Barely a day after Chinese smartphone-maker Xiaomi announced its latest Redmi 5 smartphone in India, homegrown handset-maker Micromax launched March 15 its latest smartphone called Micromax Bharat 5 Pro.
The Bharat 5 Pro has been launched in a single 3GB RAM + 32GB storage variant and is priced at Rs 7,999 — the same price-point as the base model of the Redmi 5, which comes with 2GB RAM + 16GB internal storage. The identical price tag and immediate launch suggest Micromax Bharat 5 Pro will square off against the Redmi 5.
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However, unlike the Redmi 5, which comes with a full-screen 18:9 display as its biggest highlight, the Micromax Bharat 5 Pro's USP is its massive 5,000mAh battery, which Micromax claims can deliver up to 21 days of battery backup.
The Bharat 5 Pro also supports "reverse charging," which means it can also be used as a power bank to charge other phones, and comes with "face unlock" as one of its highlights.
But how does Micromax's 21-day-battery-life smartphone fair against Xiaomi's latest budget smartphone? Let's find out.
Micromax Bharat 5 Pro Vs Redmi 5 Specifications
To begin with, Micromax Bharat 5 Pro features a 5.2-inch HD display with 1,280x720 pixel resolution and a standard 16:9 aspect ratio. The Redmi 5, on the other hand, comes with a bigger 5.7-inch HD+ display with 1440x720 pixels and 18:9 aspect ratio.
The Bharat 5 Pro is powered by a 1.3GHz MediaTek quad-core processor, while the Redmi 5 features an octa-core Snapdragon 450 SoC clocking 1.8GHz.
As mentioned earlier, Micromax Bharat 5 Pro comes in only one variant, offering 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage. However, the equally-priced (Rs 7,999) base model of the Redmi 5 comes with just 2GB of RAM and 16GB storage.
In terms of optics, both the Redmi 5 and Micromax Bharat 5 Pro seem to have almost identical setups, with the Bharat 5 Pro sporting a 13MP rear camera, as compared to the Redmi 5 which comes with a 12MP sensor.
The front-facing cameras, however, are exactly the same, at least as far as the megapixels are concerned. Both the Redmi 5 and the Bharat 5 Pro sport 5MP selfie snappers with dedicated LED flash.
Both the phones also come with the face-unlock feature.
That said, the biggest difference between the two — and the main advantage that the Bharat 5 Pro has over the Redmi 5 — is the Micromax phone's large 5,000mAh battery, which can deliver more than two days of usage on a single charge and up to 21 days of standby time, according to Micromax. The phone also supports reverse charging.
In comparison, the Redmi 5 comes with a 3,300mAh battery that is said to deliver just about a day's usage on a single charge and up to 17 days of standby time.
The rest of the specs are similar. Both handsets offer 4G VoLTE support, Bluetooth v4.2, Wi-Fi, MicroUSB, GPS/AGPS and run Android Nougat out of the box with their respective custom skins on top.
