TECH BREAK: Simple yet powerful Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A. PHOTOS|COLLINS NABISWA

What you need to know:

  • The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A comes with a 5.5 inch 5.5 inch 720p panel with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection which keeps the phone safe from minor drops and few things in your pocket.
  • The only downside to the display is that it is not as bright enough in direct sunlight.
  • The display has good colour accuracy and the viewing angles are great without any colour shifts.

Are you looking for a simple, affordable yet powerful smartphone to buy? Tech Break takes a look at the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A today. It’s a new entrant in the market threatening to upset the “natural” order of smartphones.

It was launched in the Kenyan market in January 2018 and is currently retailing at Sh17,999.

So what is good about this smartphone? For starters, this amazingly light device has a stylish plastic back with a metallic finish which looks really great but upon holding it, the plastic feel and the hollow sound it creates just kills off some of the good vibes.

The back also holds the fingerprint sensor which is pretty quick to unlock the device. The fingerprint sensor is also fast to set up. It can act as the shutter button as well.

GLASS PROTECTION

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A comes with a 5.5 inch 5.5 inch 720p panel with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection which keeps the phone safe from minor drops and few things in your pocket. The only downside to the display is that it is not as bright enough in direct sunlight. The display has good colour accuracy and the viewing angles are great without any colour shifts.

It’s is powered by Snapdragon 435 Octa-core chipset which is a decent pick for its price. Simply, the chipset makes it faster and more powerful when you compare with other phones in the same price range.

Astonishingly, this little smartphone comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage! To put it in context, it is hard to find a phone retailing below Sh20,000 with such specs. That is a game-changer for me as a reviewer.

Performance on this device is smooth when it comes to day to day usage and thanks to the new MUI 9’s optimisation, the phone flies even with this mid-range processor.

This is a dual-sim phone which takes in two Nano Sims, this will help those users who like keep two SIMs for various reasons.

The reception was good and I had no issues with the call quality even with its loudspeaker. It is a 4G-enabled phone and using mobile data was really good with this one. There is no issue of connectivity on both Airtel and Safaricom networks.

CAMERA

It has a 13MP Rear camera and with plenty of light, it takes good images with natural colours. The High Dynamic Range (HDR) mode helps in colour correcting but unfortunately slows down the speed of the camera. It is therefore not the best when you are shooting a moving object.

The battery life on this phone is really good. It offers four and a half hours of screen-on time, and it may vary for different people based on their usage.

For the most part of this review, it lasted the whole day with 10 to 5 per cent left over at the end of the day which is not bad for daily use.

The Redmi Note 5A Prime is like any other mid-range phone out there. It offers great performance for your day to day tasks and a very pleasing usability with the new MIUI 9 adding tons of features, a capable front-facing shooter which is a great choice for selfie lovers and also provides a decent battery life.

But to look at its bad side, it has not so great display and an average rear camera performance.