Redmi Turbo 5 review: Fast and fun
Xiaomi wants you to buy a performance-focused Redmi again. And to do this, the company has launched the Redmi Turbo 5, the first Turbo phone to come to India. But does it deliver?
Redmi Turbo 5 review
Pros
- Impressive performance
- Vibrant display
- RGB lights
Cons
- Inconsistent cameras
- Bloatware
There was a time when the Redmi K series was known in India for delivering impressive performance without digging a big hole in your pocket. However, in recent years, Xiaomi has largely given this flagship killer mantle to Poco, with Redmi focusing more on the Note series. But now, Xiaomi wants Redmi to get back in the game. And to do this, the company has brought the Turbo series to India, with the Turbo 5.
The Redmi Turbo 5 sits right below Xiaomi’s flagship devices and promises to follow a similar blueprint to what we saw years ago with the K series. So much so that the company claims that the Turbo 5 is the fastest Redmi ever. But this claim also puts high expectations in a market where we see devices like the OnePlus Nord 6 or the Nothing Phone 4a. So, is the Redmi Turbo 5 as fast and furious to justify its Rs 37,999 price tag? Let’s delve into our full review here at India Today Tech to find out.
Redmi Turbo 5 design: RGB lights with a sleek look
If you are a petrolhead, or even a fan of EVs for that matter, you must have heard that racing stripes or a fake rear spoiler adds 10 horsepower to a car. Similarly, I reckon that the RGB lights on the back of the Redmi Turbo 5 reduce loading times by 10 per cent.
But jokes aside, the RGB lights are the first thing that you notice on the Redmi Turbo 5. The Turbo 5 gets two light rings, each for its two rear cameras. These lights glow when you get a notification or a call. And they also sync to music. I found it quite fun to just play some music on the device, keep the phone face down, and just look at the lights.
Though these lights don’t serve as real-time notification trackers for food delivery or cabs, something you get on the Nothing Phone 4a. But the Phone 4a doesn’t sync its glyph lights to music.
But there is more to the design of the Redmi Turbo 5 than just the RGB lights. You get two circular camera cutouts on a reinforced glass back. The back has a matte finish which doesn’t pick up fingerprints or smudges, which is something that many would appreciate. The Redmi logo sits on the bottom left, and in the Nitro Blue shade we have, the phone gets subtle outlines across the cameras and the flash.
The frame is made of aluminium, and despite having a large battery, the Turbo 5 is only 8.18mm thick. And you notice this when you hold the device. The flat frame doesn’t protrude into your palms, and the phone doesn’t feel bulky. With a screen size of 6.59 inches, the Redmi Turbo 5 is also not as big as something like the Nothing Phone 4a or the Realme 16 Pro. This makes it easier to use the phone one-handed. The device weighs 204 grams.
On top of that, the Redmi Turbo 5 also gets IP66/IP68/IP69/IP69K ratings for dust and water resistance. In the real world, this meant that I could use the phone outdoors even during light rain without really worrying about any damage.
Redmi Turbo 5 display: Impressive colours
When you flip the Redmi Turbo 5, you are greeted to a 6.59-inch 1.5K display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The bezels are quite thin, and uniform. This means that you almost forget that they are there.
The display has a peak brightness of 3,500 nits. In the real-world, I found that the screen gets quite bright even outdoors. This makes it easy to use the Turbo 5 even under direct sunlight. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 7i.
Xiaomi says that the display can deliver up to 68 billion colours, and comes with support for HDR 10 Plus as well as Dolby Vision. During my time with the Redmi Turbo 5, I found that the phone shows vibrant colours. I compared the Turbo 5 with the Nothing Phone 4a while playing HDR content, and the colours on the Turbo 5 were noticeably more lively.
While we are discussing watching content, the Redmi Turbo 5 comes with stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support. And the speakers are quite loud. That is, you can comfortably use the phone’s speakers to listen to music or watch shows online. Though at max volume, the sound does start to get slightly distorted.
