This ‘budget specialist’ image has certainly helped Xiaomi sell a lot of phones but it has become a bit difficult for the company to sell premium segment smartphones in India. But the company’s second smartphone launched in 2016 is a clear message that the company wants to create a market for premium smartphones in India. The Mi 5 is Xiaomi’s most expensive phone till date and it presents Xiaomi as something different from its ‘budget’ image. With all the top specifications, this phone is available at almost half the price of the Samsung Galaxy S7 (Review). The Xiaomi Mi 5 has the potential to change the minds of premium buyers. Today we will review the Xiaomi Mi 5 and find out how well this ‘budget flagship’ lives up to the expectations.
Look and design
Xiaomi has done a great job on the design and design of the first Redmi Note 3 and now Xiaomi Mi 5. The special thing is that from the budget smartphone Redmi Note 3, the company has made the flagship smartphone Mi 5 with a completely different design and style. The phone gives the feel of a premium smartphone and due to its mid-range, the design has not been compromised at all. The phone is also very light and weighs only 129 grams.
The Mi 5 clearly takes inspiration from Samsung’s A and S series smartphones, especially the Samsung Galaxy A8 (Review). The phone’s edges and curved rear are similar, as is the physical home button on the front and the thin border around the screen.
The front camera, proximity sensor, LED indicator and earpiece are at the top of the front of the phone while the MI logo is at the top left corner. There are capacitive buttons along with the home button. Both the capacitive buttons get backlit when touched. Apart from this, the home button is also touch-sensitive while using the phone, which can be switched as per your convenience.
The entire frame of the phone is made of metal except for the plastic antenna lines at the top and bottom. The dull finish with a metal look makes the phone look great and its reflective edges make the phone look more beautiful. The power and volume buttons are on the right side while the dual-SIM tray is on the left. The 3.5mm socket and infrared emitter are at the top and the USB Type-C support and grill are at the bottom. The right grill has a speaker while the left grill has a microphone.
The rear of the Mi 5 is a glass panel with curved edges like most premium Samsung smartphones. The rear panel is also reflective, however, the surface is a grime magnet and will need frequent cleaning. Although the rear panel is not removable, the small gaps on the edges indicate that it can come off easily. The review unit we received was the white colour variant but we think the black colour variant of the phone looks much prettier.
Xiaomi Mi 5 has a 5.15 inch full-HD IPS LCD display with a density of 428 ppi. There is Corning Gorilla Glass for protection. Although other flagship smartphones have 1440 pixel high-resolution screens, Xiaomi says that it was necessary to limit the full-HD resolution screen to reduce the thickness of the screen and make the phone slim. The display is quite sharp and we did not see any lack of detail in it. The screen of the phone is very bright and due to the maximum brightness, it can be easily used in sunlight.
Specifications and software
The Xiaomi Mi 5 is the first smartphone to be officially available in India with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor. And along with the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, it is one of the most powerful devices you can buy today.
The Mi 5 smartphone comes with 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, VoLTE support, NFC, an infrared emitter and Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 technology. Our review unit was equipped with Quick Charge 3.0 technology but we have been told that the Mi 5 sold in India will be equipped with Quick Charge 2.0. Even with a 2.0 supported charger, the phone gets charged in 90 minutes.
Apart from this, this smartphone has Wi-Fi 802.11n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2, dual SIM connectivity with 4G support, 3000 mAh battery and USB Type-C port for connectivity and charging. The drawback in the phone is the lack of expandable storage. The phone does not support microSD card, due to which the user will get only 32 GB inbuilt storage. However, Mi 5 is also available in 64 GB and 128 GB variants in China. But these variants are not being sold in India at the moment and no information has been given about their sale in the future.
Xiaomi Mi 5 comes with MIUI 7 on top of Android. It is a single layer but is very clean and well organized. The icons and menus are well designed and it definitely gives a much better experience than the UI that other phone manufacturers have been offering in the recent past. The phone also gets regular updates for the UI. Although the UI is not exactly like stock Android, it is definitely a better UI.
