Xiaomi Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus debut in China; boast of Snapdragon 821 and dual-camera setup

After months of rumours and speculation, Xiaomi has, at long last, unveiled the Xiaomi Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus smartphones.

Both phones are powered by a Snapdragon 821 SoC and Adreno 530 GPU. The phones run MIUI, which is built on Android 6.0 and feature a brand new, ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. The connector is of the USB Type-C variety.

Interestingly, the fingerprint sensor is buried under

the front glass so the upper surface is seamless.

Both phones boast of support for 4G+ 3x CA (which can give transfer speeds in excess of 300Mbps on supported networks), NFC and UFS 2.0 storage.

We won’t waste words on the design. The images below will be far more expressive than we are.

Here are the detailed specs of the phones:

Xiaomi Mi 5s

This is the smaller of the two phones launched. It features a 5.15-inch display with a Full HD resolution. Xiaomi says that brightness is an eye-watering 600 nits, thanks to 16 special LEDs that provide enhanced backlight.

The phone itself is powered by a Snapdragon 821 SoC with an Adreno 530 GPU. Two variants of the device will be available, one with 3GB RAM and 64GB storage and one with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage.

A shot from the Xiaomi Mi 5s’ new 13MP rear camera

The rear camera unit is a 13MP f/2.0 unit with a Sony IMX 378 sensor. The pixel size is 1.55 µm. The camera is capable of recording video at 4K 30fps and 1080p 120fps. The front camera is a 4MP, f/2.0 unit with 2 µm pixels. It can record at 1080p.

Xiaomi waxed lyrical on the camera performance of both phones. When compared to the iPhone 6s Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, 55 percent of those polled preferred the images from the Mi 5s and 49 percent of professionals preferred the images from the Mi 5s. In blind tests of course.

The Mi 5s will be available in 4 colours.

The variants are priced at 1999 CNY (around Rs 20,000) for the 3GB RAM + 64GB storage option and 2299 CNY (around Rs 23,000) for the 4GB RAM + 128GB storage option.

Both options offer a 3,200mAh battery.

Thankfully, the phone has a 3.5mm jack.

Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus

The Mi 5s Plus boasts of a 5.7-inch display, 0.2mm larger the iPhone 6s Plus’ display, but it’s claimed to be 3.6mm less wide than the iPhone. It’s also claimed to be 20g lighter than the iPhone 7 Plus.

The rest of the specs remain the same as on the smaller 5s, but you get a 4GB RAM + 64GB storage and 6GB RAM + 128GB storage option now.

The camera sensors are the real stars of the show. Yes, you read that right, sensors. The rear of the device features a dual-camera system with two 13MP Sony IMX 378 sensors with the same aperture and speed rating as the camera on the Mi 5s.

The camera sensors on the Mi 5s Plus

Of the two cameras, one captures a colour image and the other captures black and white data, which is more sensitive to light. The phone then combines the data from the two sensors to create a sharper, brighter image.

The best part about the design of the new camera system is that it sits flush with the body of the phone. No more ugly protrusions to worry about.

Some monochrome shots from Xiaomi’s new camera unit

Oh, and benchmark figures? Xiaomi claims 164119 in AnTuTu.

Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus AnTuTu score

The Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus will be available in the same four colours as the Mi 5s. It will retail for 2299 CNY (around Rs 23,000) for the 4GB RAM + 64GB storage option and 2599 CNY (around Rs 26,000) for the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage option.