Friday, 18 March 2016
Introduction
It's been a while since we met the last of the Mi kind. Even though the Xiaomi Mi 4 went on sale back in the summer of 2014, it succeeded in staying relevant for over 20 months and surpassed the lifespan of many competitors. Xiaomi surely took the time to make the Mi 5 worthy of its name. And Xiaomi Mi 5 sets the bar even higher!
The Mi 5 was the first Xiaomi phone to be unveiled under the massive spotlight of the world's biggest mobile expo - the MWC in Barcelona. And with its stunning looks and capable performance, the Mi 5 deserved nothing less.
The Xiaomi Mi 5 is instantly likeable - the new flagship comes with unbelievably thin bezels, a sharp profile, a curved back and a lightweight body - all adding to one of the most impressive exteriors a modern smartphones can hope for.
Then you learn that inside there is the latest Snapdragon 820 chipset, a new 16MP camera with 4-axis optical stabilization and yet no camera hump, generous storage options, rich connectivity options, and a beefy battery. How about that?
Key features
- 5.15" IPS LCD display of 1080p resolution; 428ppi; Corning Gorilla Glass 4
- Gorilla Glass 4 (32, 64GB) or ceramic (128GB) rear panel
- 32GB model with Snapdragon 820 chipset (2x 1.8 GHz and 2x 1.6GHz cores); 3GB RAM
- 64GB model with Snapdragon 820 chipset (2x 2.15 GHz and 2x 1.6GHz cores); 3GB RAM - the one we're reviewing
- 128GB model with Snapdragon 820 chipset (2x 2.15 GHz and 2x 1.6GHz cores); 4GB RAM
- 16MP f/2.0 main camera with phase detect autofocus, 4-axis optical image stabilization, dual-tone LED flash; 2160p video at 30fps;
- 4MP f/2.0 front-facing camera, 1080p video recording at 30fps
- Cat.12 4G LTE (600Mbps); Dual-SIM; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.2; NFC; GPS, GLONASS and Beidou; IR blaster
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow with MIUI 7
- 3,000 mAh non-removable battery, fast charging
- Attractive pricing
Main disadvantages
- Limited regional availability at this stage
- No microSD expansion
- Sealed battery
- No FM radio
Xiaomi has turned their backs on the removable battery and memory card slot long ago and it ensures the best MIUI experience by offering uncompromised unibody design and hiccup-free memory speeds. The latter is achieved by utilizing fast UFS 2.0 storage - the same type of storage that Samsung uses on the Galaxy S6 and S7.
The FM radio is what many people may miss, but Qualcomm stopped embedding FM hardware within its flagship chips for some time, so there is that.
Xiaomi will not be expanding the availability of the Mi 5 beyond its usual markets so availability will be scarce elsewhere and you would have to rely on grey imports to satisfy the demand. At least, the phone's price is an amazingly good deal to begin with. Oh, and if you want even more exclusivity, there is the Xiaomi Mi 5 Ceramic flavor with 128GB storage for you.
Unboxing the Xiaomi Mi 5
Xiaomi Mi 5 may be one of the hottest flagships around, but its retail package is hardly anything special. The box contents include a USB Type-C cable and a fast charger plug. That's it. But then again, the price is more than reasonable for the omission of a pair of headphones.
Xiaomi Mi 5 unboxed
You have got to remember we're looking at the box of the model meant for the Chinese market so its contents may vary from country to country.
Xiaomi Mi 5 360-degree spin
The 5.15" Xiaomi Mi 5 is indeed one of the most compact and lightweight flagships around. It spreads at 144.6 x 69.2 x 7.3 mm, which is 2mm taller, yet a hair narrower, and a whisker thinner than the 5.1" Galaxy S7. The Mi 5 weighs just 129g - 23g lighter than the Galaxy S7 which employs a similar design.
Design and build quality
Xiaomi Mi 5 won our hearts back at the MWC in Barcelona. But having it around, playing with it, and handling it for a week, we must admit we are falling in love. The Mi 5 is one of the best looking smartphones to date, with exceptional looks and design.
Xiaomi Mi 5 64GB in white
The Mi 5 employs a familiar dual-glass design with a silver framing accent. Both glass pieces are cut off the latest Gorilla Glass 4 material.
