Xiaomi Redmi 5 full-screen budget smartphone to launch in India soon

Xiaomi will be launching a new smartphone in India on March 14. Manu Kumar Jain, Xiaomi global vice president, made the announcement on Twitter on Wednesday, hinting at a phone that is “compact” and “powerhouse”. The phone featured in the promo photo resembles Xiaomi Redmi 5, the company’s first full-screen smartphone for the budget segment.

Just like Redmi 5, the cut out of the phone has a tall display with most likely an 18:9 aspect ratio. Redmi 5 launched in China in December last year. The smartphone was accompanied by a Plus variant with a taller display. Xiaomi Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus retail in China at a starting price of 799 Yuan or approximately Rs 7,500.

Xiaomi sells multiple variants of the two phones in China. Xiaomi Redmi 5 is available in two variants – 2GB RAM + 16GB storage and 3GB RAM + 32GB storage – priced at 799 Yuan (approximately Rs 7,500) and 899 Yuan (approximately Rs 8,500) respectively.

The Plus model is also available in two variants – 3GB RAM + 32GB built-in storage and 4GB RAM + 32GB built-in storage which are priced at 999 Yuan (approximately Rs 9,500) and 1299 Yuan (approximately Rs 12,700) respectively.

Xiaomi Redmi 5, Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus

Xiaomi Redmi 5 comes with a 5.7-inch 18:9 screen with 1440 x 720 pixels resolution. Redmi 5 Plus has a 5.99-inch 18:9 display with 2160 x 1080 pixels resolution. Redmi 5 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 450 processor whereas Redmi 5 Plus runs Snapdragon 625 processor. Redmi 5 comes with a 3,200mAh battery while Redmi 5 Plus is powered by a 4,000mAh battery.

Common features of the two phones include 12-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front-facing camera. Connectivity options include 4G, VoLTE, dual-SIM, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Both the phones include a fingerprint reader and run on Android 7.1.2 Nougat-based custom MIUI ROM.