What is the difference between Xiaomi Mi5 and Xiaomi Mi5 S. Information about navigation and location technologies supported by the device

Today, most of the flagship smartphones of the largest manufacturers appear on the market with a precise frequency. Xiaomi also follows this rule, however, the Mi 5s appeared in the middle of the cycle, replacing the Mi 5. This smartphone received a completely updated metal body, a more powerful Snapdragon 821 SoC, a new camera module, as well as an international firmware version with Google Play preinstalled.

Like most Xiaomi smartphones, Mi 5s sells for up to $300. For that money, we get the standard version with 3GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. And although the smartphone was not originally sold outside of China, it received pre-installed Google services.

Equipment

And although the smartphone has very cool characteristics, its equipment is the most spartan - nothing “extra” at all: Xiaomi Mi 5s itself, charger and micro-USB cable, as well as a warranty card.

Design

The design of Mi 5s is very similar to Mi 5, but there is one key difference: Xiaomi has abandoned the glass on the back and the body has become completely metal. The back of the Mi 5 was slippery, making it uncomfortable to hold the phone in your hand. Mi 5s with a brushed aluminum back has become as comfortable as possible, especially since it gives a prestigious look. Therefore, Mi 5s does not look like a mid-range smartphone at all.

The back panel has a slight curve, allowing the smartphone to lie comfortably in the palm of your hand. Adding a plus to ergonomics is the 2.5D curved front glass that blends in with the metal body. Mi 5 in this regard was not very convenient - the panel literally crashed into the palm of your hand. But there is one remark - due to the use of a metal case, the weight increased by 16 g.

As on Mi 5, here the navigation buttons are not labeled and we can set any configuration in the settings. The center button also doubles as an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. Unfortunately, it has a high error rate.

The power and volume buttons are on the right side. They have quite a tangible feedback.

There is only a 3.5 mm audio jack on the top end. At the bottom, there is a USB Type-C port, a main speaker grill and a microphone. Unfortunately, the Mi 5s doesn't have stereo speakers, so don't be fooled by the two symmetrically placed meshes.

There is a dual SIM slot on the left side of the case, but no microSD support.

The front camera, earpiece, proximity and light sensors, as well as the notification LED are located above the display.

Display

At first glance, it may seem that Xiaomi Mi 5s received an AMOLED display, as its picture contrast turned out to be very high. However, in fact, here is a 5.15-inch IPS screen with Full HD resolution (dot density 428 ppi). The viewing angles here are the maximum possible for LCD screens. The screen has high color accuracy, excellent brightness. In any case, the screen of the smartphone is definitely brighter than in Mi 5. You can easily view text under bright sunlight. Subjectively, 70% brightness is enough to make the screen readable outdoors.

With the default settings enabled, a red halo will be visible around the letters. An unpleasant problem is solved by disabling automatic configuration. Traditionally, in the settings, you can turn on the reading mode, in which the gamma becomes yellowish. The display has an oleophobic coating, fingerprints practically do not remain.

Qualcomm SenseID

Separately, I want to talk a little about the Qualcomm Snapdragon Sense ID ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. Conventional fingerprint scanners take 2D pictures and store them in memory for authentication. Technology from Qualcomm already makes 3D maps of your fingerprints.

So far, the implementation has not been perfected to the ideal. One of the advantages of this technology is that Sense ID works even when your fingers are wet. To improve reading accuracy when unlocking, we advise you to take 4 pictures of your finger from different angles, rather than 4 pictures of different fingers.

Performance

Xiaomi Mi 5s runs on a Snapdragon 821 processor with a frequency of up to 2.15 GHz and an Adreno 530 graphics accelerator. In the basic version, we have 3GB of RAM and 32/64GB of internal memory without microSD card support. As you might expect, with such hardware, Mi 5s shows good performance, coping with all tasks. The CPU is underclocked here to make the most of the 3200mAh battery. A more powerful Snapdragon 821 with a frequency of up to 2.35 GHz is installed in Mi 5s Plus.