The rear glass is curved around the long sides, while the front piece is perfectly flat. Xiaomi put a chamfered edge on the frame to complement the gentle curves on the back, and this combo worked out for the best. We have always appreciated metal frames in phones, and the Xiaomi Mi 5 delivers. It also improves the grip, boosts the looks, and makes the handling more pleasant.
The display may look almost bezel-less, but it isn't. The metal frame is the border, and it took us a while to get used to it when swiping, as most of the time our thumb scratched the metal before proceeding seamlessly on to the screen. It wasn't unpleasant, but unusual at first.
The screen bezels
The white version isn't prone to smudges, but the black ceramic finish is a real fingerprint magnet.
The regular and the ceramic flavors
The ceramic flavor actually weighs 10g more, but we couldn't tell the difference. It may be heavier, but it's still one of the lightest flagships we've handled so far.
The ceramic Xiaomi Mi 5 (128GB)
The lightweight Mi 5 is an absolute pleasure to handle and the cleverly crafted metal frame makes up for the slippery rear glass. The Xiaomi Mi 5 has the best grip among all other dual-glass smartphones we've met - snapping pictures, browsing, talking - there was not a single moment we feared we may drop it.
Handling the Mi 5
Xiaomi indeed got everything right with the Mi 5, and you can rest assured the wait was worth it even just to handle this beauty. It is excellently crafted, with solid build, premium materials, and it puts a twist on the dual-glass design.
Controls
There is nothing out of the ordinary about the Mi 5's control set. Above the screen is the earpiece, flanked by the LED notification light and a couple of sensors on the left, and the 4MP UltraPixel selfie camera on the right.
Below the screen is the new Home key, which also doubles as a fingerprint scanner. The capacitive Task Switcher and Back keys are around, marked with small dots with white backlighting.
Above the screen • Below the screen
The fingerprint scanner takes about 20 seconds to set up and instantly recognizes your finger from then on. Unfortunately, it isn't always on, but the screen unlocks immediately upon clicking the Home key - faster than the iPhone 6s.
The volume rocker and the power/lock metallic keys are on the right, while the left side has the lonely dual-SIM tray.
What's on the right • The metal keys • The left side • The SIM tray
On top of the Mi 5 we find the IR blaster, the secondary mic, and the audio jack. You can also spot the antenna bands.
The bottom of the Mi 5 houses the USB Type-C port, the primary mic, and the loudspeaker grille. There is a set of antenna bands here as well.
The top • The IR blaster • The bottom • The USB Type-C port
Finally, the new 16MP main camera, hump-free, is on the back accompanied by a dual-LED dual-tone flash. The lens is protected with a small piece of sapphire glass.
The Mi 5's back • The 16MP camera
Display
The Xiaomi Mi 5 features a new 5.15" IPS display of 1080p resolution. Even though most of the rumors suggested an upgrade to QHD resolution, Xiaomi chose to keep the Full HD screen, and we don't mind that. A pixel density of 428ppi is more than respectable and leaves the Snapdragon 820 chip with power to spare on tasks and productivity.
The viewing angles are impressive as well, there is hardly any color shift or contrast loss when looking the Mi 5's display at an angle. It isn't AMOLED grade regarding contrast, but it sure is the next best thing.
The new display utilizes 16 LEDs on backlighting, allegedly four more than most modern-day flagships, and Xiaomi claims it will provide more even backlighting at up to 600 nits of brightness. Our tests confirmed the claim for maximum brightness as we measured 628nits worth of luminance.
The minimum display brightness is 0.7nits, which is perfectly suitable for late-night reading in a dark room and it's even lower than the Galaxy S7's. The screen's contrast ratio is excellent at 1227:1.
When it comes to color rendering, the Mi 5 has an excellent color rendering with an average DeltaE of 3.2 and a maximum deviation of 6.9 in the whites. Anything below 4 is considered calibration level accuracy.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0.51 | 628 | 1227 | |
| 0.73 | 679 | 929 | |
| 0.28 | 452 | 1609 | |
| 0.36 | 536 | 1481 | |
| 0.00 | 391 | ∞ | |
| 0.44 | 534 | 1221 | |
| 0.30 | 399 | 1334 | |
| 0.59 | 583 | 986 | |
| 0.00 | 328 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 363 | ∞ | |
The Xiaomi Mi 5 performed excellently in our sunlight legibility test, too. Posting a very high value for a non-AMOLED panel, the Mi 5 ranks higher than the Xperia Z5 and close to the AMOLED Lumia 950.
