Redmi A5 review: Best starter smartphone for budget buyers

If you look at the overall mobile market in Nepal, there are still lots of users who still use an OLD feature phone, and they aspire to get an affordable smartphone for watching movies, cricket, video calling, WhatsApp messaging, etc. And I think Xiaomi just made the dream phone for them with its Redmi A5. I got this phone for just 11,999 rupees in Nepal, and I think it's the best cheap smartphone you can buy right now! In this review, I will share with you my experience using this phone. But before that, let’s have a quick look at its specifications and what you get in the box. 

Redmi A5 Specifications

• Display: 6.88-inch LCD panel, HD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate
• Chipset: Unisoc T7250 (12 nm)
• Memory: 3/4/6GB LPDDR4X
• Storage: 64/128GB eMMC 5.1 (expandable up to 1TB)
• Software and UI: Android 15 Go (2 years of OS updates)
• Rear Camera: Dual (with LED flash); –32MP f/2.0 primary lens – 0.08 auxiliary sensor
• Front Camera: 8MP f/2.0 (water-drop)
• Security: Side-mounted fingerprint scanner
• Battery: 5200mAh with 15W USB-C Charging
• Color Options: Ocean Blue, Sandy Gold, Midnight Black
• Price in Nepal: NPR 10,999 (3/64GB), NPR 11,999 (4/128GB)
• Check out the full specifications of the Redmi A5 here.
• Buy Redmi A5 here

Redmi A5 Review

In the box, we get all kinds of things inside the box – we have the phone, a 15W power brick, a Type A to Type C port, and a generic case.

Design and Build

• 171.7 x 77.8 x 8.3 mm (193 gm)
• Plastic frame and back

I really like the design of this phone. It doesn’t feel like a budget phone at all, especially when you hold it in your hands. It’s made entirely of plastic, but the build quality is sturdy, and you get a couple of cool color options too, so I would say that, for a budget phone, Redmi has actually aced the design side of things here. And BTW, you are also getting a side-mounted fingerprint sensor that works instantaneously, and there is a headphone jack here as well. Also, I don’t know how relevant this is in 2025, but you can access FM radio from here using a wired earphone. I think it’s cool!

 Display

• 6.88” HD+ IPS LCD display
• 120Hz refresh rate

Ok, the best thing about the Redmi A5 is the display. Here you are getting a huge 6.88-inch 120Hz IPS LCD screen, and for a budget phone, it’s not bad at all. The colors look good enough, and this display is bright too, at least in indoor situations you are not going to have a problem. Even outdoors under the shade, the visibility is not bad, but in bright sunny conditions, it’s a bit difficult to make out what’s on the screen. But I love how, even though this is an HD screen, there is no pixelation in the UI elements, and even while watching videos, you will not notice a lack of sharpness, especially on YouTube. The single speaker on the Redmi A5 is decently loud for watching videos and all. On OTT platforms like Netflix, though, there is no HD video playback support, so sometimes things might look a little dull. Anyway, I also found a little catch with the 120Hz refresh rate. Turns out, this rate is only limited to the settings menu, and everything else, including social media apps, browser, UI, etc runs on 90 Hz. But the 90Hz refresh rate here is smooth enough, so I won’t complain!

Battery Life

• Non-removable Li-Po 5200mAh battery
• 15W charging

The battery on the Redmi A5 didn’t disappoint me either, thanks to its 5200 mAh cell, its low-powered processor, and HD display. On light usage, this phone would last me for almost a day and a half, and even on intensive use, I'd easily manage the day with some juice remaining, so that's nice too. And since you get a 15-watt charger inside the box, you don’t have to worry about getting a charger separately. The stock charger takes anywhere between 2-2.5 hours to fully charge the phone, which is a long wait, but then again, considering the price, it’s not so bad!

Performance and Software

• Unisoc T7250 (12 nm)
• Octa-core (2x1.8 GHz Cortex-A75 & 6x1.6 GHz Cortex-A55)
• Mali-G57 MP1 GPU
• 3 or 4GB RAM, 64/128GB storage
• Android 15 Go (2 years of OS updates)

Okay, up until now I have talked about all the great things about the Redmi A5, but when you get a budget phone, there are certain things that you have to compromise on like the performance and the cameras.  If you are someone who likes to play games like PUBG, the UNISOC T7250 4G chipset on the Redmi A5 is not going to be able to handle it, especially the 3GB RAM variant. In my experience, the most I have been able to do here is play Clash of Clans, Subway Surfers, Temple Run, etc smoothly, but something like PUBG is a big no! I had no problem running everyday apps here like Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, etc., though! It’s just that with this phone, you will have to get used to a second delay while opening apps and while multitasking between 3-4 apps at once. I do appreciate the fact that Redmi has gone with the lighter ‘Go’ version of Android on top of HyperOS, which means Redmi has cut off on the heavy system animations, so going about the UI does not feel as slow. On top of that, Redmi has promised 2 years of OS updates on this budget phone. In fact, I received one of the system updates while I was testing it, so it’s a good sign!

Camera

• Dual (32MP + 0.08 MP depth)
• 8MP selfie

 Next, just like the performance, the cameras on the Redmi A5 are strictly average too. You get a 32MP main camera sensor and an auxiliary lens at the back and an 8MP sensor at the front. Here are some samples I took from this phone.

Daylight images

You can see that the images are a little soft and the color reproduction is just okay, nothing extra. I appreciate that the Redmi A5 is able to handle highlights and dynamic range in bright situations quite well. Moreover, in good lighting conditions, it takes good enough pictures of human subjects, too. But again, it’s nothing that'll blow you away. Just decent.

Night Mode

At night, too, you can take some decent images with this phone. Turns out there is a night mode option too, it barely does anything to make the image better, so it’s not that useful.

Selfie

I think the selfies from the Redmi A5 are decent. The selfies came out bright and clear, with good skin tones and decent background details. Even outdoors in strong daylight, the camera handled exposure really well. Indoors, the colors still look natural, and the portrait mode creates a nice soft blur behind me without looking too artificial. So yeah... the front camera is okayish.

Videos

You can shoot good enough 1080p videos from this phone, though. The footage is shaky when you move around, but if you keep still, the output isn't half bad. Overall, I feel like the cameras on this phone are only good enough to take pictures of notes and for doing basic video calls, and that’s all!

Redmi A5 Review: Pros and Cons

Pros

• Smooth HD display 
• Nice looking design
• Excellent battery life
• 2 years of OS support

Cons

• Average camera quality 
• 120Hz rarely works outside settings
• Might slow down after 1-1.5 years

Redmi A5 Review: Conclusion

Overall, to conclude, I think the Redmi A5 is the game changer in making smartphones accessible to people with limited budgets. So yeah, if your budget is really tight and if your usage is not intensive and all you do on your phone is use social media and make phone calls, this phone is the best option. Even for someone who is thinking of upgrading from a bar phone, or if you are in need of a budget secondary phone with great battery, this phone is worth it for the price. Just remember to get the 4GB variant, it will feel slightly faster! One thing to understand is that the limitation of a starter-budget phone like this is longevity. Because such phones have a weak processor, budget phones slow down easily and might become unusable after 1 or 1.5 years. So, if you are planning to use a certain phone for a long time, it's better to invest a little more money and get a phone above 15k, like the Redmi 14C.