Redmi Note 5 Pro vs Mi A1: Which is a better midrange Xiaomi?

The Redmi Note 5 Pro and Mi A1 are matched in terms of price, but who’s the better choice?

The Mi A1 is for geeks whereas the Redmi Note 5 is a better all-rounder.
Since its launch on Valentine’s Day, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro has been hogging attention of the consumers and the media alike. Xiaomi has given all of the features that people expect from a new Redmi Note device every year — a new Qualcomm midrange chipset, more than adequate RAM as well as storage, and a pair of improved cameras. Starting at a price of Rs 13,999, the Note 5 Pro can be termed as one of the most value-for-money budget smartphones that one can buy in India currently.
However, at exactly Rs 13,999, Xiaomi also sells another of its highly-appreciated budget midrange smartphones — the Mi A1. Launched last September, the Mi A1 was a drastic departure from Xiaomi’s traditional offerings — a nearly stock Android One OS and a pair of dual rear cameras. Currently one of our favourites, the Mi A1 is one of the first few smartphones to taste Android 8.0 Oreo.
Therefore, if you are looking for an affordable midrange offering with good build quality, notable everyday performance and a pair of decent cameras from Xiaomi, which is the right one to choose? Read on.
Build, Design:
The Redmi Note 5 Pro is a smartphone from 2018, which means you get a big 18:9 5.99-inch display. With narrow bezels up front, the Note 5 Pro definitely attracts attention. The display is protected by an undisclosed variant of Gorilla Glass. The rear is reminiscent of the Apple iPhone X with its vertically stacked dual camera module, which according to us isn’t a bad deal if one of your primary intentions to buy a midrange smartphone is flaunting. The rear panel has plastic ends on the top and bottom for housing the antenna, which negates the requirement for putting thick visible antenna lines. However, the presence of a micro USB port doesn’t sound right.

Redmi Note 5 Pro
In comparison, the Mi A1 looks a tad dated with its 16:9 display. The thick bezels around the display aren’t a pleasant sight, especially in the lighter colour variants. However, the display is a big 5.5-inch IPS LCD panel with backlit capacitive touch navigation buttons at the bottom. The dual camera setup is laid out horizontally, similar to the iPhone 7 Plus. Since there are no plastic caps on this one, there are iPhone-inspired antenna lines, which don’t look that bad. Unlike the Note 5 Pro, there’s a USB Type-C port, which makes it convenient to plug in chargers which having to look out for the correct alignment.

Mi A1
Out of the two, the Redmi Note 5 Pro is a newer smartphone and therefore comes with a better build and a more pleasing design. That said, the Mi A1 still looks premium and if you don’t have issues with its fat bezels, this shouldn’t embarrass you anytime soon.
Winner: Redmi Note 5 Pro
Specifications, Performance:
In keeping with the tradition, Xiaomi has blessed the Redmi Note 5 Pro with a brand new Snapdragon 636 chipset, which accompanied with up to 6GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage, makes the spec sheet looks interesting. It sports a 5.99-inch IPS LCD display. There’s a 12MP + 5MP rear camera setup and a 20MP selfie camera with an LED flash. The only sore point in this setup Android 7.1 Nougat based MIUI 9, which doesn’t make any sense in 2018.

Redmi Note 5 Pro
The Mi A1 was the darling of the media industry when it came out last year. It is powered by Xiaomi’s favourite Snapdragon 625 chipset, which is also used in the ‘standard’ Redmi Note 5. With a standard 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, the Mi A1 also pleases nerds. There’s a 16:9 5.5-inch IPS LCD display. Since this is Xiaomi’s Android One offering, the Mi A1 is already running on the latest version of Android 8.0 Oreo, thereby making it a favourite of all Android enthusiasts. There’s a 12MP + 12MP dual rear camera and a 5MP selfie shooter as standard.
In terms of performance, its hard to find faults with both of them. In fact, bot

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