Sunlight contrast ratio
Battery life
Xiaomi Mi 5 has got pretty much the same battery as its predecessor - it's a 3,000 mAh Li-Po unit, sealed, of course. We ran our battery test and the Xiaomi Mi 5 scored a 92h rating, which means you can count on the battery to last just a few hours short of 4 days if you do an hour each of calling, browsing the web and video playback a day. Such usage pattern may be somewhat artificial, but we've established it, so our battery results are comparable across devices.
Adding a second SIM card cuts only 1 hour from the total endurance rating. Overall, we're quite happy with the result as it's well beyond the 68-hour rating of the Mi 4.
The Mi 5 did well on all tests - 3G talks, web browsing, video playback, and it posted excellent scores on standby, which makes it a solid overall performer.
The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Connectivity
The Xiaomi Mi 5 supports 7 LTE bands, and you can tap to an LTE network on either SIM, but once you do, the second one will be limited to GSM connectivity only. As for that, the Mi 5 also offers quad-band GSM connectivity. There is quad-band 3G connectivity with HSPA support.
The rest of the connectivity features include dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac support and Wi-Fi Direct. Wireless screen mirroring is available via the Miracast protocol.
There is also support for Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, GPS, and GLONASS. There is no FM radio support, though - we tried installing an FM app - but there is no FM hardware.
The Mi 5 is Xiaomi's second device to support USB Type-C - it's the new reversible connector for USB that builds on top of USB 3.1.
The IR blaster is located on the top and coupled with the right software, it can be used to operate any remotely controlled home appliance, turning the Xiaomi Mi 5 into a universal remote. Xiaomi provides a new version of its MiRemote app right out of the box.
Xiaomi has deemed the Mi Remote and Mi Home Center (for controlling home appliances) quite important, as it provided a shortcut at the bottom left on the lockscreen.
MiRemote app • Shortcut on the lockscreen
User interface
The Xiaomi Mi 5 is the first MIUI smartphone to come running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box. The version of the proprietary launcher is still MIUI 7, so no surprises here.
As usual Xiaomi's customizations run very deep and replace everything including all Google services. In fact, the Mi phones sold in China don't have access to Google's services and those need to be sideloaded one way or the other (some resellers may even do that for you). The models sold officially on markets outside of China come with a preloaded Play Store app (and Play Services).
The lockscreen is the usual affair - it has the clock, two shortcuts, and no widgets. One of the shortcuts allows for quick camera access, the other one opens the Mi Remote center. If you like, you can use Daily Lock Screens - the phone will download a new picture and change your lockscreen wallpaper every 1, 3, or 24 hours.
Fingerprint unlock is available and it's one of the fastest we've seen. The sensor isn't always-on, as Huawei likes to use, but the moment you click on the Home key and you are on the homescreen. Unlocking is even faster than the Touch ID v.2 on the iPhone 6s generation.
The MIUI v7 lockscreen *Settings
Beyond the lockscreen is the Android homescreen with four customizable shortcuts docked at the bottom by default, but you can dock up to five items. You can have any app there or even folders with multiple items if you will.
The MIUI homescreens • there is no app drawer
There is no app drawer - anything you install pops up on your homescreen, which can have an unlimited number of panes. There're no shortcuts and the usual routine of removing icons (dragging them up to a recycle bin at the top of the screen) will, in fact, uninstall the corresponding app. There is a pop-up for confirming the action though, so you can't accidentally uninstall apps.
Homescreen widgets are available, too - tap and hold on the homescreen, then choose Widgets. There are few options available, but of course, you can get even more from the Play Store.
Editing the homescreens • adding widgets
Homescreen effects are available and you can change themes, too. A theme will change your homescreen wallpaper, lockscreen style, system icons, system font and the sound profile (you can disable changing the sound profile from settings).
MIUI v.7 has five default themes - MIUI, High Life, Pink Blush, Rose and Ocean Breeze. They've been handpicked by the MIUI team and you can choose your interface look right from the start, but you can always download new themes from the Mi Store.
Applying a new theme
The notification area has two semi-transparent tabs - the first one hosts all notifications, while the second one (swipe left to access) offers customizable quick toggles and a Settings shortcut.
An enhanced task switcher with Clear All option is available, too.