One of the features of Xiaomi smartphones is infrared. We have seen it, starting with the budgetary Redmi 3s Prime and ending with the top-end Mi Note 2 for $650. Unfortunately, there is no infrared port in the smartphone, which means that you will not be able to control household appliances using a smartphone.

Qualcomm is actively promoting its Aqstic audio codec, which is just in Mi 5s. This codec is a DAC that allows you to play 192kHz/24bit lossless audio.

Specifications Xiaomi Mi5s

Operating system

Works Mi 5s running MIUI 8 based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. The MIUI 8 operating system itself has already received several updates, so Mi 5s immediately at the start has great opportunities: a second space, an updated dialer, dual applications, one-handed control mode. Initially, the smartphone has pre-installed Google services, including Google Play.

Camera

The Xiaomi Mi 5s camera has lost a key feature that got a lot of attention on the Mi 5 - there is no quad-axis optical image stabilization. If the predecessor had a 16-megapixel camera, now we have a 12-megapixel Sony IMX378 with an increased pixel size.

By the way, Mi 5s received the same module as Google Pixel. However, there is no post processing with optimization. The larger pixels make for excellent daylight photos, but the lack of optical stabilization takes its toll in low-light conditions.

Photos taken in daylight are accurate in color, highly detailed, and using HDR does not take much time. The camera app has a huge range of features and settings, lots of shooting modes and filters with real-time preview.

Video - Xiaomi Mi 5s camera test

The front ultra-pixel camera (4 MP) also has good characteristics and with its use you can get high-quality selfies.

All of the above also applies to video recording. You can shoot videos in 4k resolution.

Offline work

The use of a less powerful processor and a slight increase in battery capacity resulted in a slight increase in Mi 5s battery life. The smartphone will easily work all day.

We ran some tests and here are our results:

• during the night, the battery in the background is discharged by 10%;
• when watching Full HD video on YouTube at 100% screen brightness - 6.5 hours;
• when playing WoT at 100% screen brightness - 5 hours;
• 100% screen brightness, web surfing, listening to music, social networking, mail - 3 hours.

Fortunately, there is support for Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging here, in order to charge the battery up to 100% in a short time at any time. In an hour, the battery will be charged up to 83%, in half an hour - up to 41%. Too bad the battery is non-removable.

Video - Xiaomi Mi 5s review

Results

pros

• stylish design;
• excellent display;
• excellent build quality;
• worth your money.

minuses

• no optical image stabilization of the camera;
• no microSD card slot;
• unfinished fingerprint scanner;
• non-removable battery.

A lot speaks in favor of Xiaomi Mi 5s: it has a comfortable metal case that looks expensive, it has a high-quality screen with rich bright colors, an improved camera (albeit without OIS). However, the screen is not protected by special glass, which is why you need to be careful. In general, the smartphone leaves a positive impression, confidently occupying its niche in the market.

A lot has changed for Xiaomi this year. There were ups and downs, a whole cohort of suitable gadgets and smartphones was presented. And now Xiaomi is again entering the Hi-End smartphone market with new ones. We have already heard quite a lot about them over the past month. Some of the rumors were true, some were fantastic. But now, both smartphones have been officially announced and we have almost all the information about the new products. Well, let's tell!

Design

In its spring flagship Mi 5, the company used a rounded body of 3D Glass and 3D Ceramic in the top version of Mi 5 Pro. This time, Xiaomi's new flagship received a cast all-metal body. This is definitely a good decision for several reasons. Firstly, many, but what's there, all users asked for a flagship in metal. You asked - Xiaomi did. Secondly, the economic component plays a role. With a ceramic case in Mi 5 Pro, our favorite company from the Middle Kingdom got burned a little. The reason is the origin of zirconium ceramics, from which the back cover of Mi 5 Pro was made. She came to us straight from the aerospace industry and was extremely difficult to manufacture. So difficult that all the giant factories, including Foxconn itself, trumpeted problems in production and their inability to produce the required number of smartphones. And these problems outweighed all the advantages of a truly innovative ceramic case. But the metal cases of Mi 5S and Mi 5S Plus will not create such difficulties. By the way, Mi 5S Plus is 20 grams lighter than iPhone 7 Plus.

