18:9 display, and look ma no notch!

18:9 phones are fast becoming the norm especially for pricier mid-range models, and the Redmi Note 5 is no exception. The device has a 5.99-inch full HD+ IPS display in front, with minimal bezels on the sides, bottom and top. Notch haters can breath easy since the phone doesn’t have a notch at the top.

As far as actual display performance goes, the Redmi Note 5 delivers. Colors are pretty good for its expected price range, and viewing angles are wide and generous. Display settings can be tweaked in MIUI if you feel the need to do that.

Hot hardware for the mid-range

The Redmi Note 5 comes with Qualcomm’s latest processor: the Snapdragon 636. It’s the same processor that we’ve seen in other mid-range phones like ASUS’ ZenFone 5. It’s a move that’s par for the course for Xiaomi: offer the same hardware that other manufacturers offer at a much cheaper price point, and watch the masses rejoice.

Qualcomm’s mid-range offering is capable of handling most tasks without any issue – a statement that’s also applicable to mobile gaming as well. It’s not surprising since the SD636 is a slightly under-clocked version of the SD660, which has the equivalent power of top-end devices of previous years.

Our review unit sports 64GB storage and 4GB of RAM and we’re not sure yet if Xiaomi will offer better specs for the PH market – we’ll update this article if there’s any changes.

Android Oreo plus MIUI 9.5 on-board

Just like Xiaomi’s other phones, the Redmi Note 5 runs Android Oreo with their own interpretation of Android, dubbed MIUI which is on version 9.5 on the device that we reviewed.

Thanks to the SD636 processor, MIUI ran without a hitch, though you’re still not getting an app drawer. There should be a facial unlock feature on the device but the update has yet to be pushed to the device we’ve been using, which is fine since we generally gravitate towards using the more secure fingerprint scanner anyway.