Xiaomi Mi5: From the cartel of the manufacturer which has been revered with the title of Apple of China, is another phone with great specifications and a [rice which will not burn a hole in your pocket for what it offers. The Xiaomi Mi5 was unveiled at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona this Wednesday with prices ranging between RMB ¥1999 (S261) for the 32gb variant and RMB ¥2699 ($352) for 128gb of internal storage.
The Xiaomi Mi5 was launched in three variants – 32gb, 64gb and 128gb versions. The 32gb variants is powered by the Lite version of Snapdragron 820 clocked at 1.8gHz, while the 64gb & 128gb variants house Snapdragon 820 chipset at 2.15gHz. The former two units are powered by 3gb RAM while the 128gb variant features a 4gb LPDDR4 memory.
This is first smart device to house UFS-based NAND Storage system which is capable of offering transfers speed upto 450 mbps, although Xiaomi’s pre-production devices at the launch event could pace only upto NAND reading speed of 240 mbps, possibly owing to the unstable build of Android 6.0 Marshmallow which Mi5 comes with, out-of-box.
What may initially appear as the curved screen from Galaxy S6 Edge, is actually the plush back panel with a Zerconia ceramic finish that comes in black, gold and white colours. The high-grade ZIrconia Ceramic comes at a 75 per cent higher price than glass, but you get what you pay for as the back panel is claimed to be very hard to crack. The 3D curve back panel sit perfectly in line with metal frame housing the body, which gives a bloated feel.
Although all three variants are dressed with the curved 3D back panel, the 32gb & 64gb are available with a glass back whilst the 128gb is adorn in the ceramic back panel. The back is presumably sealed which may be confirmed only after commercial launch, which as expressed by Xiaomi Vice President Hugo Barra will take place soon in India.
He also asserted that the launch of a new flagship device after Mi4 was realized in a long period of 18 months owing to its design requirements. Huge amount of effort was put into the process to locate the camera of the Mi5 like the Iphone and the home button-cum-fingerprint scanner like the Samsung Galaxy S6.
The key attractions of the Xiaomi Mi5 is the 5.15” 1080p IPS LCD panel. Although the device lacks 2K display hinted from various leaks, almost 428ppi will not fail to impress observers. Another key highlight, the fingerprint scanner is a capacitive button neighbored by capacitive back and multitask key on either side, which offer customisability.
The phone comes with a 16MP IMX298 primary camera designed by Sony. It integrates 4-axis optical image stabilization technology by Xiaomi, in place to ensure sharper images while moving. The front features a 4MP camera capable of 80-degrees selfies. Other notable features include USB Type-C port at the bottom, Dual Nano-SIM card slots on the sides, an IR Blaster and sports QuickCharge 3.0 which lets you charge the phone just under the 60-minute mark. At 129g, the Mi5 is the lightest flagship in the market.
Priced at approximate equivalent of Rs. 24,000 for the flagship variant, the Mi5 will attract several buyers like the Mi4 and the Mi4i. Sales are likely to begin from April. Exact performance and bechmark figures woould be better rendered once we get our hands onto the retail unit of the Mi5 in India.