Flagships will be sold in four colors: dark grey, silver, gold and rose gold. Thanks to the anodization, the case has acquired a unique look: matte, smooth, and at the same time, a strict, discreet design. On the front, the display is protected by 2.5D tempered glass, giving it a slightly curved look. Yes, the display itself is not curved, as insiders expected it to be. Apparently, Xiaomi decided not to rush into this matter, and many users spoke sharply negatively about the need for this type of display.

Performance

As expected, the latest and most powerful mobile processor from the American company Qualcomm became the heart of Xiaomi Mi 5S and Mi 5S Plus - the reference Snapdragon 821 clocked at 2.15 in Mi 5S and 2.35 GHz in Mi 5S Plus. The processor is paired with an Adreno 530 graphics accelerator with a frequency of 624 MHz. Responsible for performance are 3/4 GB in Mi 5S and 4/6 GB in Mi 5S Plus LPDDR4 RAM with a frequency of 1866 MHz and 64/128 GB of flash memory of the new UFS 2.0 standard. It is noteworthy that in the new flagships, Xiaomi abandoned the standard version with 32 GB of memory and a processor cut in frequency, and this is obviously the right move.

Screen

Smartphones are equipped with displays diagonal 5.15 and 5.7 inches, and they are made using the unique technology of 16 LED Lights specially for Xiaomi and boast a brightness of 600 nits, while not increasing power consumption. A similar technology was used in Mi 5 with the same name. This time, the screen has been further improved, but it is not reported what exactly. The NTSC color gamut is no less than 95%, which is even a little redundant.

Well, and of course, the most important thing! Screens got pressure sensitivity- 3D touch. This technology is still very new and has not gained much popularity either in the iPhone or in phones from other manufacturers. However, with the naked eye, there is a tendency to increase the number of devices with this capability. I am very pleased that Xiaomi has become one of the first on the market to put this into practice. After all, the main problem of this technology is the lack of distribution and a small number of applications that support 3D Touch. We are sure that very soon this technology will gain wide popularity not only among manufacturers and developers, but also among users 🙂

Ultrasonic fingerprint scanner

Are you tired of the number of new features yet? Then let's move on! Another significant update of Mi 5S and Mi 5S Plus was the introduction of the latest ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. Xiaomi's new flagships will be the first smartphones that will begin the mass use of ultrasound scanners, with proven technology. They should not be confused with phones that have introduced a new type of scanner for the sake of experiment. The ultrasonic fingerprint scanner is really a new technology that required a lot of effort to develop it, optimize it and implement it into the final product. Xiaomi wanted to use it already in Mi 5, but after tests it turned out that the technology is still very raw and needs time to be finalized. The time has come, the main problems associated with the energy consumption of the sensor and its optimization have been solved.

Its safety class is an order of magnitude higher than modern capacitive scanners. In addition, it easily recognizes your fingerprint, even if the finger is dirty or wet. Note that this does not replace the need to wash your hands. The sensor is located directly under the glass and does not require a special output to the outside, since ultrasonic waves are used. This made the design of the phone even more monolithic and got rid of the short-lived moving parts of the physical Home button.

Camera

The camera is another major innovation. Smartphones got the latest 13 megapixel Sony IMX378 1/2.3″ CMOS sensor with an aperture of f/2.0 and a matrix 59% larger than that of the iPhone 6S Plus and a pixel of 1.55 microns larger by 61% in the same iPhone 6S Plus. Because the sensor is larger, Xiaomi claims that the phone is capable of capturing even starry landscapes at night. However, please note that Mi 5S has one module, while Mi 5S Plus has two.

