Chinese technology giant Xiaomi has unveiled a new premium mid-range smartphone–the Mi 5X. It has also debuted MIUI 9, the latest release of its Android-based mobile OS. Additionally, it also took the wraps of a voice-activated smart speaker–the Mi AI Speaker that ties in with its smart home products and Mi Ecosystem strategy.
A Redmi Note 4 with dual-cameras?
The latest edition to Xiaomi’s smartphone portfolio is a highly-specced out mid-ranger with an accessible price tag.
What Xiaomi has done is adopted the 12MP + 12MP dual-camera from the flagship Mi 6 into the Mi 5X. The implementation of the dual-camera is similar to that found on the iPhone 7 and devices like the ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom.
It couples a wide-angle lens with a telephoto lens that provides up to 2x optical zoom. The wide-angle lens comes with 4-axis stabilisation. In tandem, they can create interesting depth-of-field effects, especially when it comes to portraits. The rear cameras can also deliver 10x digital zoom.
The all-metal unibody design screams iPhone 7, but let’s not go there. If you can ignore the resemblance, it’s a pretty good looking phone which measures just 7.3mm in thickness. Colour options include Black, Gold and Rose Gold. And the antenna lines, by the way, are hidden. Tsk tsk.
Under the hood, it’s pretty specced out. It rocks a powerful yet energy efficient Snapdragon 625 chip, mated to a generous 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.
There’s a 5.5-inch Full HD display that’s similar to the unit found on the Redmi Note 4.
The dual-SIM device, however, has a smaller 3,080mAh battery compared to the flagship Mi 6.
Pricing and availability
The Mi 5X is priced at RMB1,499/MYR951 and will be available starting 1 August via Mi.com and Mi Home Stores, as well as other retail channels.
MIUI 9 will be available to the China market on 11 August as a public beta for the Mi 6, Mi 5X, and Redmi Note 4X. Support for other models are expected in to roll out in stage starting 25 August.
Alongside the Mi 5X and MIUI 9, Xiaomi also introduced the Mi AI Speaker, the hub for Xiaomi’s smart home products. The high quality speaker retails at RMB299/MYR190 and will be launched in August through a beta program.
Last but not least, Xiaomi revealed that 100 units of the Mercury Silver Mi 6 will be available on Mi.com in China on 3 August, priced at RM3,999/MYR2,536. It boasts 6GB of RAM + 128GB of storage. The unit will come with a letter from a Xiaomi engineer, and an exclusive F-code to give buyers priority to buy any newly launched product in the next three years.