The Settings app has a number of options and controls to customize the Mi 5 to suit your needs. The phone offers detailed battery usage and storage information, and features such as the capacitive buttons and notification light, audio enhancements, equalizer tool for headphones, and more. You can also toggle the home button to switch to one-handed mode.
However, we couldn’t find information like app permissions and data usage statistics in the Settings app but we did spot these in Xiaomi’s additional Security app. This app can be used to perform essential tasks like setting fingerprint/pattern lock in selected apps, configuring battery profiles, scanning for viruses, setting SMS blocklist and cleaning unwanted data.
One of the most important features of the phone is the fingerprint sensor, which can configure up to five fingerprints. These fingerprints can not only unlock the phone but also activate and deactivate child mode, secure file explorer and secure select other apps. The Mi 5’s fingerprint sensor is the most accurate and fast of all the fingerprint sensors we have seen so far.
Camera
Xiaomi Mi 5 has a 16-megapixel rear camera with dual LED tone. The phone has a 4 ultrapixel front camera. 4K video recording can be done from the rear camera while full-HD video can be recorded up to 30 fps from the front camera. There is also optical image stabilization for the rear camera, which helps in recording sharp photos and videos.
Xiaomi’s camera app looks very simple at first glance but it has some shortcomings too. Toggling from still to video is easy. The camera app has options like HDR, flash and camera switch. Apart from this, filters can be seen by swiping to the right while many modes like timer, panorama, manual can be seen by swiping from the left. Settings can also be accessed from here to control resolution and shutter. To access the settings for video, first you have to go to video mode and then repeat the same process.
One drawback we noticed is that the slow-motion mode is not available when shooting at full-HD or 4K resolution. Slow-motion video shooting can be done if you switch to 720p in the settings.
Talking about the camera, we liked its performance. In regular light, the pictures are bright, colorful and quite sharp. However, you may notice a lack of detail when you zoom in. Talking about focus, there is not much lack in it. And the pictures are good even in dark light. By keeping the camera on auto-HDR mode, you will get great quality pictures.
Even in low light, photos are colourful and good to look at but there is a lack of detail. Close-up shots and video quality are also fine. 4K video recording gives good results. Selfies are good even in low light. The 4-ultrapixel camera can take better pictures with bigger pixels. The quality is not like iPhone 6S and Samsung Galaxy S7 but Mi 5 can definitely be called a good option for smartphone photography.
Performance
The performance of Xiaomi Mi 5, equipped with Snapdragon 820 processor, was amazing. We did not face any problem in unlocking the phone or opening and closing the app quickly. Playing heavy games and watching videos on the phone is also easy. However, Mi 5 gets a little hot when doing serious work. And even while charging, a little heat can be felt on the rear of the phone.
Our benchmark tests also showed impressive results from the Mi 5.
In our video loop test, the 3000mAh battery on the Mi 5 lasted for 13 hours and 5 minutes. In normal use, the phone lasted a full day even with high screen brightness and constant 4G connectivity. The audio quality from the phone’s single speaker on cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity is decent.
Our verdict
Xiaomi may be known for making budget smartphones but with the Mi 5, the company has shown that it can make premium devices as well. While many people may be upset with the price and the fact that Xiaomi is making a premium device, we feel that it is time to move on and give the company the respect it deserves. The Xiaomi Mi 5 is a great flagship smartphone at this price point.
The Mi 5 has all the good things in terms of practical design, great performance, good camera quality and excellent battery life. But the biggest drawback of the phone is that it does not come with expandable storage and in India it comes only with 32 GB storage variant. The light weight of the phone can also make you feel that this phone is not made for serious work like other metal body phones. Another big problem is that it is a flash-sale model which means that buying the Mi 5 can be a bit difficult.
If you want to spend more money and get better material quality, build quality, design and premium features and brand, then you can choose smartphones from Samsung and other brands. But for Rs 24,999, Xiaomi Mi 5 is a great smartphone in terms of price and features. If you manage to buy the phone in the flash sale, then Xiaomi Mi 5 will definitely not disappoint you.
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