Xiaomi is back at it again and this time the company has revealed a pair of affordable Redmi Note devices which will likely serve as a primer for their upcoming Redmi Note 5 devices. These new phones are called the Redmi Note 5A and Redmi Note 5A Prime, and prices start at just under RM450.
We teased the launch of this smartphone earlier this week but now the phone has been officially launched and the news is actually better than we thought, at least, as far as price is concerned. Like what was revealed earlier, there are two variants of the Redmi Note 5A, a base model Redmi Note 5A and the high spec Redmi Note 5A Prime.
Redmi Note 5A
The Redmi Note 5A will be your entry-level 5.5″ smartphone. It sports an HD 720p display and comes with a Snapdragon 425 processor with Adreno 308 graphics mated to 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Good news is, this storage is further expandable via a dedicated microSD card slot for up to an additional 128GB of storage. Yep, it’s dedicated which means you will be able to use two SIMs on this smartphone plus a microSD card. Besides that, you’ve got a 3,080 mAh battery inside to keep everything powered.
For photos, you’re getting a 13-megapixel f/2.2 aperture camera with PDAF and HDR support at the back. In front, you’ll be greeted with a 5MP f/2.0 aperture shooter with 36 intelligent beauty modes when you want to take a selfie. There’s also an IR blaster for remote control functions.
This smartphone will run you CNY699 (around RM450) and come in three colours — gold, rose gold and grey — though there’s no indication on whether it will make it into the Malaysian market.
Redmi Note 5A Prime
Moving up a rung, you’ve got the higher spec Redmi Note 5A Prime. Prime is a nice word and with that, you’re also getting a pretty nice bump in specs. RAM and internal storage go up to 3GB and 32GB respectively (still expandable via a dedicated microSD slot) while you also get a Snapdragon 435 processor with Adreno 505 graphics instead. Xiaomi also added a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor for easier access.
Besides that, Xiaomi has also upgraded the front-facing selfie camera to a 16-megapixel unit with an independent soft light, f/2.0 aperture lens and 36 intelligent beauty modes. The back camera, however, remains the same.
Unfortunately, its display also remains a 5.5-inch 720p affair alongside an identical 3,080 mAh battery. It is 3 g heavier than the Redmi Note 5A, though, coming in at 153 g instead of 150 g. Much like the Redmi Note 5A, this 5A Prime also comes with what Xiaomi calls a “metal-like” texture, which probably means it’s a plastic phone with some metallic paint on top.
But I suppose you can’t be too picky either since even the Prime version is only priced at CNY899 (around RM578) which is still plenty affordable.
