First impressions of the Xiaomi Mi 5 are favorable, owing to its
glamorous appearance, though they’re offset by some concerns about the
handset’s fit and finish. A glossy glass back curves into a metal frame,
which wraps around to the front and culminates in a chamfered edge1.
Reflections dance prettily across those chamfers and glass to lend the
Mi 5 a sophisticated look, which is helped by the almost complete
absence of side bezels on the front. Xiaomi makes very efficient use of
the space around this phone’s attractive 5.15 inch display, fitting a
home button with built-in fingerprint sensor next to capacitive touch
controls at the bottom. The more time I spent with the Mi 5, the more it reminded me of a
smartphone by another young Chinese company: the OnePlus X. Both
handsets are designed to grab the eye, but both falter in terms of
practicality and durability. My initial Mi 5 review unit had a nasty
sharp edge at the bottom, and its fit and finish was actually so bad
that I was able to pry open its rear case. That’s not a feature Xiaomi
advertises because the back is not supposed to be removable — though the
good news might be that you can easily reattach it, like any plastic
cover. Let’s just say there’s room for improvement in Xiaomi’s quality
assurance department. The Mi 5 has a bigger screen and a higher (1080p) resolution than
Apple’s iPhone 6S, but is practically identical in size. Because it
doesn’t have a full metal construction, Xiaomi’s phone is also
noticeably lighter, and because it’s tailored to the Chinese market2, it has a pair of nano-SIM card slots. Fingerprints and dust are as much a nuisance on the black Mi 5 as
they are on Samsung’s Galaxy S line, and only the white variant will be
suitable for people with a low tolerance for blemishes. The Mi 5’s rear
is also slippery, which caused the phone to slide off flat surfaces on
more than one occasion in my testing. It’s not a problem for handling
the phone, which has its buttons in all the right places — volume rocker
and power button within easy reach of the right thumb — and is actually
a breeze to use with a single hand. The new Snapdragon 820 chip simply singsThough it shares a price tier with the $249 OnePlus X phone, Xiaomi’s
Mi 5 pulls ahead in the specs department. And I’m talking meaningful
specs. The Mi 5’s Snapdragon 820 chipset is literally years ahead of the
801 inside the X, and its inclusion pays off in a big way. Firstly, I
don’t think I’ve seen better LTE performance from any phone I’ve tested
yet. Qualcomm makes a big deal out of the X12 modem built into the
Snapdragon 820 and I can vouch for its benefits. The Mi 5 maintained
signal even inside the lower floor of a mall3
where I usually lose connectivity, so I couldn’t be more satisfied with
it. Voice calls were another highlight, with my brother asking me if
I’m reviewing a new phone because I sounded better than usual4.
The 820 processor also delivers great performance, making the Mi 5
capable of playing any game or taking on any processing task with ease.
For my purposes, the most important part of that is simply the phone’s
responsiveness, which is generally fast and hard to criticize. Beyond fit and finish, which even on my replacement Mi 5 isn’t quite
as perfect and refined as on Samsung’s new Galaxy devices, the one
aspect that betrays the Mi 5’s budget price is its camera. Let me be
clear: this phone’s camera is not bad, but neither is it as great as its
specs would suggest. Featuring four-axis stabilization, deep trench
isolation (to prevent colors from bleeding into one another),
phase-detect autofocus, and Sony’s latest 16-megapixel sensor, it’s
supposed to be a "true flagship camera," but it rather left me
underwhelmed. Having experienced the glories of LG’s V10, Apple’s iPhone 6S Plus,
Google’s Nexus 6P, and Samsung’s Note 5, I just can’t look at the
pictures the Mi 5 takes and be impressed. Sharpness and color accuracy
are both lacking, even in well illuminated images. Xiaomi relies on
Qualcomm’s image-processing engine — which happens to be exact area
where companies like Apple, Samsung, and LG pour in their biggest
investments to improve — and that holds it back.
On the plus side, low-light images don’t exhibit as much degradation
as most other cameras, suggesting that the Mi 5’s sensor is indeed a
good one, and the camera’s speed and performance are very good. I’m also
impressed by the video stabilization of this handset, and it happens to
have one of the better selfie cameras on the market right now. So it’s a
mixed bag: I’m okay with relying on the Mi 5 for casual snaps, but I
find myself longing for something like an LG G4 when I know I’ll want to
save a photo for posterity. Constant software updates are part of Xiaomi's business modelXiaomi’s first software build had as many issues as the device it was
provided on. I wasn’t even able to scroll through the options on the
setup screen. I bring this up only to illustrate how fast Xiaomi is
moving, because a week after Mobile World Congress, a new handset
arrived at my door and it had none of the bugs I initially encountered.
