Xiaomi to unveil battery-centric smartphone on March 14; is it the Redmi 5? Edit

The Redmi 5 was unveiled first in China last year, along with the Redmi 5 Plus, which has been renamed and launched in India as Redmi Note 5

Smartphone maker Xiaomi is a company in a hurry. Exactly a month after the Valentine's Day launch of the Redmi Note 5 and Redmi Note 5 Pro, the company is gearing up to launch another smartphone in India on March 14. Though the Chinese manufacturer did not reveal any specifics of the upcoming device, its shared promo on social media platform hints that the smartphone could be the Redmi 5.

The Redmi 5 was unveiled first in China last year, along with the Redmi 5 Plus, which has been renamed and launched in India as the Redmi Note 5. The Redmi 5 and Redmi Note 5 are strikingly similar in appearance and it is the innards or technical specifications where the two differs with each other.

ALSO READ: Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro review: Modern screen, dual camera at premium price

The Redmi 5 sports a 5.7-inch screen of (1440 x 720p) HD+ resolution stretched in 18:9 aspect ratio.

There is a fingerprint scanner on the back, along with a 12-megapixel camera primary camera. On the front, there is a 5 MP selfie camera but without a flashlight, which is there in Redmi Note 5. The phone is powered by Snapdragon 450 SoC, an octa-core processor build on 14nm FinFET technology.

ALSO READ: Xiaomi Redmi Note 5: Modestly priced ultra-wide screen version of Note 4

The Redmi 5 sports a 3,300mAh battery, which the company claims offers 12 days of standby time. The phone might be available in two storage and RAM variants – 16GB/2GB and 32GB/3GB. As for the pricing, the Redmi 5 costs CNY 799 for the base variant in China, which translates to approximately Rs 7,500 in Indian currency.

Xiaomi Redmi 5, Redmi 5 Plus to launch in China on December 7: Details here

The Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus are touted to sport 18:9 aspect ratio FHD+ screen and would boot Xiaomi's latest MIUI 9 operating system based on Android Nougat 7.1.2 out of the box

China-based smartphone maker Xiaomi is gearing up to launch the Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus in its home countryon December 7. The entry-level budget-smartphones are getting new colours -- the Redmi 5 would arrive in Black, Pink and Blue and the Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus in Black and Gold.

The upcoming smartphones are touted to sport 18:9 aspect ratio screen and would boot Xiaomi’s latest MIUI 9 operating system based on Android Nougat 7.1.2 out of the box. The devices would be offered in three different storage and RAM variants – 16GB/2GB, 32GB/3GB and 64GB/4GB. Based on TENAA certification – necessary certification for China-bound devices – the phones would comes with a 12-megapixel camera on the back and a 5 MP selfie camera.

The two smartphones are reported to have Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC or MediaTek Helio P20. The screen size is reported to be 5.7-inch for Redmi 5 and 6-inch for Redmi 5 Plus. The dual-SIM phones would offer a discreet memory card expansion slot and would be powered by 3,200 mAh battery.

The Xiaomi Redmi 5-series smartphones are advertised as ‘a phone for thousand’, suggesting that the phones would carry affordable price tags. However, going by the reports, the phones would see a starting price tag of CNY 999 in China, which hints at sub-Rs 10,000 price in India.