Not long ago, Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 5 in India. The Redmi Note 5 is, in fact, the Redmi 5 Plus re-branded for the Indian market. The Redmi 5 Plus was launched in China late last year along side the Redmi 5. Both the Redmi 5 and the Redmi 5 Plus (or the Redmi Note 5) bring bezel-less screens to the masses. While the Redmi Note 5 (or the Redmi 5 Plus) starts at around Rs 10,000 the Redmi 5 is cheaper still, starting at around Rs 8,000. It is, in fact, the most affordable bezel-less phone in India right now. Also, it’s the cheapest phone in the Indian market, right now, to come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor. Clearly, the Xiaomi Redmi 5 is big on a lot many things and ridiculously low on price. Much like any other Xiaomi product.

The Redmi 5 looks exactly like the Redmi Note 5, only slightly smaller. It looks every bit as sleek and premium as the Redmi Note 5. It comes with an almost full-metal body — with top and bottom ends being plastic with brushed metal finish — curved 2.5D glass (unspecified) with rounded edges — with reinforced corners to minimise drop impact — and polished antenna lines. Xiaomi also claims that its earpiece has been given an additional waterproof layer to “protect the phone from sweat and dust, reducing the likelihood of the call volume dropping over time.” All in all, the Redmi 5 seems to have been designed, to take a beating or two. Just because the Redmi 5 costs peanuts, doesn’t mean it takes design and build for granted. Something that buyers on a tight budget would appreciate.

Neither does it compromise on Xiaomi’s penchant for making slim phones. The Redmi 5 measures only 7.7mm in thickness, and is in fact, the slimmest Redmi phone ever, according to Xiaomi. It’s a little heavier than the Redmi 4 but the extra weight adds some firm reassurance to the whole package.

The Redmi 5 has an always-on fingerprint scanner on the back and on-screen buttons/soft keys for navigation. The power button and the volume rocker are on the right and offer decent tactile feedback, while a dual-SIM hybrid card slot lies on the left. The Redmi 5, in addition, has a bottom-firing mono speaker out and an IR blaster for controlling smart home appliances — including the 55-inch Mi TV 4 — through the Mi remote app.

The Redmi 5, as mentioned earlier, brings bezel-less screens to the masses. This allows Xiaomi to increase the screen real estate without increasing the all-round footprint of the phone. The Redmi 5, to that effect, comes with a 5.7-inch ‘full-screen’ HD+ display with a 720×1440 pixel resolution and 282ppi pixel density. Because Xiaomi has shaved off much of the bezels on the top and bottom and also on the sides, the Redmi 5 feels much smaller than regular 6-inch phones. Also, it supports an unusual aspect ratio of 18:9, as against the more traditional 16:9.

The Redmi 5 ships with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor, and is in fact, the cheapest phone in the Indian market right now, to come with it. The Snapdragon 450, although it has been around since last year, is seen in just a handful of devices. The Vivo V7+ is the only other phone in the Indian market to be powered by a Snapdragon 450 processor and it was launched at an upwards of Rs 20,000.

Based on a 14nm manufacturing process, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor is a considerable upgrade over the 28nm-based Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor, that was inside the Redmi 4. Emphasis lies on thermal efficiency — and improved battery life — as well as all-round performance. A low-power Cortex A53 processor ensures devices that are powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 require less frequent charging, claims Qualcomm. The accompanying 506 GPU, meanwhile, offers up to 25 per cent faster graphics rendering and 30 per cent lower power when compared to the Snapdragon 435, Qualcomm adds.

The Redmi 5, more specifically, is powered by a 1.8GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor clubbed with up to 4GB of RAM and up to 64GB of storage which is further expandable by up to 128GB via a hybrid micro-SD card slot. The dual-SIM phone runs Android 7.1.2 Nougat-based MIUI 9, and supports 4G LTE (and VoLTE) connectivity.

Elsewhere, the Redmi 5 ships with the same camera credentials as the more expensive Redmi Note 5. While on the rear, the Redmi 5 comes with a 12-megapixel sensor with f/2.2 aperture, phase detection autofocus and a dual-LED (dual-tone) flash, on the front it comes with a 5-megapixel sensor with LED flash. Both the cameras are capable of recording 1080p videos.

The only area where the Redmi 5 sees a downgrade — as opposed to the Redmi 4 — is in the battery department. While the Redmi 4 was backed by a 4,100mAh battery, the Redmi 5 comes with a much smaller 3,300mAh battery. Xiaomi is claiming to offer up to 17 days of battery life on stand-by on single charge but we’ll have to wait and watch out on that one.

Xiaomi’s success story, in India, is well worth a study. The Redmi 4 is a major part of that success story. It’s done wonders for Xiaomi, and the smartphone market in India. Which is where, its successor becomes all the more important. The Redmi 5 has some big shoes to fill, and because it keeps (intact) all the things that made the Redmi 4 so (very) likeable, and tries to add a modern twist to it, courtesy its near bezel-less design, chances are we may just have another winner from house Xiaomi.

The Redmi 5 will be available for buying at a starting price of Rs 7,999 for the 2GB RAM and 16GB storage version going all the way to Rs 10,999 for the top end 4GB RAM and 64GB storage version. The Redmi 5 will also be available in 3GB RAM and 32GB storage version for Rs 8,999. The Redmi 5 will be available for buying from Mi.com/in and Amazon India from March 20. The Redmi 5 will be made in India, Xiaomi has further announced. Watch this space for our full review of the Redmi 5 in the days to come.