Xiaomi Mi 5X marries the Mi 6’s camera with a Redmi Note 4

Xiaomi is doing what they do best yet again and has launched a brand new mid-range smartphone, called the Mi 5X, that’s honing in on two big features — its camera and the desire to be trendy. Well, that and a killer price tag.

The Xiaomi Mi 5X gets a 5.5-inch Full HD display in front with a Snapdragon 625 processor inside paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Those are some decent specs but one thing that’s rather disappointing is the fact that Xiaomi only bundles a 3,080 mAh battery with this smartphone — smaller than both the 3,350 mAh cell in the Mi 6 and the 4,100 mAh cell in the Redmi Note 4.

However, that trade off is offset by the Mi 5X’s dual-camera system. It’s the same 12MP + 12MP combo you’d find on the Mi 6 which means that one lens is a wide-angle shooter while the other is a telephoto shooter. With this camera, you will get access to the Mi 6’s portrait mode photography option, which selectively blurs out the background around your subject, as well as the ability to put Mi 5X Dual Camera watermarks on your photos.

Sitting in the mid-range, the Mi 5X does come in a premium metal finish. It’s got an all-metal unibody design that looks very similar to something from OPPO or vivo. It also has a fingerprint scanner mounted at the back of the body.

Mi 5X will also have audio improvements in the form of a DHS Audio Calibration Algorithm and a Standalone audio amplifier which is designed to pipe good audio through the phone’s speakers and your headsets.

Finally, the Mi 5X will come running the newly announced MIUI 9 built on top of Android 7.1.1 Nougat.

The Xiaomi Mi 5X will come with in three colours — black, rose gold and gold — and is priced at RMB1,499 (about RM950). That’s pretty much right in the ballpark of their budget Redmi Note 4 smartphone. Sporting similar internals, the thing that separates these two phones are the design, build and camera.

Which would you pick if it came to Malaysia? Let me know in the comments below.