Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime is the advanced version of the Redmi Note 5A budget-friendly smartphone. The 5A Prime has been trending on shopping stores for quite a while, as a great value for money smartphone. The device is known in India as the Redmi Y1, which has a version of 64GB and 4GB RAM version. However, the Redmi Note 5A Prime we have with us has 32GB storage, 3GB of RAM, a Snapdragon chip and a 16MP selfie camera as its highlights. Stay with me for this fun ride with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime Packaging
The Note 5A Prime comes in a tiny rectangular orange box and doesn’t weigh much. When I got the package from our Editor-in-chief Samuel Afolabi, I immediately thought something was missing in the box because of how lightweight it is.
When you turn over to the sides, there’s a sticker with an inscription “Global Version”. This means the Google Play Store should already be pre-installed with an option to select the English Language.
Underneath the package box, we can see some specs teaser and features of the device. It supports dual SIM and 4G LTE, there’s no indication if its Nano or Micro and the LTE bands. Xiaomi also flaunted the highlights of the device, a 5.5-inch HD Display with a Corning Gorilla Glass. A 16MP selfie camera with selfie flash and beautify technology which we’ll be testing later on. It houses the Snapdragon 435 chip from Qualcomm with an octa-core processor which reportedly clocks at 1.4GHz. Then there’s the 3GB RAM and 32GB ROM with a dedicated microSD slot. These are the key features used to market this device, as we can see on the box.
The package is still covered with a nylon and still looks good.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime Unboxing
This is the package without the nylon, a portable orange cartoon that’s quite attractive. Definitely one of the best good looking smartphone box I’ve seen.
When you take the orange cartoon off you’d behold the beauty that’s the Xiaomi Redmi 5A Prime and its gorgeous 5.5-inch HD+ IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen.
When you remove the Redmi 5A Prime, there’s a user manual for guidance. The details should be written in English as a global version.
Removing the user manual, I’ve just unveiled the 5V/2A fast charger and it’s USB 2.0 cable. The SIM ejector pin is on top a little box and I’m really hoping there’s an earpiece underneath that box. Meanwhile, peep the aluminum alloy overall unibody of the Redmi 5A Prime. We got the Gold color, which really did justice to its sleek elegant body.
Turning the device over to the front, it might not be that appealing to bezel-less lovers. The top and bottom bezel are pretty much very visible, the bottom bezel houses three navigation buttons.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime Package Details
These are the only accessories the device comes with, which is really disappointing. I was really expecting to see an earpiece.
Nonetheless, see what we found below;
・Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime
・User manual guide
・5V/2A fast charger
・USB V2.0 cable
・SIM ejector tool
I just opened the User Manual to read through it and see how to use the device. Sorry, I had to turn off the light because of my eyes.
The details on the User Manual was written in English because it’s a global version.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime Design
Underneath the device, there’s a USB port in the middle and dual speakers sitting side by side.
Turning over to the right, the volume keys and power button are present while it measures just 7.7mm in thickness. It’s also worthy to note that the 5A Prime is very light, weighing just 153g overall.
At the top, we can see Xiaomi made sure a 3.5mm jack was present, even though they forgot to include an earpiece in the box. There’s also an IR Blaster, which I’ll be using to operate my TV and other appliances through the MI Remote App.
Turning over to the left, there’s the SIM tray which I’ll be ejecting with the SIM needle it comes with.
Removing the SIM tray, there’s a space for two nano SIMs and a microSD slot. At least I don’t have to let go of a SIM slot to use a memory card.
Take a look at this beauty, the dual antenna lines makes the aluminum alloy body really sleek and attractive. The rear camera and LED flash are horizontal at the top antenna line to the left. While the fingerprint scanner is at its usual position.
There’s a screen protector on the screen here, which I will be peeling off to get clear details of the display.
Peeling the unclear screen protector on the screen. There’s no way you could operate the phone and get the full experience with this blurry screen protector.
So, I will be charging up the battery before booting up the phone. I know what you are thinking and I believe in that too. Charging a phone’s battery to 100% before booting it up will improve the battery’s endurance over time.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime Display
The battery is filled up, so I’m booting up the smartphone now.
Of course, it’s powered by Android 7.1.2 Nougat operating system.
With MIUI 9.1 global version.
The MIUI 9.1 user interface is lightning fast, according to Xiaomi.
Yay! So I get to choose the language of the device.
Nigeria
The setup is complete and I can’t wait to start operating this beauty.
The first thing I noticed is the Google Play Store, so I get to download all the apps I want to, unlike the Chinese version.
Another shot of the USB 2.0 port with dual loudspeaker sitting side by side and ready for quality sounds.
