Xiaomi Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus launched with 18:9 full screen display

Xiaomi has launched the Xiaomi Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus today, making it official that the 18:9 full screen display has now entered the ‘budget smartphone’ series.

The launch of the duo Redmi 5 has been teased by Xiaomi recently, so there is indeed no surprises to how it looks.  Nonetheless, the official photos released show the new phones in full glory, as seen below.

Since I am a bit malas to write now, here’s the general specifications of both phones, taken from the Mi Facebook page:

Redmi 5
– 18:9 Full screen display
– 5.7” HD+ resolution
– 14nm Snapdragon 450
– 3300mAh battery
– 1.25μm large pixel camera
– Front selfie-light
– 36 beautify profiles
– Intelligent game acceleration
– MIUI 9

As you can obviously notice, the difference between the Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus is the processor, battery capacity and screen size, with both smartphones having a 12MP PDAF rear camera.

According to Lowyat.net, there’s no official word when both smartphones would come to Malaysia, but the Redmi 5 Plus might just arrive in Malaysia soon because it has already made its way through SIRIM.

Anyway, if prices in China are to be used, the 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage of the Redmi 5 is priced CNY 799 (about RM 495) while the 3GB/32GB variant will go CNY 899 (about RM 558).

The Redmi 5 Plus which will also be released in two memory variants on the other hand would be priced at CNY 999 (about RM 620) for the 3GB/32GB variant, and CNY 1299 (about RM 810) for the 4GB/64GB variant.  These prices will unlikely be the prices of the smartphones in Malaysia as taxes would see them slightly inflated by the time they arrive Malaysia due to taxes.

Nonetheless, Lazada Malaysia is offering the Redmi 4 for as low as RM579 right now, so I do expect the Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus sold by unofficial sites to be much cheaper on Lazada Malaysia by the time the official price is released.

As for a review, let’s see if I can get my hands on one first.