Though the Xiaomi flagship Mi 5 has one of the most powerful Qualcomm chipset till date, which is also seen in flagships from Samsung and LG, it has still managed to keep its glorious title of being the most affordable, premium smartphone yet. Rivals such as the LG (with its G5) and Samsung (with its Galaxy S7) sport similar specifications to Xiaomi’s Mi 5, but have not managed to keep the pricing of their flagships within reach of the general users. That’s where startup companies such as Xiaomi, OnePlus, LeEco and a few others see their place to impress the buyer by giving them powerful smartphones at affordable prices.
With the Xiaomi Mi 5 launched just a month ago, many handsets were out for a review, globally. The Mi 5 has definitely managed to set fire to the rival flagships, not only in terms of power, but also by price. The Xiaomi Mi 5 sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset and an Adreno 530 GPU. RAM and storage variants include 3GB with 32GB/64GB and 4GB with 128GB. It features a 5.15-inch IPS LCD display sporting a full HD 1920x1080 resolution. The display as well as the rear panel is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4. The cameras on the Mi 5 are equipped with a 16MP sensor on the rear and a 4MP on the front. The rear camera is also equipped with an active optical image stabilizer for better, shake-free photos and videos. The VoLTE dual SIM Mi 5 (Hybrid) supports Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, Bluetooth v4.2 (LE), GLONASS, A-GPS, BDS, NFC, IR and a USB Type-C port on the connectivity front. Lastly, the Mi 5 is also equipped with capacitive fingerprint biometrics security, fuelled by a 3000mAh battery and powered by Android Marshmallow 6.x with Xiaomi’s own UI, MIUI. All that said, the entire hardware is packaged within a 129g body which is 7.3mm thick.
Xiaomi’s Mi 5 has been officially announced for India with the release date confirmed for March 31, 2016 and the Indian market prices are speculated to start at Rs 21,000. Soon we shall have our handsets for an extensive review. But in the meanwhile, the Xiaomi Mi 5 was launched in a few markets globally and a few too many reviews are already hanging around, speaking in favor of the Chinese tech giant. So what are the reviewers talking about the Xiaomi Mi 5? Let’s take a quick peek to know how the device impressed or disappointed them so that you in India are ready to make a firsthand decision whether you should wait for the Mi 5 sales or simply invest in something that is already out there.
For starters, AnandTech mentions that they were ‘fairly impressed’ with the new Xiaomi flagship. They particularly find that the screen and design are its highlights with the Snapdragon 820 working below it. The benchmarking tests which features existing devices such as the Nexus 6P and the Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 and iPhone’s 6s showed the Mi 5 taking the lead. On the camera front too, they did find the Mi 5 performing well in both low-light and bright daylight. In particular, they also confirmed that the 4-axis optical image stabilization on the rear camera was very effective. They ended their first review with ‘It looks like Xiaomi was able to pull off a quite outstanding device that seems to be hard to beat in terms of price/performance ratio.’
arstechnica claims ‘It’s hard to argue with $305 for a Snapdragon 820,’ adding, ‘The Mi 5 might be the phone that Xiaomi uses to finally break into the Western market.’
‘The Mi 5 is very much a "budget flagship" phone,’ says arstechnica, adding that most customers may not know that Xiaomi has offered them a high-end smartphone by trimming some corners such as processor speed at 1.8-GHz and using just a full HD display instead of 2K. But they did mention that, in comparison to the Samsung Galaxy S7, which offers a 2.15GHz processor with a 2K screen a 4GB RAM, Xiaomi’s Mi 5 still takes a lead with an IR blaster, Fingerprint sensor, 16MP OIS camera and a type-C USB port with less than half the price of the former. But the real battle with be worth it when the Xiaomi Mi 5 Pro (4GB RAM with 128GB storage) comes to life in June this year.
arstechnica was a little disappointed with Xiaomi’s MIUI stating that they need to do something about it, comparing it with what you would lose if you were on MIUI instead of stock Android Marshmallow. They feel that MIUI is old, dated and needs to be upgraded big time. However, on the performance front, arstechnica, the Mi 5 beats the Galaxy S7 with support from a lower resolution display. They were impressed with the speed tests, stating ‘Mi 5 can hang with Samsung's best’, making sure they highlighted that they were comparing a $350 smartphone with a one that sells at $700.
As for the camera, here’s what they said: ‘In a cheap phone, the camera is always suspect. But the Mi 5's 16MP camera is actually pretty good! In our daylight shots, the camera stands up to the best out there—think the $380 Nexus 5X, the $650 iPhone 6S Plus, and the $700 Samsung Galaxy S7. But the Mi 5's low light performance is more in line with its $300 price tag. Higher-end cameras all pull out more light than the Mi 5 when the sun goes down. Other than that, the Mi 5 held its own.’ To end it, they mention the pros:
- A Snapdragon 820 for an amazing $305.
