Earlier today, Chinese device maker Xiaomi refreshed its 2016 flagship smartphone, the Mi5, with two new options, the Mi5s and Mi5s Plus.
The Mi5s is the smaller of the two devices with a 5.15-inch display while the Mi5s Plus sports a much bigger 5.7-inch display while still remaining smaller than the iPhone 7 Plus thanks to its smaller bezels.
The two device feature upgraded internals, like the new Snapdragon 821 (the Mi5 has the 820) chipset from Qualcomm. The Mi5s Plus goes a step further to include the dual cameras that are all the rage right now thanks to Huawei and Apple including them in their flagship devices, the P9 and the iPhone 7 Plus. Like the Huawei P9, one of the 13-megapixel cameras on the Mi5s Plus’ dual-camera setup is dedicated to taking black and white images like the ones below which the Xiaomi team shared on its MIUI forums.
The Mi5s is said to be the first device in the world to pack an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. The fingerprint sensor, which is embedded on the device’s capacitive home button, works despite there being a protective glass covering on top, much like the touchpads on Mac computers.
The Mi5s’ other unique feature is the pressure-sensitive display.
In order to be able to work with Xiaomi’s new NFC-based mobile payments service, the two devices join the Mi5 in being the only Xiaomi devices in the market with NFC capabilities.
Both devices have an all-metal build ditching the Mi5’s glass build.
The Mi5s comes in two variants, a 64GB one at $300 and a 128GB model at $345. The Mi5s Plus, on the other hand, costs $345 for the 4GB RAM+64GB internal storage model. Since Xiaomi’s key market remains its Chinese home turf, specs, more than anything else, matter a lot to the targeted consumers. As such, it is not surprising that the company is offering a 6GB variant of the Mi5s Plus coupled with 128GB onboard storage that costs $390.
The Mi5s and Mi5s Plus is available in silver, dark gray, rose gold and gold colour options starting Thursday, September 29th when they go on sale in China online via JD.com. International availability details have not yet been revealed but as is always the case with any Xiaomi flagship, we can expect it to start showing up outside China soon.
