Xiaomi has been teasing their new Mi device lately, and the preliminary spec sheet is out. On the get go, the Mi5 is a typical flagship device, with some pretty decent features. Xiaomi have now accustomed to seeing mind boggling sales figures, and will hope that the Mi5 will carry on that surreal streak. Lets me take you through the specifications available, and determine whether or not, this device will strike gold –
- Connectivity – The device will feature 2G, 3G and 4G connectivity, thus conforming with the industry norms. The connectivity is updated, and customers will have no problem as far as this factor is concerned.
- Display – The MI5 will reportedly feature a 5.5 inch QHD display, with a shattering pixel density of 534 ppi . This pixel density will give you absolutely crisp details even at full zoom. Xiaomi have delivered a segment topping display and it will go down as one of the best smartphone displays of 2015 for sure. Xiaomi will be including their new updated MIUI 6.0. The UI has been a hit amon the masses and the updated verison will just draw more users, and delight the existing fanbase. If Xiaomi announce Gorilla Glass protection, then we will clearly have a winner, no questions asked.
- Performance – The Mi5 will be powered by a Snapdragon 805 chipset, which is by far, the best in the market. We will also find a Quad core 2.5 GHz Krait 450 processor. The only upgrade here is the chipset, from 801 in the MI4 to the 805 in the MI5. Another notable change is the GPU. We had the Adreno 330 in the MI4 and we will now see it replaced with the amazing Adreno 420 – Good news for the gamers. Overall, I think the performance package is strong and should give a decent all- round performance. The Krait lineup has given very good results in the past, and it will not disappoint this time either.
- Memory – The Mi5 will pickup where Mi4 left off. While the Mi4 4 offered 16/64 GB variants, the Mi5 will reportedly offer only a 32 GB flavour. Xiaomi may give us other variants in the future, and I feel thats necessary, as there is no SD card memory expansion, and if Xiaomi does not include OTG support, users will be stranded with 32 GB memory, which will affect their sales big time. The 3GB RAM has been carried forward. Multi-tasking is not going to be any problem. Overall , the only concern I have is with the memory. The best solution, according to me would be to offer 16/32/64 GB variants with SD card or OTG support.
- Camera -The Camera section will see one major bump up – the 13 MP sensor in the Mi4 will be replaced with a 16 MP sensor. Video recording will feature 4k recording at 30 fps, 1080p @ 60fps and 720p @ 120fps. The front camera sensor will remain 8 MP. Selfie fans can still get some crisp selfies though. The front camera will also be able to record 1080p videos at 30 fps. Nothing major in the camera section, except the bump up to 16 MP. Overall,a good camera package.
- Other Features include FM Radio, GPS featuring A-GPS , GLONASS and Beidou positioning assistance, IR port for the universal remote functionality, WiFi direct and DLNA.
The battery has not been made official but I am predicting something between 2600-3300 mAh for some solid Battery performance.The device will boot 5.0 Lollipop out of box, which brings a host of new features and power management tweaks.
All in all , I feel the Mi5 is a strong flagship, and considering the aggressive pricing that Xiaomi is known for, the feature list is apt. Xiaomi will most likely host a flash sale online as usual, and it won’t surprise me is this device delivers record shattering sales as well.