The dual camera in Mi 5S Plus is made using the latest technology Qualcomm ClearSight which mimics the work of the human eye. The first 13 megapixel sensor is color, the second 13 megapixel sensor is monochrome and sees the picture in black and white to get more light on the matrix and provide more natural color reproduction.

Lei Jun during the presentation showed some pictures taken by a professional photographer who was specially sent to travel around Europe and North America. So, friends, which of you joked about it - you were right. The pictures taken by the photographer turned out to be very good, with the correct exposure, even at night they looked impressive. Below you can see some examples, some you have seen before. And a link to a folder in Google Drive, if you are interested in sources with EXIF ​​data.

To confirm the quality of the camera shots of new smartphones, the company conducted a blind test with 200 ordinary users who were asked to choose their favorite photos from several options. 55% of respondents (110 users) chose samples from the Mi 5S camera. Later, Xiaomi conducted another test with 159 professional photographers, 49% of whom preferred the Xiaomi smartphone camera sample.

The camera module supports HDR, PDAF and even RAW format. Filters, as always, can be changed in real time. The Mi 5S Plus also shoots 4K video at 30fps, 1080p/720p at 30fps, and 720p slow motion video at 120fps. 4 ultra pixel front camera with f/2.0 aperture and 80 degree wide angle lens.

The company claims that the camera of the new flagships has more detail and color accuracy compared to such big-name competitors as the Samsung Galaxy S7 and iPhone 6S Plus. It's a big claim, but to back it up, Xiaomi has shown comparison photos of these smartphones. See for yourself.

Detailed specifications

Mi 5S Plus

Dimensions: 77.7 x 154.6 x 7.95 mm
The weight: 168 g
Chip
Nuclei: 2 Kryo cores @ 2.35GHz and 2 Kryo cores @ 2.0GHz
Graphic arts
RAM: 4/6 GB @ 1866 MHz Dual Channel LPDDR4
Built-in memory
Screen: FullHD 5.7", 386 ppi, 74.8% of bezel area, 2.5D glass, 1300:1 contrast ratio, 95% NTSC coverage, 500 cd/m2
Camera: 2 sensors 13 MP Sony IMX378 1/2.3″ 1.55 µm
Battery: 3800mAh Lithium Polymer with Quick Charge 3.0, 9V/2A
Navigation: GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou
OS
SIM: 2 SIM cards
WiFi
Interfaces
Frame: anodized metal
Colors

Mi 5S

Dimensions: 70.3 x 145.6 x 8.25 mm
The weight: 145 g
Chip: 14 nm 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro
Nuclei: 2 Kryo cores @ 2.15GHz and 2 Kryo cores @ 2.0GHz
Graphic arts: Qualcomm Adreno 530 @ 653MHz
RAM: 3/4 GB @ 1866 MHz Dual Channel LPDDR4
Built-in memory: 64 and 128 GB UFS 2.0
Screen: FullHD 5.15", 428 ppi, 71.66% of bezel area, 2.5D glass, 1300:1 contrast ratio, 95% NTSC coverage, 500 cd/m2
Camera: 1 sensor 13 MP Sony IMX378 1/2.3″ 1.55 µm
Battery: 3200mAh Lithium Polymer with Quick Charge 3.0, 9V/2A
Navigation: GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou
OS: MIUI 8 based on Android 6, Android 7 in development
SIM: 2 SIM cards
WiFi: a, b, g, n, n 5GHz, ac, Dual band, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display
Interfaces: USB Type-C, Bluetooth 4.2 LE A2DP, USB OTG, Infrared, VoLTE, NFC, Tethering, DLNA,
Frame: anodized metal
Colors: dark grey, silver, gold and rose gold

Updated model of the top series on the latest Snapdragon 821 platform

We continue to get acquainted with the update of the top Xiaomi Mi line, which the manufacturer of popular Chinese smartphones introduced at the end of September 2016 in two new versions: Xiaomi Mi 5s and Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus. As it turned out when considering Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus, the manufacturer has made significant changes to the new items compared to the previous model of the series (Mi 5), and the new models differ quite a lot from each other. Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus smartphones are aimed at different target audiences and both are quite worthy of separate reviews, so today, following Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus, we will also study the regular Mi 5s model.

