For the first time ever, Xiaomi is holding a global announcement of their brand new flagship smartphone during Mobile World Congress. Leading the announcement of the Xiaomi Mi 5 today is Hugo Barra and after several weeks of successive marketing on social media the new flagship phone from Xiaomi is now official.

Hugo Barra expresses his displeasure against microSD cards and removable batteries — "Hugo Barra has come forward to explain why the company chose not to include both a microSD card slot and also a removable battery like their existing devices. He said that microSD cards are often" Continue reading.

Just like all the other flagship devices being announced at MWC 2016 (LG G5, Galaxy S7, Xperia X Performance), the Xiaomi Mi 5 is also powered by the Snapdragon 820 SoC but the biggest difference is that Xiaomi is touting that the Mi 5 is able to score up to 140,000 points on AnTuTu which is significantly higher than the sub 100,000 score of current Snapdragon 820 devices. If your metric about speed is based on benchmarks, the Xiaomi Mi 5 is your best bet at the fastest phone right now.

Xiaomi Mi 5 Key Specifications

• 5.15-inch 1080P IPS LCD display
• Snapdragon 820 SoC
• 3/4GB RAM
• 32/64/128GB UFS 2.0 memory
• 16MP f2.0 rear camera with OIS
• 4MP f2.0 front camera 
• Android 6.0 Marshmallow with MIUI 7.0
• 3,00mAh battery
• USB Type-C port
• 144.6 x 69.2 x 7.3mm
• 129/139g
• Dual SIM

Beyond the powerful chipset, Xiaomi is also touting that they have the most compact smartphone in the market right now. Compared to the similarly size Galaxy S7 which also has a 5.1-inch display, the Xiaomi Mi 5 is nearly 20g lighter than the Galaxy S7 which also packs a 3,000mAh battery. In terms of design, you might think that the Xiaomi Mi 5 looks a little like the Galaxy S7 right? Well, this design is actually from the Xiaomi Mi Note from last year which included a tapered glass back and a metal frame. The Exclusive version in particular (that costs $400 and comes with 4GB RAM and 128GB of storage) will come with a ceramic back.


But what's new in this design is that Xiaomi is adding a fingerprint scanner on the Xiaomi Mi 5 alongside a physical home button on the front of the device. The camera on the back of the Xiaomi Mi5 is also interesting as it comes with a 16MP sensor that has 4-axis optical image stabilization system that is a first for a smartphone.

Xiaomi fans in China will be able to pre-order the Xiaomi Mi 5 today and the phone will officially ship in China on March 1st. No word on the launch dates for other regions but Xiaomi confirms that India will get the Xiaomi Mi 5 after China and the Asian market including Malaysia will be the next in line to get the Xiaomi Mi 5. The device will come in three colors; black, gold and white.

Xiaomi Mi 4S Key Specifications