Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro to get Face Unlock feature by March-end

Xiaomi on Wednesday announced that it will be introducing Face Unlock feature to its Redmi Note 5 Pro smartphone. The feature will be rolled out to Redmi 5 Note 5 Pro users by March-end via an Over-the-Air update.

Face Unlock is a popular technology that allows you to unlock the phone by just looking at the screen. After Apple's iPhone X, a number of Android players have introduced the feature on their smartphones. The Android version, however, isn't as advanced and secure to what Apple offers on iPhone X.

Apple uses a number of sensors on iPhone X to create a 3D map of a user's face. Apart from unlocking the phone, the facial recognition technology can be used to authenticate payments as well. Android versions, however, rely on a software-based facial recognition using existing sensors on the smartphone. ALSO READ: How Apple's Face ID works

OnePlus introduced the face unlock feature on its OnePlus 5T and later announced expanding the feature to older smartphones, including OnePlus 5 and One 3T as well. OnePlus, however, cautions that the feature should be not used as the preferred security tool.

Apart from OnePlus, Huawei's online-only brand Honor, Vivo and OPPO have face unlock features on their new smartphones. Chipset giant MediaTek is in talks with various OEMs to introduce face unlock feature on entry-level Android smartphones.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro comes with a 5.99-inch full HD+ 18:9 display with a 2.5D curved glass on top. It is available in three variants - 3GB RAM plus 32GB storage, 4GB RAM plus 64GB storage and 6GB RAM plus 64GB storage. The smartphone is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 636 processor.

For photography, Redmi Note 5 Pro sports a dual-rear camera setup on the back. The setup consists of 12-megapixel and 5-megapixel sensors with f/2.2 and f/2.0 apertures. It has a 20-megapixel front camera.

Other key features of the phone include Android 7.1.2 Nougat based on the latest MIUI 9 customOS, 4,000mAh battery, dual-SIM support and 4G VoLTE.