Notifications • Notifications • Toggles • Toggles • Task Switcher
By the way, Xiaomi's proprietary Search widget does a similar job as iOS's Spotlight system-wide search. You can fire it up by swiping up anywhere on the homescreen. The tool searches through your apps, music, email, settings, among others.
Search
Xiaomi provides its own cloud service for content syncing between devices. Each Mi Cloud account is granted 5GB of free storage. You can use it to backup contacts, messages, your entire gallery, calls log, notes, settings, voice recordings, Browser content (history, tabs, webapp data) and your music library.
Xiaomi's sync and backup service shares lots of similarities with the Apple iCloud. There is even a free Cloud Messaging option that allows you to exchange messages over the internet connection instead of being billed for SMS, but that only works between Xiaomi devices.
Configuring Mi Cloud
Finally, if you signed in with your Mi Cloud account, you can opt for the Find device feature - a handy feature in case you misplace your Xiaomi Mi 5 or someone steals it.
MIUI 7 supports Child mode, which once you setup, allows a user to have limited access to the stuff and apps on your phone. This is nice if you have a kid, who likes playing with your phone occasionally and you are afraid they might delete some important data.
Child mode
The Do Not Disturb mode has been enhanced too - it supports better customization and scheduling options.
We did get our review unit with pre-installed Google Play Store plus Google sync for app data, contacts, and browser data but perhaps they've been sideloaded by the reseller providing this review unit. Of course, you can sideload them yourself one way or the other if they don't come pre-installed on your unit. And once you have those, you can easily download all other Google apps such as Google Now straight from the Play Store.
Performance
All three flavors of Xiaomi Mi 5 run on the Qualcomm's latest and greatest Snapdragon 820 chip. The SoC features Qualcomm's custom built quad-core Kryo CPU. Qualcomm promises up to 2x higher performance than the Snapdragon 810.
The basic 32GB model of the Mi 5 has two Kryo cores at 1.8GHz and two Kryo ticking at 1.6GHz. The 64GB (we are currently reviewing) and the ceramic flavors are utilizing 2x Kryo running on 2.15GHz and 2x Kryo at 1.6GHz.
All three models utilize the most powerful Adreno GPU to date - the Adreno 530. The 32 and 64GB models pack 3GB of RAM, while the 128GB (ceramic) has 4 gigs of RAM at disposal.
The single-core performance is where the Kryo CPU shines. It did noticeably better than any other Android competitor, including the Galaxy S7 Exynos's Mongoose core, and it indeed doubled the performance of its predecessor (the Cortex-A57 within the Nexus 6P).
The Kryo is just short of Apple's Twister core, the best performer on the market right now. But it seems Qualcomm is finally on the right track, and it should help Android ease off the number-of-cores-in-CPU race. Quality can and should be valued over quantity.
GeekBench 3 (single-core)
Higher is better
The multi-core performance is better than the Snapdragon 810 chips (Nexus 6P) and matches the Exynos 7420 octa-core processor inside the Galaxy S6 edge+ and Meizu Pro 5. It also edged Apple's latest A9 chip. The latest Exynos models of the Galaxy S7 series are doing better than the Snapdragon 820 chip, though, but don't forget they have additional four Cortex-A53 cores.
GeekBench 3 (multi-core)
Higher is better
AnTuTu 6 is a compound test that gauges CPU, GPU, RAM, and UX multi-tasking capabilities. The Xiaomi Mi 5 aced the test and outed the same result as the Galaxy S7. Don't forget the AnTuTu benchmark has an onscreen 3D test which runs at Quad HD resolution on the Galaxy S7.
AnTuTu 6
Higher is better
The BaseMark OS II 2.0 is another compound test, which in addition to CPU, GPU, RAM, and OS, also takes in consideration the browser performance. The Mi 5 aced this test too, outing a similar score to the iPhone 6s champ and just few points on top of the Galaxy S7.
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
Now, let's check the graphics out. The offscreen GFX Benchmark 3.1 Manhattan test puts the Adreno 520 (Mi 5) on par with the Mali-T880MP12 (Galaxy S7) and it's twice as good as the GPU inside the Galaxy S6 series. This means whatever version of the Mi 5 you get; the graphics performance should be equally flagship worthy.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
The Quad HD resolution of the Galaxy S7 takes its toll on the onscreen test and thus the Xiaomi Mi 5 tops the chart with. If the S820's Adreno 530 was to run on the same resolution, we bet the result would turn up the same as the S7 though.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
The Xiaomi Mi 5 tops yet another chart - it did excellent on the BaseMark X test. The Galaxy S7 is a whisker behind, which means both devices offer stellar and flagship-worthy GPU performance.
