5.15 Inch
1.3GHz
4-megapixel
1080×1920 pixels
3GB
Android 6.0
32GB
16-megapixel
3000mAh
The first step to making a premium smartphone is making it look and feel like a luxury item. Xiaomi somewhat succeeded in doing that with the Redmi Note 3, and has done it again with the Mi 5. What it has also managed to do is set the two devices apart significantly, and the Mi 5 has a design and build that is patently different from the much more affordable Redmi Note 3. It feels suitably premium, and does not let its mid-range pricing affect that in any way.
It’s also extremely light at 129g, and you’ll definitely feel the lack of heft in your hands.
That said, there are definite visual similarities to Samsung’s A and S ranges, particularly the Samsung Galaxy A8 (Review).
The inwards-sloping sides and curved back in particular look similar, as do the physical home key at the front and narrow borders around the screen. At a quick glance, the Mi 5 appears to have absolutely no bezels at all to the left and right of the screen, but on closer inspection we found that there is in fact a hint of border, coloured black to give the impression of an edge-to-edge screen.
The first step to making a premium smartphone is making it look and feel like a luxury item. Xiaomi somewhat succeeded in doing that with the Redmi Note 3, and has done it again with the Mi 5. What it has also managed to do is set the two devices apart significantly, and the Mi 5 has a design and build that is patently different from the much more affordable Redmi Note 3.
It feels suitably premium, and does not let its mid-range pricing affect that in any way. It’s also extremely light at 129g, and you’ll definitely feel the lack of heft in your hands.
That said, there are definite visual similarities to Samsung’s A and S ranges, particularly the Samsung Galaxy A8 (Review). The inwards-sloping sides and curved back in particular look similar, as do the physical home key at the front and narrow borders around the screen.
At a quick glance, the Mi 5 appears to have absolutely no bezels at all to the left and right of the screen, but on closer inspection we found that there is in fact a hint of border, coloured black to give the impression of an edge-to-edge screen.
