7 things you need to know about the Xiaomi Mi 5

Xiaomi made a big impression with their newly launched flagship smartphone the Xiaomi Mi 5. It comes with a whole host of new features that are easy to drown in if you’re not a big techie. To help you out, we thought we’d pick out some of the device’s most significant features.

Here are the seven things you need to know about the Xiaomi Mi 5.

1. Best specs of any Xiaomi device

Since its a flagship, it isn’t surprising that Xiaomi has loaded the new Mi 5 with as much of the cutting edge tech that they could and their efforts have yielded what looks like the most powerful Xiaomi device ever.

This 5.15-inch full HD device packs the new Snapdragon 820 quad-core processor with up to 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 128 GB of UFS 2.0 flash storage. Xiaomi claims that the Mi 5 posted a blistering AnTuTu benchmark of 142,084 which completely trumps anything produced by last year’s flagships. It looks like a seriously fast phone, however, it is worth noting that the base model Mi 5’s processor is clocked at a lower 1.8GHz as opposed to the other two’s 2.15GHz.

2. Advanced OIS camera

With their premium flagship, Xiaomi have also introduced an advanced 4-axis optical image stabiliser (OIS) to help the Mi 5’s 16MP f/2.0 primary camera eliminate handshake blur. In their demo video above, they compared it to the unstabilised iPhone 6S and the OIS-enabled iPhone 6S Plus, revealing stunning results. This may well be the best smartphone camera Xiaomi have ever produced.

3. Impressive build

Despite the Mi Note, Redmi Note 3 and Redmi 3‘s excellent build quality, when people think of Xiaomi, they still associate its phones with the kind of cheap plasticky finish that leaves a bad taste in your mouth.  Well, Xiaomi is hoping to completely shed that belief with the Mi 5 because it sports a truly impressive build quality.

Reminiscent of the Mi Note’s construction, the Mi 5 sports two panels of glass on the front and back, held together by a metallic frame. The back panel is curved to help fit in your hand better, and the highest Mi 5 Pro variant sports what Xiaomi calls a 3D ceramic back plate that comes with an etched holographic pattern. This ceramic back plate is water resistant and durable up to 8H on the Mohs hardness scale.
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4. Front mounted fingerprint scanner

Xiaomi’s foray into fingerprint biometric security is still relatively new, but if we’re going off what critics have said about the Redmi Note 3’s fingerprint scanner, they’re doing pretty well for themselves.

This time, they’re trying something new with the Mi 5, choosing to put the fingerprint scanner on the front of the device instead — tucked under a physical home button like the Samsung Galaxy S7 or Apple iPhone 6S Plus — for an overall subdued and discrete design.

5. NFC

NFC has grown in importance lately as more people are switching to making payments with their smartphones. Initially available on the Xiaomi Mi 3, NFC was dropped from the Mi 4 but has thankfully made its return on the Mi 5. It may be a big deal to some while others barely use it, but it’s nice to see that Xiaomi is bringing it back to their flagship device. Even if you don’t pay with your smartphone, NFC makes pairing devices super easy.

6. USB Type-C

The current standard for USB connections is the USB Type-C. Many smartphones have begun adopting it, and while a majority of the people are still using the old micro USB ports (even the Galaxy S7 still uses micro USB) the benefits of USB Type-C are hard to ignore. With USB Type-C, in addition to faster data transfer speeds, the Mi 5 will have access to Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 which is great considering the Mi 5 only has a 3,000 mAh battery.

7. Price

Xiaomi made a name for themselves in the value for money market. Their devices are incredibly affordable while still managing to not skim on the specifications, making their smartphones and gadgets one of the best value-for-money devices out there.

Many feared that with the premium build and specs, the new Mi 5 would move into the premium price bracket, but once again Xiaomi has come through and with prices starting at RMB1,999 (around RM1,295) for the 3GB RAM/32GB internal storage glass backed version and topping off at RMB2,699 (around RM1,750) for the Pro version with a 3D ceramic back, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, it’s quite a bargain. For more information on the pricing, be sure to head on over to our announcement post.