Although relatively new, compared to the likes of Samsung and Apple, Xiaomi become a very popular name in the market. One major for this being so is not unconnected with its practice of making higher-end specifications available on its devices at cheaper prices – a recent example of this is the Redmi Note 3. This trend continues with the Chinese company’s latest flagship smartphone, Xiaomi Mi 5. In spite of being the firm’s most expensive phone yet, this device still comes in cheaper than several rivals.
Design and Display
Sporting a sleek design, the Mi 5 does not let itself down in terms of appearance. The body is made of 3D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 4 with an aluminium alloy frame sandwiched in-between. It flaunts a pleasantly svelte profile at 7.25 millimetres, while weighing only 129 grams. The display has a diagonal size of 5.15 inches. This ultra-bright touchscreen boasts an amazing Full HD (1,080p) resolution for awesome visuals. The Xiaomi Mi 5 comes with features to make for enjoyable reading or viewing in different settings.
Camera
What the Mi 5 offers in cameras are in no way disappointing either. On the rear, it rocks a robust 16-megapixel camera with 6-piece lens, f/2.0 aperture and rugged Sapphire glass lens cover. The shooter gets other flagship features such as 4-axis optical image stabilisation (OIS), phase detection autofocus, dual-tone LED flash and Auto HDR for awesome photography. This smartphone fits the bill if you are a frequent selfie taker. It packs a 4-megapixel front-facing snapper with an f/2.0 aperture, 80-degree wide angle lens, and 36 smart beauty profiles for superb selfies. The device shoots stunning 4K videos at 30 fps.
Hardware and Software
Armed with Qualcomm’s most powerful CPU yet, the Xiaomi Mi 5 is equipped for flagship-level performance. The sturdy Snapdragon 820 processor is paired with an Adreno 530 GPU which has been shown to be about 40 percent faster than Adreno 430 graphics solution. Expect apps and games to function smoothly on this one. It comes in different configurations as regards storage and RAM. The base model has 3GB RAM and 32GB onboard storage. The 64GB and 128GB models – available in China – come with 4 GB of RAM. Xiaomi’s MIUI 7 software, based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, powers the phone.
Sundry Features
The Xiaomi Mi 5 is fitted with a fingerprint sensor that not only lets you unlock, but also perform several other functions. It can recognise up to five different fingerprint patterns. Juice is provided to the device by a 3,000mAh inbuilt Li-Po battery said to support more than 13 hours of continuous usage. Quick Charge 3.0 tech makes the juicer very fast to top up.
You get the future-focused USB Type-C port for charging and data. The phone offers 4G dual SIM support. There is Bluetooth 4.2, full-feature NFC and dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with MU-MIMO and Wi-Fi Direct.
Pricing
With price starting at just over $400, the Mi 5 is almost 40 percent cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy S7 base model offering significantly similar specifications. You are looking at a price in the range N100,000-N125,000 to get a unit. This phone competes very favourably with the new 4-inch Apple iPhone SE.
Xiaomi Mi 5 at a Glance
– Glass-metal construction
– 5.15” Full HD display
– 16MP OIS PDAF rear and 4MP selfie cameras
– Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor
– 3GB/4GB RAM
– 32GB/64GB/128GB onboard storage
– MIUI 7 (Android 6.0 Marshmallow) OS
– 4G LTE Dual SIM
– 3,000mAh Lithium-polymer battery with Quick Charge 3.0
– USB Type-C port
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