Basemark X
Higher is better
Finally, the demanding BaseMark ES 3.1 GPU bench gives the Galaxy S7 GPU's some edge over the Xiaomi Mi 5's. The iPhone still leads here.
Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal
Higher is better
The new Snapdragon 820 chip lives up to the expectations and delivers stellar performance without depleting the battery in a flash. What's even better - the S820 is much cooler than its predecessor and won't give you headaches on games or benchmarks.
We ran the BaseMark ES 3.1 and AnTuTu, twice times each, and we found the Mi 5 to be warm, but far from unpleasant. And it cooled down in less than a minute - something impossible for the Snapdragon 810 phones.
So, you can rest assured Qualcomm has taken care of all the issues that plague the previous generation Snapdragons. It did well with the new custom Kryo cores and hopefully those will put an end to the core count race. The new Adreno 530 GPU is blazing fast ad looks to be future proofed. The Snapdragon 820 is a flagship hardware worthy for the Mi 5.
Note that the 32GB Xiaomi Mi 5 runs on a down-clocked Snapdragon 820 chip and while it will affect the benchmark scores, nobody should be able to tell the difference in real life operation.
Contacts and telephony
The dialer and the phonebook share a single app although there are two shortcuts, bringing you straight to the tab you need. The app has pleasant flat looks and it's about the same as we remember it. It uses a tabbed interface - recent with dialer on the first and the contact list on the second.
The Phonebook
Xiaomi Mi 5 supports voice call recording and it can do it automatically on each call if you like. You can also assign an answer gesture, pre-define quick responses upon reject, there is even support for internet calling.
The Dialer
There are even more call settings if you dig deeper into the menu - flip to mute the ringer, turn on/off the proximity sensor, lock automatically once slipped in a pocket, it can even mute calls from unknown numbers.
The Xiaomi Mi 5 comes with a new single speaker, which turned out to be louder than Mi 4's. It scored a Good mark on our loudness test, with the highlight being its ringing tone. The sound produced is pleasant but with an average depth.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing | Overall score | |
| 62.0 | 62.1 | 66.6 | Below Average | |
| 65.1 | 62.3 | 66.3 | Below Average | |
| 66.5 | 62.1 | 66.2 | Below Average | |
| 66.5 | 64.6 | 65.8 | Below Average | |
| 66.1 | 65.5 | 70.6 | Average | |
| 65.2 | 64.6 | 76.1 | Average | |
| 66.9 | 67.2 | 74.0 | Good | |
| 73.2 | 66.6 | 77.5 | Good | |
| 70.8 | 70.9 | 77.4 | Very Good | |
| 75.7 | 73.5 | 80.7 | Excellent |
The gallery
The Xiaomi Mi 5 comes with a custom Gallery app. It defaults to your camera roll, but also supports Albums, Cloud and People. The People sorting, once chosen, sorts all of your photos by people's faces. Everything is automatic. Here you can also create a new baby album, to put your newborn pics inside.
Gallery
The integrated editor offers various effects, frames, tools (crop, mirror, straighten, rotate, fisheye, doodle) plus light adjustments that let you bring out the shadows or the highlights.
Editing an image
Music player
The MIUI music player is a custom app with a well laid out, easy to navigate interface. It features two tabs - the first one is cloud music, similar to Google Music service provided by Xiaomi, while the second tab has your own local and cloud music.
The player has cool effects, transitions and transparent elements, especially on the expandable Now Playing section.
Music Player
Xiaomi's Music app offers customizable equalizers with a few default presets already available for use. You can also try Xiaomi's MiSound enhancer, which comes into play when you use headphones, and especially, a Xiaomi-branded headset.
Audio enhancements and equalizers
Video player
The video player interface is very basic but there is rich video codec support. It managed to play everything we threw at it (including MKV and WMV files). The AC3 audio codec is surprisingly, supported too.
Video player
Subtitles and pop-up play are not supported by the MIUI's video player though, so you might want to look around the Play Store if you need a more capable alternative.
Audio output impresses
The Xiaomi Mi 5 delivered great audio output when hooked up to an active external amplifier. The flagship was not only able to match the best for clarity, it also delivered splendidly high volume for arguably the best performance among the 2016 flagships so far.
