Xiaomi Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus
Xiaomi has launched the new Mi 5s
and its larger sibling, the Mi 5s Plus. Starting with the Xiaomi Mi 5s, the new
device has a unibody aluminum design, with a brushed metal finish and curved
edges, and antenna lines along the top and bottom that look far too familiar.
Along the back is also the new large 1/2.3-inch 12 megapixel sensor with F/2.0
aperture and PDAF that bests even the iPhone 7 and Galaxy S7 edge, if Xiaomi’s
slides are to be believed. You also get a 4 megapixel camera on the front with
2μm large pixel and F/2.0 aperture.
On the front is a 5.15-inch 1920x1080 pixel IPS LCD
with 600nits maximum brightness, 1500:1 contrast ratio, and a 94.4% NTSC color
gamut. The higher end model also has support for pressure sensitivity.
Also on the front is a new ultrasonic fingerprint
sensor that uses Qualcomm Snapdragon Sense ID. An ultrasonic fingerprint sensor
captures a more accurate map of the finger that is harder to spoon, works
through multiple materials, and is immune to surface contaminants such as sweat
and condensation.
Inside the Mi 5s is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
chipset, 3 GB or 4 GB of RAM, and 64 GB or 128 GB of storage. It has support for
3xCA network connectivity, along with Bluetooth 4.2, dual-band MU-MIMO 802.11ac
Wi-Fi, and NFC. It is powered by a 3200 mAh battery, that charges via Qualcomm
QuickCharge 3.0.
The Mi 5s is priced at RMB 1999 (US$ 299) for the
3 GB/64 GB model and RMB 2299 (US$ 344) for the 4 GB/128 GB model. It will be
available in gray, silver, gold, and rose gold.
Xiaomi also announced the Mi 5s Plus. It has a
larger 5.7-inch 1920x1080 pixel display and dual 13 megapixel cameras on the
back that work similarly to those on the Huawei P9. One camera captures color
images and the other captures only black and white images. The black and white
sensor lacks the Bayer filter, which means it gathers much more light producing
more detailed images with less noise. You can either capture pure black and
white images or color images. When capturing color images, the camera combines
the output of both the sensors to enhance the final photo.
The Snapdragon 821 chipset and 4MP front camera are
identical to the Mi 5s, but the memory and storage options are 4 GB/64 GB and
6 GB/128 GB . The battery gets a bump, and is now 3800 mAh.
The Mi 5s Plus is priced at RMB 2299 (US$ 344) for the
4 GB/64 GB model and RMB 2599 (US$ 389) for the 6 GB/128 GB model. It’s available in
the same four colors.