Key Features of Xiaomi Mi 5s

• SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 (MSM8996pro), 4 Kryo cores @2.0/2.15 GHz
• GPU Adreno 530 @624 MHz
• Operating system Android 6.0.1
• 5.15″ IPS touch display, 1920×1080, 427 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 3/4 GB, internal memory 32/64/128 GB
• Support Nano-SIM (2 pcs.)
• No microSD support
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
• WCDMA/HSPA+ networks (850/900/1900/2100 MHz)
• LTE networks FDD Band 1/3/7
• Networks TD LTE Band 38-41, TD-SCDMA, CDMA1X/EVDO (BC0)
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 and 5 GHz)
• Bluetooth
• GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, BDS
• USB Type-C, USB OTG
• Camera 12 MP (Sony IMX378), autofocus, f/2.0, 4K video
• Front camera 4 MP, f/2.0, fixed focus
• Proximity sensor, lighting, pressure, magnetic field, fingerprint, accelerometer, gyroscope, step counter
• Battery 3200 mAh, Quick Charge 3.0
• Dimensions 146×70×8.3 mm
• Weight 145 g

Contents of delivery

Xiaomi Mi 5s is sold in a hard matte cardboard box, concisely and minimalistically designed. The box is quite large in size, but its modest contents fit into a small additional interior compartment, and most of the box is empty.

The kit includes only a USB Type-C connection cable, a power adapter with variable output current and voltage (5/9/12 V at 1.5/2/2.5 A) and a key to remove cards.

Appearance and usability

Xiaomi Mi 5s looks nice, but is not as impressive as Mi 5s Plus. There is no texture for polished metal (metal brushed), there is no such gloss. The case has a uniform matte surface, looks more modest and more like the latest products from a cheaper family, like Redmi Note 4.

Nevertheless, Xiaomi Mi 5s remains quite attractive: its body is made of a single piece of metal (unibody), there are no plastic end inserts, and all antennas are placed in external grooves covered with composite material. The metal is matte, pleasant to the touch, although, of course, rather slippery.

The smartphone is small in size, and by modern standards it can even be called compact, especially considering the fact that smartphones with a small screen size are almost never found among the top mobile devices. If you can still meet them somewhere, then only in the budget segment, but that's a completely different story. In the hand, due to the small width and weight, as well as the sloping edges of the rear wall, the device lies comfortably. Brushed metal surfaces can sometimes be quite slippery, but certainly not easily soiled.

Claims to the device regarding the assembly and quality of materials on the basis of a two-week acquaintance did not come to light. Details are clearly adjusted to each other, there are no gaps or inconsistencies. During testing, neither the metal back nor the front glass had time to be covered with scratches.

The glass is made in a modern version of 2.5D, where the edges are slightly sloping, and this creates a feeling of a more streamlined case. However, Xiaomi smartphones have a distinct transition to flat side faces.

On the front panel there was a complete set of necessary sensors, as well as an event indicator, touch buttons and even a fingerprint scanner. Moreover, the scanner here is under a common glass: the developers have installed a newfangled ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, which does not have a dedicated area as such, and the place for applying a finger is indicated only by an ordinary notch.

As experience has shown, the ultrasonic fingerprint scanner installed here recognizes wet and dirty fingers no better than a conventional scanner installed, for example, in Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus. That is, he does not always recognize them, and the speed of recognition (or response to recognition) is not so great here; We have met smartphones that do all this faster and better. In general, acquaintance with the new technology did not cause much enthusiasm.

