Xiaomi Redmi 5 vs. Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Comparison – Who’s the boss?

Xiaomi’s two phones every year include one from the Redmi series and one from the Redmi Note series. The Redmi Note 5 is not as well received this year, though, as the Redmi Note 5 Pro took away all the limelight, but now that we are seeing the Redmi 5 getting official in India, here is how the phone stands against the Redmi Note 5.

Of course, the Redmi Note 5 will be well powered and better in most of the aspects but how different are they? Let’s check it out in this comparison.

The difference in the size is quite evident with the Redmi 5 having a 5.7-inch Full View display compared to the 5.99-inch Full View display on the Redmi Note 5. The material of choice is a little different as well, with the Redmi 5 having a plastic frame while it is a metal one on the Redmi Note 5, though both have an aluminum frame on the back.

The Redmi 5 certainly is lighter and easier to hold, with the one-handed usage also being possible without a problem, but while being bigger, the Redmi Note 5 has the advantage of offering that extra screen for someone who wants to take full advantage of it and have a bigger display, of course with MIUI helping in better one-handed usage when needed.

The display seems sharper and better on the Redmi Note 5, thanks to the Full HD+ resolution, i.e. 1080 x 2160 pixels giving it about 403 PPI of pixel density. On the other side, the Redmi 5 has an HD+ display with the 720 x 1440 pixels resolution, giving it a modest 282 PPI of pixel density.

One major difference between the two phones, apart from the size, is with the chipset that powers them. It is the well-proven, and probably the company’s favorite Snapdragon 625 that powers the Redmi Note 5, while the Redmi 5 gets its power from the Snapdragon 450 platform. There will be variants based on RAM and storage offered on them, but the difference in processors also changes a few things when it comes to what is compatible. For example, although it is the same camera on both the phones, the larger Redmi Note 5 is capable of capturing 4K videos while it is restricted to 1080p videos on the Redmi 5.

As said, the cameras are not so different as the two phones come with a 12MP F/2.2 camera on the back with a 1.25 μm pixel size and there is a phase detection autofocus support on both. Even on the front, there is a 5-megapixel camera for the selfies, and the phones have an LED flash even for the front cameras.

For a few things like the MIUI version and Android version, it is the same, and both the devices also have an IR blaster on the top to help use as a quick remote. The battery charging standard stays the same, with the phones having a support for 5V/2A charging and not better than that.

But, one big difference here could be with the battery capacity as the Redmi 5 has a 3300 mAh battery in comparison to the 4000 mAh battery on the Redmi Note 5. While it might seem that the battery should last longer on the bigger phone, it has the higher resolution display to cater to, so the battery life shouldn’t really be different, but that depends on the usage.

Now, another difference between the two phones is with the price itself. The Redmi Note 5 is priced from Rs. 10000 while the Redmi 5 is priced at Rs. 8000, and there are variants based on RAM and storage, but the Redmi 5 with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage reaches the cost of Rs. 10999.