Redmi Turbo 5 performance: Quick and seamless
While watching content is something we all do, the Redmi Turbo 5 is not designed just for that. Performance is a key focus of this phone. And for that, Xiaomi has used the MediaTek Dimensity 8500 Ultra chipset, which is paired with LPDDR5X Ultra RAM and UFS 4.1 storage.
Compare this to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 or the Dimensity 7300 that you may get on phones like the Nothing Phone 4a or the Realme 16 Pro, and the Redmi Turbo 5 feels much quicker. Apps open almost instantly, there are no jitters, and everything feels quite smooth. I did not find that the phone was doing aggressive RAM management either, and everything worked as it should.
While the OnePlus Nord 6 uses the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset, it costs a bit more than the Turbo 5.
But what about gaming? Xiaomi says that you can play 20 different games at 120fps. I tried playing Call of Duty Mobile and BGMI on the device. You can play COD Mobile up to Very High graphics at Max framerate. But to get 120fps, you would need to set the graphics to Medium. Nevertheless, the gameplay is quite enjoyable, there are no issues, the phone also doesn’t get too warm during sessions. Unless, you are playing for long periods.
In BGMI, you can play up to HDR graphics at Extreme framerate. Like COD Mobile, gamers will enjoy using the Redmi Turbo 5 here. For the price, the experience is one of the best in the segment.
In terms of benchmarks, the Redmi Turbo 5 scores over 2.1 million on AnTuTu. This makes it one of the stronger performers at this price today. On Geekbench, the phone scores 1,688 points in single core, and 6,287 points in multi-core.
Redmi Turbo 5 cameras: Good when done right
The Redmi Turbo 5 has a dual rear camera setup. You get a 50-megapixel Sony IMX882 sensor, paired with an 8-megapixel ultrawide. The Sony IMX882 sensor is quite similar to the Sony LYT600 you get on the OnePlus Nord 6.
For the most part, I found that the main sensor could give you decent details in images. The colours look pleasing and not oversaturated. However, in portrait mode, there is a bit of inconsistency. Sometimes, the camera struggles to focus on the object you want. But when it gets it right, the images have decent detail.
When you take images of people from the main sensor, you will notice some smoothening. The skin tones also don’t come quite as accurate as other phones out there. Though, when I showed the photos to some of my friends, they said that they preferred having somewhat beautified photos. In portrait, there is also good edge detection while clicking human portraits.
Redmi has also added a Turbo Snap feature. This takes multiple photos at once, so that you can get the right image from a scene.
The 8-megapixel ultrawide, however, is a decent enough sensor for occasional shoots only.
On the front, the Turbo 5 comes with a 20-megapixel sensor. Similar to the main sensor, there is some beautification as default when you click selfies, but the images turn out decent. Under good lighting, you can get some decent selfies here. In portrait, the edge detection is also good, and it can blur even messy hair well.
You can check out the camera samples below. Click on any image to see the entire gallery.
Coming to videos, the Redmi Turbo 5 supports up to 4K at 60fps on the main sensor. The footage that you get here does the job, and the stability is decent too. However, the ultrawide only supports up to 1080p at 30fps. The selfie camera can shoot up to 1080p at 60fps.
Keep in mind that the Turbo 5 is not a camera-focused device. Phones like the Nothing Phone 4a or the Realme 16 Pro come with bigger main sensors that can capture more information. The Phone 4a also gets a 3.5x telephoto sensor. However, these phones don’t come with the same level of performance as the Redmi.
Redmi Turbo 5 battery life: Plenty of juice
The Redmi Turbo 5 comes with a 7,540mAh battery. In day to day use, this battery does make a difference.
During my time with the Turbo 5, I never really worried about checking the battery percentage of the device, since I knew that it could easily make it till a day’s end. On most occasions, the Redmi Turbo 5 still had around 30 per cent left in the tank after a full day of use which involved a lot of social media, some video streaming, music and the works.
For someone who is not a heavy user, the Redmi Turbo 5 can be a two-day phone. However, on occasions when I had some long gaming sessions, I found the battery level falling below 20 per cent by the end of the day.