On the back side of the case, the camera module with a powerful bright two-section LED flash does not protrude beyond the surface, so the smartphone lies quite steadily on the table and does not sway when touching the screen.

Cards are inserted into the side slot, which has two slots for Nano-SIM cards, but there is no space for a memory card here, like in the older model, the slot is not hybrid. Hot-swappable cards are supported.

The side buttons are located on the opposite side, they are made of metal. We found the keys to be much more rigid than those of the Mi 5s Plus, and it's not as pleasant to press them, especially when you double-click to take a screenshot.

The bottom end has a USB Type-C connector that supports connecting external devices, including flash drives, in USB OTG mode. Two symmetrical rows of holes are cut out next to the connector, but the sound from the speaker comes out only through one of them. (Behind the other, apparently, is a conversational microphone.) The speaker does not sound as loud and not as rich as in the larger Mi 5s Plus model - it apparently has a more powerful speaker installed. But in general, the device is not bad in terms of sound capabilities, although it is not better than the average level.

The entire top end is given over to a 3.5 mm headphone jack - there is no infrared transmitter for emulating the remote control, as in the Mi 5s Plus model. It is curious that the remote control emulation program for controlling equipment is preinstalled in this smartphone, but it immediately reports the absence of an infrared port and suggests searching a single Wi-Fi network for equipment to control it.

Xiaomi Mi 5s is sold in the same four colors as Mi 5s Plus: light silver, dark gray, gold and pink. The case of the smartphone did not receive protection from moisture and dust.

Screen

Xiaomi Mi 5s is equipped with an IPS display with 2.5D glass with sloping edges. The screen is significantly smaller than the 5.7-inch model Mi 5s Plus, its physical dimensions here are 65 × 115 mm with a diagonal of 5.15 inches, and the resolution is 1920 × 1080 pixels, so the dot density is approximately 386 ppi. The case is not much wider than the screen, about 3 mm on the sides, of which about 2 mm is the notorious black frame around the display, which stands out strongly on Xiaomi light devices and is therefore so unloved by users. If this frame were not here, the screen would be only 1 mm away from the edges of the case, but, apparently, this is not so easy to implement technologically. In any case, even with a bezel, the screen still occupies a very significant part of the front panel area, the developers fit the display into a really compact and elegant case.

The display brightness can be adjusted manually or set to automatic settings based on the operation of the ambient light sensor. The AnTuTu test diagnoses support for 10 simultaneous multitouch touches. It is possible to manually adjust the color tone and contrast, you can also use the reading mode, which reduces the brightness, and the colors go into warm yellowish hues. The screen can be activated by double tapping.

A detailed examination using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the sections "Monitors" and "Projectors and TV" Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the test sample.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface, resistant to scratches. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are better than the screen of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the off screens (on the left is Nexus 7, on the right is Xiaomi Mi 5s, then they can be distinguished by size):

The screen of Xiaomi Mi 5s is noticeably darker (brightness in photos is 103 versus 116 for Nexus 7). The doubling of reflected objects in the screen of Xiaomi Mi 5s is very weak, which indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically, between the outer glass and the surface of the LCD matrix) (OGS type screen - One Glass Solution). Due to the smaller number of borders (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of intense external illumination, but their repair in case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be changed. There is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating on the outer surface of the screen (much better than the Nexus 7 in terms of efficiency), so fingerprints are removed more easily, and appear at a slower rate than in the case of ordinary glass.

