, then the Redmi Note 5 will be the most aggressively priced mid-range phone that’ll hit the Philippine market by far. We’ll know exactly how much the phone will be when it’s officially launched in the country on May 11.