The 5.5-inch HD+ IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen stretches up to 71.5% of the front. It boasts of 720 x 1280 pixels in resolution and 267 PPI density, dishing out a 16:9 aspect ratio as well. There’s a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protecting the screen, which supports up to 10 fingers through multitouch.
To be honest, the MIUI 9 user interface is really sleek and the display is stunning as well. I can see every single detail on the screen, at the same time I can’t wait to test out the 16MP selfie camera at the top bezel later on. There’s a speaker grille beside the selfie camera and two sensors.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime Connectivity
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime’s SIM tray can accommodate two Nano SIMs and a microSD slot. Well, I tested all the major SIM card in Nigeria to see the one that gets 4G LTE on the device. I tested MTN, 9mobile, Airtel, and Glo on the Redmi 5A Prime. The device supports all these network’s 4G LTE Bands, except for Glo, I didn’t get 4G LTE with Glo.
From the photo above, I was downloading the AnTuTu 3D Bench with MTN 4G LTE and I got 2.93MB per second.
It has Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, and Wi-Fi hotspot. The Bluetooth version is 4.2, there’s A-GPS, GLONASS, and BDS. There’s an inbuilt FM radio, which needs an earpiece to function even though it didn’t come with one.
The Infrared Blaster aka IR Blaster on top of the device works effortlessly. I connected it to my LG Television and I can increase and decrease volume, change channels and every other thing my TV remote could do. With this, I don’t have to always hold the TV remote which watching a movie.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime Performance
Firstly, I stopped by AnTuTu and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime scored an impressive 57318 points on the App.
I went straight to the storage space only to find out it comes with 25.19GB storage space with only 22.38GB available.
I had to check the “About Phone” and I saw that it indeed came with 32GB storage space and 3GB RAM. There’s an octa-core processor clocking at 1.4GHz max and the brain behind the device is the Snapdragon 435 chip. The device is lightning fast and there’s no slow mode yet or lags. In the graphics department, the Adreno 505 graphics processor is in charge.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime Camera
The Redmi Note 5A Prime takes pride in its 16MP selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture. Xiaomi claims the selfie shooter takes breathtaking selfies in low light. So we put the selfie camera to the test while indoor and in low light and pictures came out great.
With the beautify technology in the 16MP shooter, you don’t need filters, all the selfies taken with Obodo David came out really great.
Definitely one of the best selfie smartphone in its price range. Note – No filters were needed, the 16MP selfie camera really proved itself.
The 13MP rear camera with f/2.2 aperture at the rear didn’t impress me while indoor. Most of the photographs taken with the camera didn’t come out as expected.
These two babies are saying hi.
The camera comes with lots of internal filters you can use.
When you click on “Options”, there are more features including the HHT for low light shots.
The weather was a little cloudy as I went outside to shoot the house. What do you think?
I shot the clouds as well.
I waited till it was a little late to shoot this with HHT.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime Battery
The Note 5A Prime houses a Non-removable Li-Ion 3080 mAh battery which supports 5V/2A fast charging. It went from 50% to 100% in just 50mins on my watch. After almost 2 hours of heavy usage and on 4G LTE it went just below 80%. Impressive right?
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime CONS
・Average rear camera
・Does not come with an earpiece
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime PROS
・Breathtaking selfie camera
・Amazing software experience
・Great battery life and endurance
・Nice Sound Quality
・Fast processor
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime Conclusion
This is the best budget smartphone you’d get at this price with all its features. Everything works well and smooth, definitely worth every penny. It’s a great value for money smartphone with impressive specs and features.
Where To Buy Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime?
The device is available on Gearbest for $129.99 at 25% off. Click the link below to order.
Buy Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime From Gearbest Click Here
It’s also available on Jumia for N43,990 at 10% off. Click the link below to order.
Buy Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime From Jumia Click Here
MALO No lo recomiendo, para usar la camara en HDR tiene que tener vacia la memoria o sea sin fotos ni videos o con memoria adicional sino las fotos son malas, el whatsapp copia obligatoriamente todos los archivos que se abren al telefono y no hay forma de evitarlo, cosa que no pasaba con mi Iphone, alla solo guardaba lo que escogia y nada de lo demas se guardaba en el telefono pero SI lo podia ver en el whatsapp por ejemplo muchas desventajas mas, el manual es imposible de conseguir solo toman del pelo y siempre lo llevan al mismo lado. BAD PHONE I dont recommend it.
TechVaz
You guys are awesome
But a question is “does it make sense for the selfie camera should be better than the rear camera?”
And why is an earpiece not included with the accessories, is it a mistake on their part or they were trying not to increase the package net weight?
You were also right when you said you felt something was missing. Of course the earpiece is missing
People use more of the selfie camera on their smartphone these days than the rear camera, so OEMs are focusing more on the selfie camera. I don’t think an earpiece weighs that much though.