Redmi Note 5 Pro vs iPhone SE: Power, price, dominance

The midrange smartphone segment is presently full of tempting offerings from the Android universe. You have got bigger phablets, camera-focused phones and some with premium glass-metal bodies. The Redmi Note 5 Pro from Xiaomi is one of the latest ones in this segment that offers commendable everyday performance paired with good cameras in a reasonably well-built metal body. While the base variant starts at Rs 13,999, the top-end variant for Rs 16,999 is equipped with 6GB of RAM, making one of the first ones to offer colossal amounts of RAM for easy multitasking.

However, Apple’s budget offering from 2016 — the iPhone SE, has seen massive price cuts over the years and presently retails for Rs 18,999 on certain e-commerce platforms. Dubbed as the most powerful 4-inch smartphone, the iPhone SE has been known to be a smooth performer over its lifecycle.

If you are in the market for a midrange smartphone, both the Redmi Note 5 Pro and the iPhone SE present themselves as irresistible choices in their own segments. However, which one is a better choice out of the two?

Design, Build:

The Redmi Note 5 Pro is one of the most premium looking midrange smartphones you can presently buy in the market. It adorns the modern 18:9 form factor, which also makes it easier to hold than its predecessors. The narrow-bezel-display surely grabs attention. The rear is made out of a metal and plastic combo (metal panel and plastic caps to aid radio reception). Since its made by Xiaomi, there has to be some element inspired by Apple’s premium iPhones and the Note 5 Pro is no exception — it borrows the iPhone X’s camera module design. Therefore, if you wanted an iPhone X-lookalike on a budget, then this is one of your best bets.

However, put the iPhone SE beside the Note 5 Pro and you can immediately feel the difference in the build. The iPhone SE came to India as a premium midrange smartphone and therefore carried Apple’s trademark flagship-class build quality and finish. Even after two years, the iPhone SE aesthetically impresses  with its metal-glass body. The classic iPhone design still feels attractive, despite carrying chunky bezels all around along with a Home button. The 4-inch form factor makes it a perfect device for those prefer smaller smartphones — one can reach all four corners of the display without needing the other hand to hold the phone. The rear is dominated by a metal panel, accompanied by two glass sections on top and bottom. Little details such as chamfered edges, the circular buttons and speaker grille make the Note 5 Pro look like a toy in comparison.

On the other hand, the Redmi Note 5 Pro is a well-made smartphone for its price, but the iPhone SE’s aesthetics can still make heads turn around.

Display:

This is where the scales are naturally tipped towards the Redmi Note 5 Pro. The big 5.9-inch full HD+ IPS LCD panel with an 18:9 aspect ratio makes it look gigantic when compared to the iPhone SE’s puny 4-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 640x1136 pixels. Whether you are reading messages, playing games or watching movies, the experience is simply more immersive on the Redmi Note 5 Pro. The display renders natural colours with average contrast and brightness.

Mind you, the iPhone SE’s display has noticeably better colours than the Redmi Note 5 Pro, making it suitable for checking out photo-centric social platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest.

Performance:

The Redmi Note 5 Pro is one of the first smartphones in India to sport Qualcomm’s latest performance focused Snapdragon 636 chipset accompanied by 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. It runs on Android 7.1-based MIUI 9. As we stated in our review, the Note 5 Pro is a fast smartphone that doesn’t show lags or stutters in daily usage scenarios. Resource-intensive games run pretty well, albeit not in the highest settings. Due to the presence of a custom version of Android, one can customise the smartphone to their heart’s content with themes, wallpapers and even the notification panel.

However, Android isn’t one of the most secure platforms, which is where Apple’s iOS shines. The iPhone SE is presently running on the latest iOS 11.3 and uses  an Apple A9 dual-core CPU along with 2GB of RAM, which may look insufficient on paper at this point in time. However, nerds will know that iOS is extensively optimised for every Apple device and therefore, its performance figures are on par with the iPhone 6S, which is no slouch even by today’s standards. In fact, the iPhone SE scored an AnTuTu score of 134358, which is drastically more than the Redmi Note 5 Pro’s score of 112649. Therefore, you pick up any game from the App Store and you can still expect it to work effortlessly on an iPhone SE. Games open faster than the Note 5 Pro and you can multitask with 4-5 apps with ease — no lags or stutters noticeable. Most of that mega-performance is down to the GPU pushing lesser pixels on the SE’s display. Since iOS is a closed ecosystem, the iPhone SE offers fewer customisation options to its users, which is good enough for those looking for a no-nonsense user interface, but a no-go for customisation freaks. Hence Android users would find the Redmi Note 5 Pro a handset to be with. 

