Xiaomi has confirmed that its Redmi Note 5A will launch next Monday. Xiaomi’s new entry-level phone will be launched at an event in China, according to Xiaomi Chairman and CEO Bin Lin.
Redmi Note 5A will be high-quality but cost-effective
Confirming the launch date, Lin shared the invitation for the event on Weibo. According to the invitation, the event will start at 7:30 p.m. local time on August 21. We have already seen images of the Redmi Note 5A unveiled by Xiaomi Chairman and CEO Jun Lei previously. Lei described the handset as a high-quality, cost-effective smartphone which will come in vibrant colors.
The handset was also recently spotted on the Chinese certification site TENAA (China’s equivalent to the FCC). The listing on the certification site suggests that the smartphone will come in two variants: the Redmi Note 5A and the Redmi Note 5A Prime / Pro (code-named the MDT6 and MDT6S). The internal specs of the two variants are expected to be nearly the same, with the only difference being that one will come with a fingerprint sensor, while the other one will not.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A is expected to run on Android 7.1.1 Nougat with Xiaomi’s MIUI 8 skin on top. The battery capacity will be 3,000mAh, and the connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS/A-GPS, and 4G-LTE/VoLTE. The phones are also expected to have a micro-USB port and Bluetooth. The handsets will reportedly come in red, blue, grey, rose gold, white, gold and silver. The handset weighs roughly 150 grams and measures 153.3 x 76.3 x 7.31mm, according to the listing.
Handset to come in two variants
The Redmi Note 5A is also expected to have 5.5-inch HD display with 720 x 1280 resolution. The handset will likely come with a 1.4 GHz quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM. The entry-level phone will reportedly run on a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor, while the Prime/Pro variant is expected to sport an octa-core Snapdragon 435 processor.
The TENAA listing revealed that the smartphone will come with 16GB of internal storage (expandable up to 32GB). Further, it will likely have a 13MP rear camera with an LED flash and a 5MP front-facing camera. The Prime/Pro version could, however, sport a 16MP camera on the back and a 13MP on the front. The handset will likely sport a curved back and have a set of three capacitive keys below the display. All the physical keys will be on the right.
Lei previously revealed that the smartphone will not feature a metal body, suggesting that it may come with a polycarbonate chassis with a metallic finish. The handset is expected to be priced at CNY 999.
Xiaomi will be pretty cautious with the launch of the Redmi Note 5A, as any more complaints about its phones exploding could hamper its credibility. Last week, there were reports that a Redmi Note 4 smartphone allegedly exploded in the pocket of its user. Following the reports, the Chinese smartphone maker said on Wednesday that it had initiated an investigation of the report.
“All of our devices go through stringent quality tests. We have been able to establish contact with the customer and are in the process of procuring the damaged product to carefully investigate the case,” the company told Gadgets 360.
