Xiaomi Announces the Mi 5 the Most Affordable Flagship You Can’t Buy

Xiaomi is one of the top phone makers in the world. Something they have accomplished without a presence in the US. Instead they focus much more on the Chinese and Indian market. Two of the largest and fastest growing markets in the world. They’ve always produced phones with top specs and good design, for an extremely affordable price.

The Mi 5 is no different in that respect. Starting at $306 dollars you get a 5.15 inch 1080P display, Snapdragon 820 (1.8GHz) CPU, Andreno 530 GPU, 3GB of RAM, 32GB/64GB of storage, 16MP rear camera with OIS, 4MP front facing camera, 3000mAh battery, microSD support, fingerprint scanner, NFC, and USB-C port. All of that and this is just the lower end model. The 64GB model does increase the price to $352 dollars though.

They also offer a Pro model for $460 dollars with bumped up specs. Most notably a more powerful Snapdragon 820 CPU at 2.15GHz, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. The Mi 5 Pro also includes a ceramic back instead of glass which is found on the cheaper models.

The 16MP camera is using 4 axis optical image stabilization along with Sony’s new IMX298 and comes with both phase detecting auto focus and DTI (Deep Trench Isolation), pixel-to-pixel isolation and Qualcomm’s Spectra image processor. The 3000mAh battery should get you plenty of juice with only a 1080P display, but it also includes Qualcomm’s new quick charging 3.0. The fingerprint scanner much like on Samsung phones is found in the home button. Which is on the front of the phone with a capacitive button on either side.

Out of the box it comes with Android 6 Marshmallow but with Xiaomi’s own MIUI skin on top. Like most skins from China it’s heavily influenced by IOS and lacks an app drawer. The Mi 5 will be released in China starting March 1st and soon after in India.

While it packs a lot of phone for a very affordable price and seems very tempting to import. Please remember that if you do import it, to check to make sure it supports your carrier’s bands. Many times imported Chinese phones lack 4G LTE.

Source: Android Central