While the OnePlus Nord 6 has a bigger battery at 9,000mAh, you can use the Redmi Turbo 5 without battery anxiety even if you are a heavy user.
On the charging front, the Redmi Turbo 5 supports up to 100W wired fast charging, and 27W reverse charging. But there is no wireless charging support. I found that the Turbo 5 would usually reach around 50 per cent in roughly 30 mins, which should be enough if you have to leave in a hurry. And it takes a bit longer than an hour for a full charge.
Redmi Turbo 5 user experience: HyperOS is good but not the best
The Turbo 5 comes with HyperOS 3 based on Android 16 out of the box. For those who are familiar with HyperOS will feel at home. You get all the features you expect, such as customisation for the lockscreen, Second Space, floating windows. And the Redmi Turbo 5 works decently well.
However, UIs like Oppo’s ColorOS or Vivo’s OriginOS do allow for greater customisation options when it comes to the lockscreen or animations. While these Android skins give you more options as default, on the Turbo 5 you will need to use the Themes app to do things such as changing app icons. There is also quite a bit of bloatware. My unit had over a dozen of preinstalled apps on the Turbo 5 including the Indus Appstore that cannot be uninstalled. For context, the Nothing Phone 4a comes with only two third-party apps.
But Xiaomi has also introduced HyperOS Connect that allows your phone to connect seamlessly with Apple devices, similar to Vivo’s Office Kit. You also get Xiaomi Offline Communication – allows you to make calls between Xiaomi devices without the need for a cellular connection.
Redmi Turbo 5 verdict: It's fast but is it fast enough?
So where does the Redmi Turbo 5 stand? The Turbo 5 promises power, and on that it delivers. The phone feels quick from the moment you boot it up, and even under heavy gaming, the performance is decent. Couple that with a vibrant display and a good pair of speakers, and you get a decent package. That too, with a large battery.
But as is the case with most smartphones nowadays, you do have to make do with some quirks. There are better phones out there when it comes to cameras, and the Turbo 5 has some bloatware.
However, at a price tag of Rs 37,999, the Redmi Turbo 5 can be a pick for those who want a fast-performing phone, or perhaps for some tech geeks out there who first fell in love with the Redmi K20 series all the way back in 2019.
There was a time when the Redmi K series was known in India for delivering impressive performance without digging a big hole in your pocket. However, in recent years, Xiaomi has largely given this flagship killer mantle to Poco, with Redmi focusing more on the Note series. But now, Xiaomi wants Redmi to get back in the game. And to do this, the company has brought the Turbo series to India, with the Turbo 5.
The Redmi Turbo 5 sits right below Xiaomi’s flagship devices and promises to follow a similar blueprint to what we saw years ago with the K series. So much so that the company claims that the Turbo 5 is the fastest Redmi ever. But this claim also puts high expectations in a market where we see devices like the OnePlus Nord 6 or the Nothing Phone 4a. So, is the Redmi Turbo 5 as fast and furious to justify its Rs 37,999 price tag? Let’s delve into our full review here at India Today Tech to find out.
Redmi Turbo 5 design: RGB lights with a sleek look
If you are a petrolhead, or even a fan of EVs for that matter, you must have heard that racing stripes or a fake rear spoiler adds 10 horsepower to a car. Similarly, I reckon that the RGB lights on the back of the Redmi Turbo 5 reduce loading times by 10 per cent.
But jokes aside, the RGB lights are the first thing that you notice on the Redmi Turbo 5. The Turbo 5 gets two light rings, each for its two rear cameras. These lights glow when you get a notification or a call. And they also sync to music. I found it quite fun to just play some music on the device, keep the phone face down, and just look at the lights.
Though these lights don’t serve as real-time notification trackers for food delivery or cabs, something you get on the Nothing Phone 4a. But the Phone 4a doesn’t sync its glyph lights to music.
But there is more to the design of the Redmi Turbo 5 than just the RGB lights. You get two circular camera cutouts on a reinforced glass back. The back has a matte finish which doesn’t pick up fingerprints or smudges, which is something that many would appreciate. The Redmi logo sits on the bottom left, and in the Nitro Blue shade we have, the phone gets subtle outlines across the cameras and the flash.
