Xiaomi Mi 5 Review
posted by Luis D.
/ May 05, 2016, 4:58 AM
Introduction
Xiaomi is a leading smartphone maker from China whose reputation for powerful, stylish and aggressively-priced gadgets stretches well beyond the Republic's borders. With its latest flagship smartphone, the Mi 5, the brand wants to offer almost everything that $700 handsets like the Samsung Galaxy S7 or iPhone 6s do, at a considerably lower price. It's an ambitious undertaking that could spark anyone's interest. Let's see if the hype is worth it – or not!
- Xiaomi Mi 5
- USB Type-C Cable
- USB Charger
- Warranty and instructions
- SIM tray ejector
Design
Nice looks and great ergonomics with just a few rough spots.
Xiaomi's flagship has a graceful, understated appearance. It's got clean lines, slim bezels, a metal frame, and a glass-covered back (unless you get the Ceramic Exclusive variant). Unaware of the Mi 5's affordable pricing, some could actually mistake it for an expensive smartphone, but its good looks are deceptive. The metal frame lightly prickles the palm at some spots, the glass back doesn't feel as nice as those of more expensive handsets, and the power and volume keys are slightly wobbly.
Still, these are minor flaws that don't offend, but merely make the Xiaomi Mi 5's price tag seem realistic, rather than too good to be true. We're fond of this sleek and elegant handset that's comfortable to hold and easily lends itself to one-handed operation. The Home button is a bit narrow for our tastes and its tactile feedback isn't very good, but the fingerprint scanner in it is top-notch – fast, accurate, and reliable. On the other hand, those capacitive navigation keys might appear dated in 2016, but they do what they are supposed to.
To see the phones in real size or compare them with other models, visit our Visual Phone Size Comparison page
Display
A high-quality screen with great brightness and contrast properties.
The Mi 5 has a 5.2-inch IPS LCD display with 1080p resolution that comes off as high-quality, both in our measurements and in real-life use. The brightness levels are superb and cater to comfortable usage across all lighting conditions, while the color balance is close to ideal. This is a balanced, well-calibrated screen whose quality could stand up to that of more expensive offerings, if it weren't for the average viewing angles.
More content with (Mi 5)
87 Comments
1. Achillias
Posts: 52; Member since: Sep 24, 2015
Typical IPhonearena review. How is this smartphone even a 7 with the money value rating being so high, lol.
posted on May 05, 2016, 5:08 AM 32
5. Kumar123 unregistered
IMO, This phone deserve at least 9. Only real con is it's hard to get.
posted on May 05, 2016, 5:19 AM 17
44. ibend
Posts: 6747; Member since: Sep 30, 2014
even the verge give it 8.1/10 lol
and various great score from other reviewer around the globehttp://www.notebookcheck.net/Xiaomi-Mi-5.162401.0.html
posted on May 05, 2016, 7:35 AM 1
6. NonFanBoy
Posts: 180; Member since: May 28, 2015
PA's review system is a joke, so don't give it much thought.
I had opened the review just to check what reasons they would come up with to give it such a low rating. But because they couldnt find any major flaws, they have just out done themselves by blatantly giving it a 7 without specifying any reason whatsoever.
They just can't take in the fact that it provides a smartphone experience as good as their beloved iPhone at less than half the cost. I am sure it would have scored more had they priced their device higher like Huawei do.
posted on May 05, 2016, 5:22 AM 16
8. robocopvn
Posts: 504; Member since: Mar 10, 2010
you can easily take the "fruit" logo and put in the back of this phone. Iphonearena will certainly rank it 9.5
posted on May 05, 2016, 5:28 AM 12
10. Kumar123 unregistered
Such a bulls**t. The only reason they are giving this a low score is because they fear it will hamper their beloved samsung galaxy S7 sells.
Looks, display, battery life, interface are better than S7. Camera is only marginally worse than S7. Yet such a low score. Typical Samsung lover arena.
posted on May 05, 2016, 5:36 AM 5
13. deanylev
Posts: 233; Member since: Mar 11, 2014
A) Looks are subjective
B) You're high if you think this has a better display
C) Lolnope, the S7 has way better battery life
D) Interface is subjective
You're as bad as PhoneArena. There's a happy medium, no need for extremes in either direction.
posted on May 05, 2016, 5:45 AM 4
17. Kumar123 unregistered
LOL, nope mi5 has better battery life. You are high if you think crap pentile display is better than RGB display.