Stereo crosstalk was the only reading to be affected when headphones came into play and the increase was rather well contained. The rest of the readings remained unchanged and so did loudness for a truly impressive showing.
Anyway, here go the results so you can do your comparisons.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| Xiaomi Mi 5 | +0.01, -0.03 | -95.3 | 95.1 | 0.0034 | 0.0065 | -95.1 |
| Xiaomi Mi 5 (headphones) | +0.01, -0.03 | -95.2 | 95.1 | 0.0027 | 0.013 | -71.5 |
| Samsung Galaxy S7 | +0.01, -0.04 | -92.5 | 92.6 | 0.0027 | 0.0078 | -92.7 |
| Samsung Galaxy S7 (headphones) | +0.05, -0.05 | -91.9 | 92.1 | 0.0044 | 0.063 | -73.4 |
| +0.01, -0.04 | -95.5 | 89.5 | 0.0033 | 0.012 | -94.8 | |
| +0.22, -0.24 | -95.1 | 89.5 | 0.0057 | 0.212 | -59.8 | |
| +0.03, -0.04 | -93.5 | 93.5 | 0.0016 | 0.0075 | -73.2 | |
| +0.10, -0.06 | -93.8 | 93.9 | 0.0030 | 0.101 | -68.2 | |
| LG G4 | +0.04, -0.07 | -93.4 | 93.3 | 0.0021 | 0.050 | -92.6 |
| LG G4 (headphones) | +0.93, -0.13 | - 91.4 | 91.9 | 0.013 | 0.244 | -50.4 |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -91.3 | 91.2 | 0.0036 | 0.012 | -91.6 | |
| +0.59, -0.03 | -92.0 | 91.9 | 0.011 | 0.316 | -63.9 |
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
16MP camera with 4-axis OIS and a true-tone dual-LED flash
Xiaomi Mi 5 features a brand new 16MP camera, equipped with a dual-LED dual-tone flash and enhanced with an innovative 4-axis optical image stabilization. The latter means the camera will be able to stabilize the image (especially in video recording) noticeably better than the competitors.
The sensor itself is the Sony IMX 298, which comes with phase detection auto focus and deep trench isolation technology. The sensor seems like the real flagship deal, at least on paper and, interestingly enough, Xiaomi managed to fit it inside the body without a lens bump. Naturally, in combination with the powerful Snapdragon 820 chip, it can do 4K video as well.
On the front, we have a 4MP UltraPixel camera - lifted from the Mi Note.
The setup is absolutely the same as on the Mi 4c, which offered great photos by the way, so we hope Xiaomi will be keeping the same or even better level of processing.
The camera interface is fairly simple. It has three panes - the default one shows the viewfinder with a virtual shutter, flash trigger and front camera key. Slide to the top pane and you'll get a choice of 12 filters with live previews. A slide to the bottom hides the advanced modes such as Panorama, Beautify, Timer, Scenes, Gradient, and Manual.
The HDR switch is placed next to the virtual camera shutter.
Camera UI
The Manual Mode offers you manual settings for white balance and ISO. The Face Detection switch is within the additional settings.
The Xiaomi Mi 5 indeed resolves a great deal of detail and the noise levels are kept reasonably low. The white balance accurate, and we are quite fond of the lively color rendition. The dynamic range is high, which lately becomes a must for a flagship camera. Overall the processing is really mature and we consider those samples among the best 16MP ones we've seen so far.
The foliage is way better than the mess we saw on the Galaxy S7/S7 edge with more resolved detail and distinctive shapes even on the tiniest of grass and trees' blossoms. The green color is more accurate, too.
Xiaomi Mi 5 camera samples
The HDR mode is conservative enough and rescues both the highlights and shadows without making a flat contrastless mess out of the image. Those also among the best HDR photos we've seen as far as the quality is concerned, but the HDR effect may oversaturate the colors.
HDR off • HDR on • HDR off • HDR on
And here are a few low-light samples - they turned out to be nothing impressive, though we've seen much worse.
A dusk sample • Another dusk sample • A night camera sample
Panorama shots are available too. You can capture both landscape and portrait panoramic photos with a 180-degree field of view. Shooting is easy, but the resolution is the same as on the Mi 4c. Thankfully, the stitching takes little time to complete. The end result is better than before - while the resolution is about 3600x1240px and the image quality is very good - there is enough detail, no awful stitches and accurate colors. The dynamic range could have been better though.