The frame is made of aluminium, and despite having a large battery, the Turbo 5 is only 8.18mm thick. And you notice this when you hold the device. The flat frame doesn’t protrude into your palms, and the phone doesn’t feel bulky. With a screen size of 6.59 inches, the Redmi Turbo 5 is also not as big as something like the Nothing Phone 4a or the Realme 16 Pro. This makes it easier to use the phone one-handed. The device weighs 204 grams.
On top of that, the Redmi Turbo 5 also gets IP66/IP68/IP69/IP69K ratings for dust and water resistance. In the real world, this meant that I could use the phone outdoors even during light rain without really worrying about any damage.
Redmi Turbo 5 display: Impressive colours
When you flip the Redmi Turbo 5, you are greeted to a 6.59-inch 1.5K display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The bezels are quite thin, and uniform. This means that you almost forget that they are there.
The display has a peak brightness of 3,500 nits. In the real-world, I found that the screen gets quite bright even outdoors. This makes it easy to use the Turbo 5 even under direct sunlight. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 7i.
Xiaomi says that the display can deliver up to 68 billion colours, and comes with support for HDR 10 Plus as well as Dolby Vision. During my time with the Redmi Turbo 5, I found that the phone shows vibrant colours. I compared the Turbo 5 with the Nothing Phone 4a while playing HDR content, and the colours on the Turbo 5 were noticeably more lively.
While we are discussing watching content, the Redmi Turbo 5 comes with stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support. And the speakers are quite loud. That is, you can comfortably use the phone’s speakers to listen to music or watch shows online. Though at max volume, the sound does start to get slightly distorted.
Redmi Turbo 5 performance: Quick and seamless
While watching content is something we all do, the Redmi Turbo 5 is not designed just for that. Performance is a key focus of this phone. And for that, Xiaomi has used the MediaTek Dimensity 8500 Ultra chipset, which is paired with LPDDR5X Ultra RAM and UFS 4.1 storage.
Compare this to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 or the Dimensity 7300 that you may get on phones like the Nothing Phone 4a or the Realme 16 Pro, and the Redmi Turbo 5 feels much quicker. Apps open almost instantly, there are no jitters, and everything feels quite smooth. I did not find that the phone was doing aggressive RAM management either, and everything worked as it should.
While the OnePlus Nord 6 uses the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset, it costs a bit more than the Turbo 5.
But what about gaming? Xiaomi says that you can play 20 different games at 120fps. I tried playing Call of Duty Mobile and BGMI on the device. You can play COD Mobile up to Very High graphics at Max framerate. But to get 120fps, you would need to set the graphics to Medium. Nevertheless, the gameplay is quite enjoyable, there are no issues, the phone also doesn’t get too warm during sessions. Unless, you are playing for long periods.
In BGMI, you can play up to HDR graphics at Extreme framerate. Like COD Mobile, gamers will enjoy using the Redmi Turbo 5 here. For the price, the experience is one of the best in the segment.
In terms of benchmarks, the Redmi Turbo 5 scores over 2.1 million on AnTuTu. This makes it one of the stronger performers at this price today. On Geekbench, the phone scores 1,688 points in single core, and 6,287 points in multi-core.
Redmi Turbo 5 cameras: Good when done right
The Redmi Turbo 5 has a dual rear camera setup. You get a 50-megapixel Sony IMX882 sensor, paired with an 8-megapixel ultrawide. The Sony IMX882 sensor is quite similar to the Sony LYT600 you get on the OnePlus Nord 6.
For the most part, I found that the main sensor could give you decent details in images. The colours look pleasing and not oversaturated. However, in portrait mode, there is a bit of inconsistency. Sometimes, the camera struggles to focus on the object you want. But when it gets it right, the images have decent detail.
When you take images of people from the main sensor, you will notice some smoothening. The skin tones also don’t come quite as accurate as other phones out there. Though, when I showed the photos to some of my friends, they said that they preferred having somewhat beautified photos. In portrait, there is also good edge detection while clicking human portraits.