posted on May 05, 2016, 5:57 AM 3
22. deanylev
Posts: 233; Member since: Mar 11, 2014
Haha really, the Pentile argument? That's been invalid since like 2014. It's impossible to tell at such a high resolution, what a stupid thing to even say. The S7 display is way better, because OLED displays are just way better than LCD, no way of arguing that.
posted on May 05, 2016, 6:16 AM 2
25. Kumar123 unregistered
Samsung head of display and TV disagrees with you. He argues LCD ( in the form of QD LCD) is better than OLED display.
posted on May 05, 2016, 6:30 AM 3
29. Kumar123 unregistered
Say that to top executive of Samsung display and TV. If you still argue that. I'll provide the link where he argues that LCD is still superior to OLED. He even says that he is not sure if OLED is the future. LOL. http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160504000629
posted on May 05, 2016, 6:42 AM 3
32. deanylev
Posts: 233; Member since: Mar 11, 2014
Nice job avoiding the question. I didn't ask for a link, I asked you why you think OLED isn't superior (which it is). So what, because one Samsung employee says LCD is better that makes the rest of Samsung's (who CLEARLY think OLED is the future and way better than LCD) opinion invalid?
posted on May 05, 2016, 7:00 AM 2
40. Kumar123 unregistered
I didn't avoid the question. LOL. The link i provide also says why LCD is better than OLED. That One Samsung employee happens to be the chief of Samsung electronics. He get to decide which direction the whole company in this case Samsung electronics and TV will go. LOL. If he didn't see the potential in LCD and if he thought LCD is inferior then he wouldn't comment like this.
posted on May 05, 2016, 7:12 AM 3
71. Amir1 unregistered
You are clueless, samsung since their s6 and note 5 surpass any ips display with their mature amoled tech. Be it color temp, viewing angles, black levels, and even brightness which is the best among flags. Don't comment for the sake of commenting. Fact is: amoled>ips. Your words are funny at best. Panel manufacturers would DIE to be in samsung position in maturity of oled tech development. Samsung deserve all the credit and hard work. They earned it. Kudos for samsung.
posted on May 05, 2016, 10:39 AM 0
73. Kumar123 unregistered
The link I provide back up my arguments. If the chief of Samsung Electronics claims that LCD is better than OLED than I say I'm right and you are the real clueless fanboy here.
Fact: 1)You are a blind Samsung fanboy.
2) Samsung Chief of Electronics and TV said LCD is better than OLED
3) He also said OLED maybe not the future display tech but QD LCD is, considering the progress QD LCD are making.
4) You comment is a joke and a fine display of disgusting fanboyism.
posted on May 05, 2016, 12:53 PM 3
38. SYSTEM_LORD
Posts: 1168; Member since: Oct 05, 2015
False on the third one. Even gsmarena says Xiaomi has better battery life. Samsung isn't the best at everything, dude
posted on May 05, 2016, 7:09 AM 1
51. AndreaWijayanti
Posts: 69; Member since: Mar 03, 2015
He is a stupid Samsung hater. Mi5 in real life looks cheesy just like every chinese phones.
posted on May 05, 2016, 8:07 AM 3
16. sarcastic_nerd unregistered
I want some of what you're smoking.
posted on May 05, 2016, 5:50 AM 3
59. zeeBomb
Posts: 2318; Member since: Aug 14, 2014
No way in JOHN V's NAME that this phone is a 7. But obviously as a member here for quite some time, i know reviewers are biased on Chinese phones but give north American OEMS especially Samsung and Apple a high plausible score.
TLDR: This is easily a 8.5, typical PA review, move on.
posted on May 05, 2016, 8:47 AM 0
2. BobLawblaw unregistered
I just had a hazelnut chocolate bar. Twas beautiful.
posted on May 05, 2016, 5:08 AM 0
7. NonFanBoy
Posts: 180; Member since: May 28, 2015
iPhone SE 16GB costs 400$ (Rs 39k here in India)
PA's rating : 8.8
Mi 5 32 GB costs ~ 300$(Rs 25k in India)
PA's rating : 7.0
ROFL...
posted on May 05, 2016, 5:26 AM 12
9. luis.d
Posts: 354; Member since: Dec 04, 2013
PhoneArena is a US-centric website. The Mi 5's pricing is much different for Western customers, and if you had actually read the review and our rating procedure before commenting, you would have understood the score.
posted on May 05, 2016, 5:34 AM 1
- Display 5.2" 1080 x 1920 pixels
- Camera 16 MP / 4 MP front
- Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, Quad-core
- Memory
- Storage 128 GB
- Battery 3000 mAh
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