Xiaomi Mi 5 panorama samples
Xiaomi Mi 5 features a 4MP UltraPixel front-facing camera for high-res selfies. The images come out with more than enough detail, high contrast, and pleasant colors. The dynamic range is above average, too.
4MP camera samples taken with the front camera
The Xiaomi Mi 5 is more than capable of pulling its own weight in our Photo Comparison tool. You can see it puts up an excellent fight against the other snappers we've tested and comes on top even against some far pricier options.
Xiaomi Mi 5 in our photo quality comparison tool
4K video recording
The Xiaomi Mi 5 is the first smartphone to introduce 4-axis optical image stabilization. Long story short - it should do twice times better at stabilizing videos compared to the regular OIS most of the flagships are using.
And indeed The Mi 5 does better when it comes to stabilizing trembling compared to the iPhone 6s Plus. Whether the trembling was vertical or horizontal - the Mi 5 turned out noticeably better stabilized picture and it lives up to the expectation.
Xiaomi Mi 5 camcorder has the same UI as the still camera. It supports slow-mo and time-lapse videos with customizable snapping interval.
Camcorder UI
The Xiaomi Mi 5 is capable or recording up to 4K@30fps. Oddly, there is no 60fps option for the 1080p video recording.
The 2160p samples have a video bitrate of 42 Mbps, while audio is captured at 96 Kbps with 2 channels (stereo). The 1080p videos have a lower bitrate at 15 Mbps. Unfortunately, the recorded sound on both type of videos is poor, possibly due to the low audio bitrate. Hopefully Xiaomi improves on the sound with updates because today it's rather unusable.
The amount of resolved detail in the videos is high, but not the best we've seen. The colors are accurate, the contrast is high, while the dynamic range is a slightly above the average. The framerate is smooth and consistent at 30fps.
Unfortunately, the 1080p videos are a complete mess. The Mi 5 rarely succeed to focus properly, and when it does, the videos are soft and lack detail. We accidentally shot a 720p video instead of 1080 and found to be OK, in fact, we suspect the Mi 5 upscales 720p up to 1080p frame in order to produce the Full HD videos.
Hopefully those will be fixed with an update, but until then - we suggest shooting at either 4K or 720p clips.
And here is a 1080p video we've uploaded on YouTube.
You can also download the 4K@30fps (11s, 54MB) and the 1080p video (8s, 15MB) samples taken straight off the Xiaomi Mi 5.
Finally, you can use our Video Compare Tool to see how the Mi 5 stacks against the competition when it comes to video capturing. The 1080p results are quite disappointing.
Xiaomi Mi 5 in our video compare tool: 2160p resolution
Xiaomi Mi 5 in our video compare tool: 1080p resolution
MIUI Browser
The Xiaomi Mi 5 comes with the feature-rich MIUI Browser. It has flat looking UI elements and does a great job at browsing. There is a native ad-block add-on and a data saver, it supports downloads, there is a night mode as well. It is as almost as fast as Chrome, and now supports Find on Page.
It also offers a built-in Reading mode, which isn't available in Chrome. It enlarges the text font and strips away unneeded elements, leaving only the article you are reading in focus.
The aforementioned Night Mode, which is something we really miss in Chrome. It inverts the background and font colors and is easier on the eyes at dark rooms.
Finally, the browser supports some very handy features as scrolling with the volume keys, quick tab switching from the edge of the display, you can opt for different search engines, among others.
Mi Browser • Night Mode • Reading Mode
Other pre-installed apps
The Xiaomi Mi 5 offers a great file managing app called Explorer, which lets you browse the files in its internal storage and groups them by type.
Explorer
The MIUI v7 also offers a Security app. It can scan your phone for malware, manage your blocklist, manage or restrict your data usage, configure battery behavior, clean some RAM, it can also manage the permissions of your installed apps.
Security app
The custom and now flat Calendar looks good, syncs with your accounts including Google, and offers Day and Month views.
Calendar
There are also the standard sound recorder, notes, flashlight, calculator, clock, and weather apps, among others, that are a given in any self-respecting Android package nowadays.
Voice recorder • Calculator • Clock • Weather
We really like the Compass app. It has very nice and clean interface, shows the magnetic directions and doubles as level meter. If you lift the phone up then you'll get a nice augmented reality view with real-time East/West/North/South overlay.