- Build quality worthy of a much more expensive phone.
- Fast, accurate fingerprint reader.
- USB Type-C.
- The camera isn't up to the level of a $700 camera, but for $305, it's pretty good.
Android Headlines states that there’s nothing much to mention about the Xiaomi Mi 5 since it is a great product, especially the price. They say, ‘the Mi 5 resembles the Galaxy S7 at first glance, mainly because of the home button though.’ They too have concerns about the MIUI operating system.
They also say that it has its downsides, like every phone has, but is a compelling smartphone nonetheless. And if they really had to list something negative, it would be the availability globally. It’s also true here in India, since fans and users have to literally wait for the flash sales only to be disappointed if they did not manage to buy one.
Mashable states that ‘the Mi 5 is an incredible Chinese phone with an unbeatable price’. they add, ‘It's not the best phone screen I've seen — the Galaxy S7's is still better and higher resolution — but it's pretty crisp for a $300 phone.’ On the performance front, Mashable says, ‘It handled 3D games like N.O.V.A. 3 and Asphalt 8: Airborne quite well. When you're pushing the phone's graphics hard, it does get a little warm, but not hot.’ As for the camera, ‘Where the camera struggles most is in low-light. Its f/2.0 aperture is nowhere near as good as the S7's large f/1.7 aperture, but the pics are comparable to those from the iPhone 6S's.’ as a wrap-up, Mashable has definitely seen Xiaomi as a rising star in the Chinese smartphone category and mentions ‘You get what you pay for’, making it a true value for money smartphone. ‘The Xiaomi Mi 5 is a stellar Android smartphone for an unbeatable price.’
The Verge says that the Mi 5 is an alarmingly good smartphone and as Chinese customers are becoming more discerning, Xiaomi is rising to meet increasing expectations. They were impressed with the performance mentioning that the new Snapdragon chipset simply sings. ‘The 820 processor also delivers great performance, making the Mi 5 capable of playing any game or taking on any processing task with ease’, they add. For the camera they were a tad disappointed. They said that though the images in low-light are better, and the camera snaps quick photos with faster focusing, ‘Sharpness and color accuracy are both lacking, even in well illuminated images’. This is because Xiaomi relies on Qualcomm’s image processing engine where other brands such as Apple, Samsung and LG are investing heavily to improvise on it. As a verdict, The Verge ends with, ‘The Mi 5 drags premium performance and features down into an even lower price tier. Its arrival is bad news for Xiaomi’s competitors but good news for consumers. This is as much smartphone as almost anyone will need, and for its price, I'm willing to forgive a couple of understandable shortcomings‘.
CNET also agrees that the low-light performance of the Mi 5 is not as good as that on the Samsung Galaxy S7, but the rear camera takes some beautiful bright photos in good lighting. ‘The Mi 5 runs smooth as silk,’ adds CNET, when talking about the performance. They mention that the 3GB RAM is good enough to keep apps in the memory without the need to reload it again. ‘If you're gamer with a penchant for great graphics, you're in good hands with the Mi 5. In short, this is a flagship phone with flagship performance’.
Lastly, GSMArena also gave out their verdict for the Mi 5. They say that the Xiaomi Mi 5 is one of the most beautiful, most powerful and most capable smartphones to date and recommend on buying one if available in your area. In their performance tests, they found the Mi 5 to ace most of the key benchmarking tests, which put it ‘around the top of the flagship chain,’ adding that considering the cost of the Mi 5 over a Samsung Galaxy S7 at half the price, ‘it's an easy recommendation’. However, their tests did find come good and bad points. For the good, they are with the excellent build quality, great display, nice battery life, stellar performing chipset with negligible heating issues and a great camera. What they did not like is the audio captured in 4k which was awful.
The Xiaomi Mi 5 is definitely standing on the top right now. With absolutely no contenders in the same price bracket with similar specifications, Xiaomi is definitely worth pronouncing ‘the flagship killer’. With the Mi 5 selling at almost half the price (and even lower) as compared to the iPhone, Galaxy S7, G5 and Xperia X, this one truly stands as the most affordable premium flagship smartphone. But if budget is not your concern, then you could opt for the waterproof Galaxy or Xperia, or the modular LG G5.
Xiaomi will announce the final prices for India on Thursday, March 31, which may finally put an end to most high-end smartphone hunters on a budget. Once launched in India, there will be a spur of detailed reviews and verdicts. We look forward to the Mi 5 launch here in India and are keen on sampling the same.
