Xiaomi Mi 5 2016 Flagship Smartphone Price is $300 : A Samsung Galaxy S7 Look-Alike?

I hope our friends from the Chinese electronics company won't call me out on the title of this post because, really, apart from the location of this model's camera module at the back, almost all design elements of new Xiaomi Mi 5 make it look largely identical to Samsung Galaxy S7.

Xiaomi Mi 5
For one, the Mi 5 flaunts the same metal mid-frame sandwiched by glass panels; The one at the back even has curved sides reminiscent of the SGS7.

Xiaomi Mi 5

Also announced at MWC 2016 a few days ago, Mi5 is Xiaomi's 2016 flagship model featuring the very best that the company has the offer in this product category not only in terms of design and build but more importantly when it comes to technical specifications.

Xiaomi Mi 5
This release is also the first device from the Beijing-based handset maker to sport a home button, which incorporates a fingerprint sensor for quickly unlocking the device and making supported online purchases with but a swipe of a finger in lieu of typing one's password.

Xiaomi Mi 5
I would like to give credit to Gadgets 360 for all images that I used in this post. I hope you can follow their informative Youtube channel, TP Friends.

On the outside, the device is equipped with a 5.15-inch Full HD IPS display protected by scratch-resistant glass, a 16 MegaPixel main camera with f/2.0 apeture, 1.12 µm pixel size, Dual Tone LED flash and optical image stabilization - which is one of the strongest selling points of the Mi5, a 5 MegaPixel front cam for selfies that performs well in low light conditions, and a 4K 30fps video recorder.

Xiaomi Mi 5

At its heart, like the more expensive LG G5 and Galaxy S7 (in some territories), the most affordable Xiaomi Mi 5 variant runs its MIUI-flavored Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system with the beastly Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset, has 3 GB of RAM - which is just right considering its price, and comes with 32GB of non-expandable storage. The company offers more expensive versions with 64GB and 128GB of internal storage paired with 4GB of RAM. All variants are powered by a non-removable 3,000 mAh Li-Ion battery pack that supports Quick Charge 3.0 giving you up to 83% of the battery's capacity in just 30 minutes.

Xiaomi Mi 5
Though it looks a lot like the SGS7, the Mi 5 has one thing that the Korean Giant's flagship lacks: A USB Type C 1.0 Reversible connector port!

Xiaomi Mi 5 with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of ROM will be launched in China and India later this month with price tag of around $300 USD -- that's roughly 1,999 CNY or 10,300 INR. The smartphone comes in three colors: Black, Gold, and White with a special Ceramic version.

Given that Xiaomi has mellowed down its operations in the Philippines, I'm not sure if the company will officially release this model here. In fact, last year's top-of-the-line model - the Mi 4 - didn't even see any local launch. Nonetheless, I'm confident that we can rely on our online sellers to make the Mi5 available to Pinoy Xiaomi fans as soon as the handset gets released in Xiaomi's priority territories. I'm still hoping, though, that the Chinese device manufacturer would at least formally bring some units here.

TechPinas Smartphone Technical Specs Table (TSTST)
Name Xiaomi Mi5
Type Slate Form Factor
Price Category Midrange (Flagship Level)
Dimensions144.6 x 69.2 x 7.3 mm
Weight 129 grams
Available Colors Black, White, Gold, Ceramic
Operating System Android 6.0 Marshmallow with MIUI 7.0
Display 5.15 inches (~73.1% screen-to-body ratio), 1080 x 1920 pixels (~428 ppi pixel density), IPS LCD, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, Gorilla Glass 4
Processor Quad Core Qualcomm MSM8996 Snapdragon 820 chipset = Dual Core 1.8 GHz Kryo + Dual Core 1.6 GHz Kryo, Adreno 530 GPU
RAM 3GB, 4GB RAM options
Internal Storage 32GB of ROM (minimum, also available in 64GB and 128GB), non-expandable
Camera Main: 16 MegaPixels, f/2.0 aperture, phase detection autofocus, OIS (4-axis), Dual Tone LED flash, 1/2.8" sensor size, 1.12 µm pixel size, geo-tagging, touch focus, face/smile detection, panorama, HDR
Front: 4 MegaPixels, f/2.0 aperture, 1/3" sensor size, 2µm pixel size
Video Capture Main: 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@120fps
Front: 1080p@30fps
Audio and Video Playback MP4, DviX, XviD, H.264, WMV, MP3, WAV, FLAC, eAAC+, WMA player
Ports Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, 3.5 mm combo jack
Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Bluetooth v4.2, A2DP, LE, apt-X, 3G HSPA+; LTE Cat12
GPS Yes, with GLONASS, A-GPS, and BDS
FM Radio Yes (TBC)
Sensors Fingerprint, Accelerometer, Digital Compass, Gyroscope, Barometer
Network 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, 3G Network HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100, 4G Network LTE 800 / 850 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600 (TBC)
SIM Card Type Dual nanoSIM
Battery Non-Removable 3,000 mAh Li-Ion battery
Uptime TBD
Value-Added Features Glass-Sandwich Design Language, Value for Money, Top-Notch Imaging Capabilities
Announcement MWC ~ February 2016
Availability TP Guesstimate: March 2016
Price Official: Starts at $300