Compass app - compass, level, VR directions
Xiaomi is preloading a new Mi Home app, which is helpful if you like to control your smart appliances from a single device. It can interact with your TV, audio system, air conditioners, air purifiers, among others. The app also offers TV information, weather detail, and even more useful information. It uses the Mi Remote app and the IR blaster.
The Mi Home center has a dedicated place on the lockscreen - just swipe from the left edge.
Mi Home on the lockscreen • Mi Home • Mi Remote • Mi Remote • Mi Remote
Final words
Xiaomi made it easy for us. The Mi 5 is one of the most beautiful, most powerful, and most capable smartphones to date and there is little to dwell on it. If the Mi 5 is available in your geographic region, our recommendation is to grab one right away.
Xiaomi is not ready to offer waterproofing just yet, but we can forgive its omission by being dazzled by the looks and thin profile. The lightweight glass body and sturdy metal frame, both thoughtfully crafted, may have had suffered from water-proofing anyway.
The Snapdragon 820 chip, the very bright screen, the enhanced 16MP snapper with 4-axis OIS, and the beefy battery are all an excellent complement to the charismatic Xiaomi Mi 5. The Android 6.0 Marshmallow allowed for native fingerprint reader and USB Type-C support, while the MIUI 7 launcher is as neat as ever.
Throughout our review we found the Mi 5 acing most of the key tests, which easily puts it around the top of the flagship chain. Considering the Mi 5 costs half the price of a Galaxy S7 or similar, it's an easy recommendation.
Xiaomi Mi 5 key test findings
- Build quality is excellent; the metal frame makes up for the dual Gorilla Glass 4 tenderness for slippery. The lightweight body and slim profile, plus choice of materials make for a stunning looker.
- The display is great: it offers 600+ nits of brightness, high contrast, and very good sunlight legibility. The minimum brightness is superb for night reading, the blacks are deep enough, and the viewing angles are decent.
- Battery life is excellent with an endurance rating of 92h.
- Rich wireless connectivity options.
- MIUI 7 is a clean and light on top of Android Marshmallow, offers rich customization options.
- The Snapdragon 820 chipset offers stellar performance, no matter the Mi 5 edition. It runs cool enough and isn't plagued by overheating and throttling.
- Video player supports every common video codec and AC3 sound but has no subtitle support.
- Audio quality is excellent with an external amplifier, and with headphones plugged in.
- Camera photos are great, with plenty resolved detail, high dynamic range, excellent colors and contrast.
- The 4K videos are very good with plenty of detail, but the 1080p samples are utterly disappointing. The 4-axis OIS is great, but the captured sound is awful.
The Xiaomi Mi 5 has no competition within its price bracket. The rest of the Snapdragon 820 devices are twice as expensive, as is the iPhone 6s. But if money is not the issue, then you should definitely check out the new waterproof Galaxy S7 and Xperia X Performance, as well as the innovative and modular LG G5. Each of those has its own pros and cons, but camera and performance-wise you'll be OK with any of them.
The OnePlus 2 is cheaper than the Mi 5, offers similar display, but inferior design and chipset. Its camera is nothing to talk about either, nor is its battery life. But you can get the OnePlus 2 worldwide, and as we said - it comes cheaper, and as of recently - invite-free.
Samsung Galaxy S7 • Sony Xperia X Performance • LG G5 • OnePlus 2
The iPhone 6s may be inferior in every way, but it's iconic design and iOS ecosystem are personal favorite for many. It's easy to operate, also offers stellar performance and capable camera, and it has access to the world's biggest mobile app repository.
Apple iPhone 6s
The competition the Mi 5 will face outside China should be the 2015's flagship crop, which is now getting tempting discounts. The Galaxy S6, the Xperia Z5, the LG G4, and the HTC One M9 are great smartphones with relevant hardware and features. The Mi 5 should be better by those, but at least you have lots of options.
Finally, if you like what Microsoft is doing lately with its Windows and Xbox devices, then the Lumia 950 may deserve a place in your wishlist. It has an AMOLED Quad HD screen, great 20MP PureView camera, and offers Continuum - a service which may replace your netbook occasionally.
Microsoft Lumia 950
The bad news is Xiaomi Mi 5 won't make it to many countries as Xiaomi is focusing on its key markets for now. The good news - even if you get it imported and pay all the customs fees, it will be still cheaper than any 2016 flagship and still that beautiful and powerful.
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