Redmi A4 5G Review: Humble Phone, Big Ambitions

The ‘premiumization” of the budget smartphone segment led to the decline of the entry-level smartphone market. Today, most first-time smartphone buyers or feature phone upgraders opt for mid to high-end budget smartphones for better camera quality, displays and battery life. This also made it easier for most smartphone buyers to justify the 5G tax now that 5G networks are up and running in most major cities in the country.

With the entry-level segment already starved of features and most phones struggling to deliver a smooth (or tolerable) software experience, there’s been just a handful of launches in recent years in this space, which again will encourage buyers to reach out for more expensive devices. With that said, the news of Xiaomi launching a new smartphone in this much-ignored segment in late 2024 was still a shock. But as mentioned in my first impressions, it aims to deliver something new and different, which could see this phone in the hands of first-time smartphone buyers.

So what exactly does the Redmi A4 5G do differently? Let’s find out!

Redmi A4 5G Design

Xiaomi’s Redmi A4 5G does not appear like a typical entry-level smartphone. It’s available in two finishes: Sparkle Purple and Starry Black. We received the Sparkle Purple finish for review, and it sure looks and feels like a modern-day budget smartphone. The purple colourway has a metallic finish on its rear panel, while the raised circular camera module has a fine argyle pattern on it. Both panels are made of glass, while the sandwiched midframe is made from polycarbonate but has a very good finish. Since its rear panel is not made of plastic, its not a dust or smudget magnet either. This is a very different approach compared to the basic plastic options available from other brands at this price point.

The Redmi A4 5G sure looks snazzy for an entry-level smartphone

 

The phone isn’t too heavy or not too light at 212g, and Xiaomi also offers a basic IP52 rating, but keep in mind that damage due to immersion or exposure to water is not covered under warranty.

Given its 6.88-inch display, which is already quite large, the thick borders surrounding it, particularly at the bottom, add to its bulk, making it difficult to operate with one hand.

My only gripe about its otherwise impressive design (for an entry-level smartphone) is the display notch at the top, which appears a bit dated.

 

Redmi A4 5G Performance

It’s large display, despite HyperOS’ best scaling efforts, does not look as sharp as one would find on most budget smartphones priced higher. This is because of its HD+ resolution and its size, which makes text appear a bit soft. I still like how well HyperOS makes the best of what’s available by using a heavier font and good scaling to avoid jaggies.

The Redmi A4 5G has too many preinstalled third-party apps and games

 

The Redmi A4 5G’s display is bright enough indoors but only sufficiently bright outdoors. Viewing it in direct sunlight was troublesome, and its viewing angles are terrible, especially when doing so outdoors as it feels like there’s a privacy guard presintalled. Indoors, the contrast drops quickly when viewed off-centre.

Surprisingly, Xiaomi offers a solid Widevine L1 certification with this device, so media and content in OTT apps appear as sharp as possible, even if the display cannot support the Full HD playback resolution.

The Redmi A4 5G’s display appears fine when viewed front and centre (top), but tilt it a bit and it works like a privacy guard (bottom)

 

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 SoC somehow handled the software well, provided I forced the display’s refresh rate to 120Hz. Keeping it at Auto, which switches between 60Hz, 90Hz and 120Hz makes the software appear a bit stuttery when scrolling. A 120Hz display at his price point is also unheard of, even though its only purpose is to serve a smoother software experience.

With just 4GB of LPDDR4x RAM and UFS 2.2 storage, I did not expect a perfectly smooth software experience. While the display’s MEMC tech (high refresh rate) makes scrolling appear smooth, there are noticeable hiccups, especially when switching between apps or even launching apps, where you will have to wait an extra second or two for an app to load. App restarts are also very common and rarely remain in memory for long.

Despite the software’s overwhelming selection of third-party apps and games, users can thankfully uninstall them all. Stuck on Android 14, I like that HyperOS’ Mi Sans font gets forced on all apps and keeps the user experience consistent whether you are in a third-party app or browser. The rest of the software is typically Xiaomi, and this also means spammy notifications from the GetApps app.

Offering a maximum clockspeed of 2.0GHz, the processor isn’t really built to perform but does have some benefits in the battery department. I ran a few benchmarks, and you can take a look at the results below, which are typical for a smartphone at this price point.

 

The phone isn’t built for gaming, but I still tried running a few games. Something as basic as Asphalt 9 Legends: Unite paused at the load screen itself. This was at the default graphics settings (set to low and 30 fps). Emptying the RAM by closing all other apps allowed me to launch the game successfully. However, even after the launch, the gameplay was far from smooth and hung up even when browsing through the menus. Casual games like Subway Surfers and the lot worked just fine.

The Redmi A4 5G offers FM radio functionality via its 3.5mm headphone jack

 

A much-discussed topic about this phone is its selection of available 5G bands. Sadly, Xiaomi only opted for standalone 5G networks (SA: n1/n3/n5/n8/n28/n40/n78) and not the non-standalone (NSA) networks. Many will find this unsatisfactory, as Jio is the only operator in the country that supports standalone 5G networks. If you are an Airtel subscriber, you will only be able to access the 4G/LTE bands with much slower data speeds.

Whether watching movies or answering calls, I found the single bottom-firing speaker to be sufficiently loud, even though it sounded a bit tinny. Unlike most smartphones at this price point, you do get a fingerprint reader, which worked as expected during the review period. Also available is FM radio via the 3.5mm headphone jack.

Despite having a large camera module, only one of those cameras is accessible to the user. The 50-megapixel primary camera with its sufficiently bright f/1.8 aperture managed passable photos with decent dynamic range that were low on detail and appeared quite soft even in daylight! Using the 2X digital zoom worsened the image quality further, so it’s best avoided.

Redmi A4 5G primary camera daylight and low-light camera samples (tap images to expand)

 

The 5-megapixel selfies offer passable quality in daylight with decent edge detection and visible noise. Portrait mode photos captured with the primary camera appear sharp but with blown-out backgrounds, which was also a problem with the selfie camera.

Redmi A4 5G selfie camera sample (tap image to expand)

 

Low-light photos from both cameras are not usable as they lack texture and detail, appearing mostly flat. The phone maxes out at 1080p (30 fps) when recording video. It does not pack in much detail or resolution with visible noise and is also quite shaky when panning.

Battery life is average for your entry-level smartphone, managing 19 hours and 32 minutes in our video loop test. In day-to-day usage, the phone lasted a whole day and a bit more because I was mainly limited to casual use given its gaming and camera capabilities. The device took about 2 hours to charge using the 33W charger provided in the box, which is capped at 18W.

Redmi A4 5G Verdict

Xiaomi has proved its point that it is possible to deliver a 5G smartphone under Rs. 9,000. However, the big condition here is 5G connectivity, because it only supports Jio’s standalone network. If you are an Airtel subscriber, then you can forget about the phone’s USP as it will only connect to 4G networks offered by the operator.

A power user who runs numerous apps, multitasks, and demands a quality camera and exceptional battery life may not find the Redmi A4 5G exciting. The phone mainly caters to a first-time smartphone user who’s needs are limited to calling and basic social media usage.

Keeping this in mind, Xiaomi’s Redmi A4 5G does things a bit differently by packing all the essentials into an attractive form factor. It seems like an attractive phone if you are on a tight budget and cannot spend over Rs. 9,000. Alternatively, Motorola also offers its Moto G35 5G (Review) at an additional Rs. 2,000, which offers better hardware and a bit more power.