Redmi 6A vs Redmi 5A: Here’s how the new Redmi smartphone compares with its predecessor
Xiaomi, the smartphone brand popular for bringing well-packed phones at an affordable price range, has expanded its budget portfolio in India with the new Redmi 6 series. The Chinese brand introduced smartphones under its Redmi 6 lineup that includes Redmi 6 Pro, Redmi 6 and Redmi 6A. The new Redmi 6A is the cheapest model from the lot which has been launched at an introductory price starting at Rs 5,999 for the 2GB RAM/16GB storage model. Xiaomi overhauled a few aspects on the Redmi 6A, like the design, mobile platform, rear camera arrangement and a taller display with higher resolution compared to the Redmi 5A. The Redmi 6A smartphone now boasts a 5.45-inch HD+ 18:9 display and a MediaTek chipset instead of Qualcomm found on the Redmi 5A. Battery capacity on the new Redmi smartphone remains the same at 3,000mAh. Lets dive deeper into the major changes Xiaomi has made on Redmi 6A as compared to its predecessor, the Redmi 5A.
Redmi 6A vs Redmi 5A: Design and display
Xiaomi has slightly refined the design language on the Redmi 6A. While the previous iteration came with thick bezels all around the screen, the company has significantly trimmed them (the upper and bottom part, more so) on the new Redmi smartphone. Redmi 6A now features thin bezels on both sides of the phone. The phone comes with arc design to offer better grip. Redmi 6A has brushed metallic finish on the rear side and antenna bands slightly dissecting the top and bottom part of the back panel. In contrast, Redmi 5A had chunkier bezels at top and bottom with capacitive buttons. The phone built out of plastic comes with a faux metallic finish at the back side.
Both, Redmi 6A and Redmi 5A house a single rear camera module. However, Xiaomi has changed the camera arrangement on the new Redmi 6A. The camera sensor and LED flash module are aligned vertically and stacked above the top antenna line. Meanwhile, Redmi 5A has a circular shaped camera module with an LED flash sitting on the left side.
Redmi 6A features a 5.45-inch HD+ display with 18:9 aspect ratio
Talking about the display, Xiaomi Redmi 6A gets a tall 5.45-inch IPS LCD panel. Xiaomi has increased resolution and aspect ratio as well. Redmi 5A came with a 5-inch HD display (1280 x 720 pixels) with a pixel density of 296 ppi and 16:9 aspect ratio. This time around the Chinese brand rather implemented an HD+ (1440 x 720 pixels) 18:9 screen on the Redmi 6A with a similar aspect ratio.
Redmi 6A vs Redmi 5A: Processing hardware
Another change Xiaomi has made on the new Redmi 6A is its internal hardware. If you recall, the Redmi 5A came with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 chipset that managed to handle casual tasks smoothly. Its successor, Redmi 6A now comes with a new MediaTek Helio A22 chipset instead which is fabricated on a 12nm FinFET process. Xiaomi claims that the small transistors on the processor will ensure enhancement in battery performance. The chipset has four 2.0GHz Cortex A53 cores which are said to increase efficiency.
Redmi 6A vs Redmi 5A: Camera and software
On the camera front, Xiaomi has opted for a single 13MP camera unit for the Redmi 6A similar to the previous iteration. The rear camera lens on the Redmi 6A comes with f/2.2 aperture and PDAF (phase detection autofocus) similar to the one seen on Redmi 5A. Up front, both the handsets feature a 5MP camera lens, however, the aperture differs with Redmi 5A having f/2.0 aperture, while the Redmi 6A comes with f/2.2 aperture. Besides that, the front camera on the Redmi 6A now has Portrait mode to add bokeh effect to selfies.
Redmi 5A sports a 5MP camera with f/2.0 aperture
Software-wise, Redmi 6A runs Android Oreo with custom ROM MIUI 9 layered on top. Meanwhile, Redmi 5A still runs on MIUI 9 based Android Nougat OS. Another change on the new Redmi 6A is the face unlock and dual VoLTE support. Both the features are missing on the Redmi 5A.
Redmi 6A vs Redmi 5A: Battery and storage
Both the Redmi 6A and Redmi 5A house a 3,000mAh battery. While Redmi 5A delivered a day’s worth of usage on a single charge, the Redmi 6A is expected to offer better performance due to the 12nm architecture.
As for the storage, Redmi 5A came in two RAM/storage configurations – 2GB RAM/16GB storage and 3GB RAM/32GB internal storage. Xiaomi has stuck with single RAM configuration on the Redmi 6A. The phone offers 2GB of RAM which is paired with either 16GB or 32GB onboard storage. Both the devices come with dedicated microSD slot to allow inserting two SIM cards and a microSD card simultaneously. The storage is further expandable up to 256GB (via microSD card) on both Redmi 6A and Redmi 5A.
Redmi 6A vs Redmi 5A: Price in India
Redmi 5A was launched in India last year at an introductory price of Rs 4,999 for the 2GB RAM/16GB storage model. However, the handset now sells at Rs 5,999 for the base model and Rs 6,999 for the 3GB RAM/32GB storage model. As for the Redmi 6A, the handset is launched at an introductory price of Rs 5,999 for the 2GB RAM/16GB storage model and Rs 6,999 for the 2GB RAM/32GB storage model. The new Redmi smartphone will be up for sale exclusively on Flipkart from September 19.