Redmi has also added a Turbo Snap feature. This takes multiple photos at once, so that you can get the right image from a scene.
The 8-megapixel ultrawide, however, is a decent enough sensor for occasional shoots only.
On the front, the Turbo 5 comes with a 20-megapixel sensor. Similar to the main sensor, there is some beautification as default when you click selfies, but the images turn out decent. Under good lighting, you can get some decent selfies here. In portrait, the edge detection is also good, and it can blur even messy hair well.
You can check out the camera samples below. Click on any image to see the entire gallery.
Coming to videos, the Redmi Turbo 5 supports up to 4K at 60fps on the main sensor. The footage that you get here does the job, and the stability is decent too. However, the ultrawide only supports up to 1080p at 30fps. The selfie camera can shoot up to 1080p at 60fps.
Keep in mind that the Turbo 5 is not a camera-focused device. Phones like the Nothing Phone 4a or the Realme 16 Pro come with bigger main sensors that can capture more information. The Phone 4a also gets a 3.5x telephoto sensor. However, these phones don’t come with the same level of performance as the Redmi.
Redmi Turbo 5 battery life: Plenty of juice
The Redmi Turbo 5 comes with a 7,540mAh battery. In day to day use, this battery does make a difference.
During my time with the Turbo 5, I never really worried about checking the battery percentage of the device, since I knew that it could easily make it till a day’s end. On most occasions, the Redmi Turbo 5 still had around 30 per cent left in the tank after a full day of use which involved a lot of social media, some video streaming, music and the works.
For someone who is not a heavy user, the Redmi Turbo 5 can be a two-day phone. However, on occasions when I had some long gaming sessions, I found the battery level falling below 20 per cent by the end of the day.
While the OnePlus Nord 6 has a bigger battery at 9,000mAh, you can use the Redmi Turbo 5 without battery anxiety even if you are a heavy user.
On the charging front, the Redmi Turbo 5 supports up to 100W wired fast charging, and 27W reverse charging. But there is no wireless charging support. I found that the Turbo 5 would usually reach around 50 per cent in roughly 30 mins, which should be enough if you have to leave in a hurry. And it takes a bit longer than an hour for a full charge.
Redmi Turbo 5 user experience: HyperOS is good but not the best
The Turbo 5 comes with HyperOS 3 based on Android 16 out of the box. For those who are familiar with HyperOS will feel at home. You get all the features you expect, such as customisation for the lockscreen, Second Space, floating windows. And the Redmi Turbo 5 works decently well.
However, UIs like Oppo’s ColorOS or Vivo’s OriginOS do allow for greater customisation options when it comes to the lockscreen or animations. While these Android skins give you more options as default, on the Turbo 5 you will need to use the Themes app to do things such as changing app icons. There is also quite a bit of bloatware. My unit had over a dozen of preinstalled apps on the Turbo 5 including the Indus Appstore that cannot be uninstalled. For context, the Nothing Phone 4a comes with only two third-party apps.
But Xiaomi has also introduced HyperOS Connect that allows your phone to connect seamlessly with Apple devices, similar to Vivo’s Office Kit. You also get Xiaomi Offline Communication – allows you to make calls between Xiaomi devices without the need for a cellular connection.
Redmi Turbo 5 verdict: It's fast but is it fast enough?
So where does the Redmi Turbo 5 stand? The Turbo 5 promises power, and on that it delivers. The phone feels quick from the moment you boot it up, and even under heavy gaming, the performance is decent. Couple that with a vibrant display and a good pair of speakers, and you get a decent package. That too, with a large battery.
But as is the case with most smartphones nowadays, you do have to make do with some quirks. There are better phones out there when it comes to cameras, and the Turbo 5 has some bloatware.
However, at a price tag of Rs 37,999, the Redmi Turbo 5 can be a pick for those who want a fast-performing phone, or perhaps for some tech geeks out there who first fell in love with the Redmi K20 series all the way back in 2019.
