2016 may not have been the banner year Xiaomi was hoping for, however they are not letting this slow them down as today the company announced their new flagship grade smartphones, the Mi5S and the Mi5S Plus.
The Mi5 that launched early 2016 was a well build, stunning looking device. Boasting a Snapdragon 820 CPU, crisp 1080P screen, fingerprint sensor and a sharp camera with optical image stabilization. Now months later, amid speculation on, Xiaomi announced the new Mi5S and the Mi5S Plus.
Design wise, the Mi5S and Mi5S Plus borrow their design from the Mi5, but rather then continue with the different body materials seen on that phone such as ceramic, Xiaomi has chosen to move more a more Apple all metal body. The new phones will come in a selection of colours including dark gray, silver, gold and rose gold. Moving away from the gloss ceramic body is a disappointment, but ultimately will allow Xiaomi to simplify the manufacturing process, making the Mi5S range of devices a more mass market lineup of products.
The Mi5S will offer consumers a very attractive all medal body smartphone, supporting a Snapdragon 821 CPU running at 2.15GHz, Ultrasonic Fingerprint reader, 3200MAh, 4GB RAM, 5.15-inch 1080P LED (600 nit) Screen, Dual-Sim, NFC, and a 12MP IMX 378 f2.0 Sony Camera rear facing camera. Xiaomi managed to pack a lot of hardware in the phone, but what is more impressive is they have managed to do that all for just 1999 Yuan ($300) for the 64GB version and 2299 Yuan ($345) for the 128GB.
Not to be outdone by what Apple is doing on the iPhone 7, Xiaomi also introduced the Mi5S Plus. The Mi5S Plus, much like the iPhone 7 Plus, ups almost every spec on offer. The Mi5S Plus boasts a 5.7-inch (550 nits) full-HD display, an Snapdragon 821 CPU running at 2.35GHz, a duel camera 13MP Sony sensor with f/2.2 aperture setup. Costing 2299 yuan [$345] for the 4GB RAM / 64GB version and 2599 yuan [$390] for the 6GB RAM / 128GB variant, it is only a marginal increase for people demand the very best. Both phones will come with the MIUI 8 Skin running on Android 6.
While these phones do look to be fantastic values to any bargain hunters that demand the very best in performance and specs, it should be noted that unless you are willing to import the devices, it is unlikely to be released state-side. Xiaomi is having a difficult time breaking out of the China and India markets, so people interested may have to look to online sellers if they want to pick up these phones. The Mi5S and Mi5S Plus will be launching in China on September 29, and other countries, such as India, shortly after that date.
