Xiaomi Announces Flagship Mi 5 and Midrange Mi 4s with Unbelievable Prices

Xiaomi made its first ever global announcement at MWC 2016 and announced its long-awaited flagship, the gorgeous Mi 5. The three Mi 5 variants were joined by a powerful midranger, Mi 4s. Amazingly, all devices come with price tags unseen in the mobile realm. Without further ado, here are the details:

Xiaomi Mi 5

Mi 4 was announced back in August 2014 and Xiaomi took its sweet time to release its next flagship phone. It seems the company really did pay attention to details and wanted to release a device which is a real flagship killer. The eagerly anticipated Mi 5 is rubbing shoulders with the latest flagships from Samsung, Sony and LG (which were revealed over the past few days).

Xiaomi Mi 5 comes with a trendy curved design on the back not much different from what the Mi Note started. What’s different about the curved back is that it’s not metal but glass. Xiaomi thought 2.5D glass was too mainstream and went with an actual 3D glass back. There will be a Pro version as well with a curved Ceramic back, which is harder than steel with an 8H rating.

The company’s new flagship comes with a 5.15-inch 1080p IPS display. Xiaomi believes 2K screens are unnecessary on such a small screen. The display has been improved and is ultra-bright thanks to 16 LED back-lightening and Sunlight Display Technology which adjusts per-pixel contrast for increased legibility. There are no side bezels here. A curved glass goes well with the metal frame and curved back. Below the screen is a home button with an embedded fingerprint sensor.

The phone boasts a 3,000mAh body in a super-slim 7.25mm body. To top it off, Mi 5 weighs only 129 grams. If that doesn’t amaze you, this will – there’s a 3,000mAh battery inside despite the slimness and light body.

Xiaomi Mi 5 is powered by a Snapdragon 820 and 3GB or 4GB LPDDR4 RAM depending on the version. The three variants come with 32GB, 64GB and 128GB flash storage. Xiaomi has used the UFS 2.0 storage and not the eMMC 5.0 storage which should give an 80% percent boost in disk access time.

The company has used Sony’s 16MP IMX298 camera sensor with an aperture of f/2.0 and 4-axis optical image stabilisation (OIS), a first for any smartphone. The sensor uses Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF) and deep trench pixel isolation (DTI) to prevent light leakage in each pixel. The front camera makes use of the 4 Ultra Pixel camera which was used in HTC One M8. Cameras are protected by a sapphire glass lens.

Mi 5 will come with MIUI 7 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The phone supports latest 4G+ and 4G Advanced standards with Cat 12 LTE theoretical speeds of up to 600Mbps. There’s complete NFC implementation unlike other phones and users can copy NFC cards and write on them as well. Mi 5 comes with full IR Remote functionality as well.

Now for the price, Mi 5 with 3GB/32GB RAM and storage combo costs $304, 3GB/64GB costs $352 and Pro version with ceramic back and 4GB/128GB costs $413. Phones will come in Gold, Silver and Black color options and go on sale from 1^st March in China. International availability will be announced later on.

Xiaomi Mi 5/Mi 5 Pro Specifications:

• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 820
• CPU: 2X 1.8 GHz Kryo & 2X 1.6 GHz Kryo – 32GB Version
  2X 2.15 GHz Kryo & 2X 1.6 GHz Kryo – Other Variants
• GPU: Adreno 530
• OS: MIUI 7 based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
• Supported Networks: 2G, 3G, 4G+ LTE (Optional Dual SIM)
• Design:
  • Dimensions: 144.55 x 69.20 x 7.25mm
  • Weight: 129 g
  • 3D Curved Glass Back or Ceramic Back
  • Fingerprint scanner
• Display: 5.15” with FHD resolution (428PPI)
  • Power Saving 16 LED Backlight
  • Sunlight Display Technology
• Memory:
  • RAM: 3 GB, 4 GB(Pro Version)
  • Internal Storage: 32/64/128 GB UFS2.0
  • MicroSD Card: No
• Camera:
  • Rear Camera: 16 MP (f/2.0), 4K Video, Phase Detection Auto Focus, 4-axis OIS, DTI, Dual LED Flash
  • Front Camera: 4 MP front-facing camera with 2um pixels and 1080p video
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi ac, USB Type-C, Full NFC, GPS with GLONASS, IR Remote, FM Radio
• Battery: 3,000 mAh, USB-Type-C (3.1 Standard), Quick Charge 3.0 supported
• Colours: Gold, Black, Silver, Ceramic
• Price: $304 (3GB/32GB), $352 (3GB/64GB), $413 (Pro 4GB/128GB)

Xiaomi Mi 4s

Xiaomi also unveiled the Mi 4s, which will probably stand between the current flagship Mi 5 and previous king Mi 4. Mi 4s is an improvement over last year’s Mi 4i as well.

The Xiaomi Mi 4s boasts glass panels at the front and the back but there’s no 3D glass, just a ‘plain old’ 2.5D glass panel. The glass panels are supported by a metal frame. The screen size stands at 5-inches with 1080p resolution. Placed at the back is a touch-based fingerprint sensor. Mi 4s also comes with full IR Remote functionality.

In terms of specs, Mi 4s is powered by a Snapdragon 808, 3GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and a microSD card slot. Rear camera uses a 13MP sensor with PDAF and dual LED flash while the front one uses a 5MP sensor. Fitted inside the 7.8 mm body is a big 3,260 mAh non-removable battery. There is a USB Type-C connector at the bottom which supports Quick Charge 2.0. With all the heft of the battery, metal and glass, Mi 4s still comes in a 7.8mm thin with a weight of only 133 grams.

Mi 4s will go on sale alongside the Mi 5 and come with the same MIUI 7 based on Android 6.0. The phone will come in no other options except for the four color variants; Black, Gold, Purple, and White. Finally, the price is a meagre $260, which is less than what used ex-flagships usually cost.

Xiaomi Mi 4s Specifications:

• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 808
• GPU: Adreno 418
• OS: MIUI 7 based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
• Supported Networks: 2G, 3G, 4G LTE Optional Dual SIM
• Design:
  • Dimensions: 139.26 x 70.76 x 7.8mm
  • Weight: 133 g
  • 2.5 Curved Glass Back with Metal Frame
  • Fingerprint scanner
• Display: 5.0” with FHD resolution (441PPI)
  • Sunlight Display Technology
• Memory:
  • RAM: 3 GB
  • Internal Storage: 64 GB
  • MicroSD Card: Yes, up to 128GB
• Camera:
  • Rear Camera: 13 MP (f/2.0), 4K Video, Phase Detection Auto Focus, Dual LED Flash
  • Front Camera: 5 MP and 1080p video
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi ac, USB Type-C, NFC, GPS with GLONASS and BDS, IR Remote, FM Radio
• Battery: 3,260 mAh, USB-Type-C (3.1 Standard), Quick Charge 2.0 supported
• Colours: Gold, Black, Silver, Pink
• Price: $260

Image Credits: Official Xiaomi Press Shots

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