Hugo Barra made the point, while introducing the Mi 5, that no other
company issues as many software updates as Xiaomi does with MIUI,
calling it "a living OS." I’m testing the international variant, so I
don’t quite get the regular weekly patches that Xiaomi’s Chinese
audience enjoys, but I still appreciate the company’s commitment and
speed. Unlike pure hardware vendors, who might consider their
relationship with the customer concluded at the point of sale, Xiaomi
has a direct business interest in keeping its users happy long after the
initial device sale. Remember where its money is made. As to MIUI itself, it’s an Android skin that predates Xiaomi’s
hardware business and there’s good reason for why it has endured as long
as it has. People like it because it’s relatively clean and simple,
plus it’s now built up a respectable library of themes and
customizations. This is the first Android skin where I actually found a
theme and a visual style that I enjoy more than the Android default.
It’s not because it’s necessarily better, but it’s pretty and adds a
refreshing bit of diversity. Xiaomi has a couple of other handy tricks up its software sleeve that
I found really useful. One is a built-in call recording option that I
think every phone should have. It’s unbelievably convenient, whether
you’re conducting a phone interview or just keen to document a Comcast
customer support call. The other big thing is granular app management,
allowing you to select which apps can show what notifications, which
apps can work in the background, and which apps can use roaming data.
It’s almost PC-like in the depth of detail and control it provides,
which means it won’t be for everyone, but those who want to get a firm
grasp on their Android experience will appreciate these options in a big
way. It doesn’t end there, as Xiaomi’s software throws up helpful tips
like letting me know that the phone will still turn on for the alarm if
I’m trying to power it down, or offering me the option to turn off just
the next instance of my recurring alarm. Small touches, but they build
toward a better experience overall. The only annoyance that I found was
the lack of an option to directly delete or otherwise interact with
emails from the notifications menu — that’s something I make regular use
of on other Android devices. As a whole, though, the combination of
Xiaomi’s intelligent additions and the Snapdragon 820’s brilliant speed
and responsiveness make this a fun and enjoyable phone to use. Last, but certainly not least, on the Mi 5’s list of strengths is
this phone’s battery life. The 3,000mAh battery inside is claimed by the
company to have the highest density in any consumer device yet, and
it’s married to new display backlight technology that makes the Mi 5’s
screen as much as 17 percent more efficient than previous generations.
Those attributes are helped by the Snapdragon 820’s efficiency — this
new chip exhibits none of the overheating and power consumption flaws
that plagued last year’s 810 — and Android Marshmallow’s Doze mode for
powering down the phone’s radios when not in active use. The result is a
phone that causes me no anxiety about being away from a charger. From
the start of a busy day until late in the evening, I’m consuming roughly
a third of the Mi 5’s battery, and it takes me as much as 22 hours to
go through half of it. One day’s use is easy, and two days aren’t out of
the question with some judicious power management. HTC’s One A9 and the
OnePlus X are in the same size and weight class as the Mi 5, but both
are comfortably surpassed by Xiaomi’s new flagship. Xiaomi has put the strength of its convictions into the Mi 5 Xiaomi’s Mi 5 fits a lot of easy classifications. Yes, it’s a poor
person’s Galaxy S7. And yes, it’s another Chinese phone that wants to
wow buyers with good looks and high specs. But what distinguishes it is
how good it is at accomplishing its goals. I thought the OnePlus X was
good value for money, but the Mi 5 demolishes that idea and sets a much
higher benchmark, with better software and better hardware. The old
copycat label has also been well and truly shed, and while I think
Xiaomi can refine its designs and improve on the quality of its
manufacturing, I have no lingering doubts about the originality of its
work.
At a time when HTC has cynically fallen in line with other iPhone
copycat makers, it’s heartening to see others like Xiaomi putting the
strength of their convictions behind their latest devices. I’ve used
almost every smartphone introduced over the past six years and the Mi 5
still feels fresh and distinct in its own particular way. The Mi 5 drags premium performance and features down into an even
lower price tier. Its arrival is bad news for Xiaomi’s competitors but
good news for consumers. This is as much smartphone as almost anyone
will need, and for its price, I'm willing to forgive a couple of
understandable shortcomings.
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