Camera:

This is an area where the Redmi Note 5 Pro takes a marginal edge. The Note 5 Pro’s 12MP+5MP dual rear camera takes noticeably good pictures with natural colours, adequate details and decent low light performance. There’s a portrait mode that is pretty decent at giving out bokeh shots with naturally blurred backgrounds. The 20MP single selfie camera with an LED flash also utilises AI to take impressive bokeh selfies.

The iPhone SE, on the other hand, has a 12MP rear camera and while it still captures good photos, you can see it is ageing. The photos have good colours and decent contrast with adequate detailing. But, the results aren't at par with the Note 5 Pro's camera. The SE's front 1.2MP camera is good enough just for video calls. Additionally, don't expect bokeh — which could be a deal-breaker for those obsessed with selfies. However, the iPhone SE can shoot 4K videos at 30fps, making it one of the few phones in this range to grab 4K footage.

iPhone SE is recommended only if 4K videos are your requirement, but for everything else in photography, the Redmi Note 5 Pro takes the lead.

Battery:

Xiaomi’s Redmi series has always been about bigger batteries and the Note 5 Pro with its bigger 4000mAh battery is no exception. On a full charge with moderate usage, the Note 5 Pro can last you easily for a day and a half. The iPhone SE, on the other hand, has a comparatively puny 1624mAh battery. However, with a smaller display and a highly optimised power-efficient OS, the iPhone SE can last almost a full day on a single charge under moderate usage, which cant be compared to the Note 5 Pro’s battery life, but is still impressive nonetheless.

Value:

This is where the scales are balanced for both the parties. The open-source Android OS (though dated) on the Redmi Note 5 Pro gives you access to millions of apps, games and launchers, both from the Google PlayStore and various third-party sources. You can download songs and transfer them to other Android users in whichever way you fancy — Bluetooth, Wi-Fi sharing, etc. You can plug in OTG drives or even keyboards and mice too, which makes it almost similar to a portable computer. However, Android isn’t the as secure and therefore, you you could always be at a risk of data compromise by malware or ransomware. Add to that Xiaomi’s persistent addition of bloatware throughout its lifecycle and you end up with a software experience that gets stale over the course of time. And as for updates, midrange Xiaomi phones only get to enjoy one major Android OS update, that too a year after Google releases it for the market. While one may argue that MIUI’s monthly updates add new features and fixes issues, the newer releases bring with them new bugs and tend to slow down the device over the course of time.

The iPhone SE excels where the Note 5 Pro falters — the OS experience and its timely updates. iOS is tastefully designed with a polished user interface, with a focus on small conveniences that are relevant to the user in daily usage scenarios. Apple’s exceptional support for iPhones is proven when you look at the past records of previous iPhone models getting updates even after four years — if you prefer using a phone for longer periods of time, then the iPhone SE will survive a lot more than the Android counterpart. However, iOS is a walled garden and therefore, you will have to adapt to Apple's way instead of making the phone adapt to your requirements. With the iPhone SE, you will be forced to stay with Apple’s services for a better experience (such as Siri’s integration with Apple Music) instead of choosing third-party ones, which Android allows. Therefore, if you don’t want to be locked in a closed ecosystem, it is advisable to stay away from the iPhone SE.

But the most important thing is the price — the iPhone SE costs Rs 18,999 for the base 32GB variant whereas the Redmi Note 5 Pro costs Rs 16,999 for the top-end 6GB+64GB variant. While the price Rs 2,000 price difference may not sound justifiable on paper, the user experience will surely prove itself.

Conclusion:

After evaluating both the Redmi Note 5 Pro and the iPhone SE, both turned out to be equally capable in their own area of operation. The Redmi Note 5 Pro proudly flaunts a good display, long-lasting battery and a decent camera, but the iPhone SE still seems to offer a better value, superior performance and a superb build quality.

While most people would opt for the Android counterpart as far as price, specs and being the latest offering, an iPhone SE will surely attract users who are brand conscious and /or need a no-brainer handset.

Additionally, an iPhone always holds better resale value over the midrange Android rival. Apple’s two-year-old midrange offering can still battle it out with the best Android midrange smartphone where future exchange is concerned.

Which one do you think deserves your money? The mighty Redmi Note 5 Pro or the baby iPhone SE?

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