With manual brightness control and with a white field displayed in full screen, the maximum brightness value was about 640 cd/m², the minimum was 1 cd/m². The maximum brightness is very high, which means that, given the excellent anti-reflective properties, readability even on a sunny day outdoors should be at a good level. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. In the presence of automatic brightness control by light sensor (it is located to the left of the front speaker slot). In automatic mode, when the ambient light conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. This function depends on the position of the brightness slider. If it is 100%, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 160 cd / m² (a little too much), in an office lit by artificial light (about 550 lux) it sets it to 425 cd / m² (it could have been less), in a very bright environment (corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more) the brightness increases to 640 cd / m² (to the maximum - it is necessary); if the adjustment is about 50%, then the values ​​​​are as follows: 7, 180 and 640 cd / m² (the first value is slightly lower than we would like when using the device in total darkness), the control at 0% is 1, 150 and 610 cd / m² (the first value is underestimated, the other two are normal). We were more satisfied with the option with a slider at about 60% of the scale - 13, 220 and 640 cd / m². It turns out that the auto-brightness function works absolutely adequately and to some extent allows the user to customize their work to individual requirements. Significant backlight modulation appears only at a very low brightness level, but its frequency is high, about 2.3 kHz, so there is no visible flickering of the screen (but, perhaps, it can be detected in the test for the presence of a stroboscopic effect - we, however, were not able to do this ).

This smartphone uses an IPS type matrix. Micrographs show a typical IPS subpixel structure:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

The screen has good viewing angles without significant color shift even at large deviations of the gaze from the perpendicular to the screen and without inverting shades. For comparison, here are photos in which the same images are displayed on the screens of Xiaomi Mi 5s and Nexus 7, while the brightness of the screens was initially set to about 200 cd / m², and the color balance on the camera was forcibly switched to 6500 K.

White field perpendicular to the screens:

The uniformity of brightness and hue of the white field is good.

And a test picture:

The colors on the Xiaomi Mi 5s screen are oversaturated (note the tomatoes, bananas and napkin) and the color balance is slightly different. Recall that the photo can not serve as a reliable source of information about color quality and is provided for illustrative purposes only. In this case, apparently, due to the characteristics of the radiation spectrum of the screen, the color balance in the photographs is somewhat different from what is visible to the eye and is determined by the spectrophotometer.

Now at an angle of about 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:

It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens, but on Xiaomi Mi 5s, the contrast has decreased to a greater extent due to strong black highlighting.

And the white box:

The brightness at an angle of the screens has greatly decreased, but the Xiaomi Mi 5s screen is still brighter. The black field, when deviated diagonally, is highlighted strongly and acquires a yellowish tint. The photos below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same!):

And from another angle:

With a perpendicular view, the uniformity of the black field is average:

Contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is high - about 1060:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 27 ms (14 ms on + 13 ms off). The transition between 25% and 75% grayscale (according to the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 44 ms. The gamma curve constructed from 32 points with an equal interval according to the numerical value of the shade of gray did not reveal a blockage either in the highlights or in the shadows. The fit exponent is 2.15, slightly below the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve slightly deviates from the power dependence:

In this case, we did not find any dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the displayed image, which is very good.

The color gamut is noticeably wider than sRGB:

Let's look at the spectra:

Such spectra (unfortunately) are found in top mobile devices from Sony and other manufacturers. Apparently, this screen uses LEDs with a blue emitter and a green and red phosphor (usually a blue emitter and a yellow phosphor), which, in combination with special matrix light filters, allows you to get a wide color gamut. Yes, and in the red phosphor, apparently, the so-called quantum dots are used. For a consumer device, a wide color gamut is not an advantage, but a significant disadvantage, because as a result, the colors of images - drawings, photos and films - oriented to the sRGB space (and the vast majority of them) have an unnatural saturation. This is especially noticeable on recognizable shades, such as skin tones. The result is shown in the photo above.

This device has the ability to adjust the color balance by adjusting the hue warmer-colder (there are only three values ​​for selection, despite the slider), and also select one of three profiles (the color balance switch is inactive in the two lower ones).

Profile is of interest Default(which isn't selected by default at all), since it's the only one that attempts to fix creepy colors by adjusting the gamut:

The result is average, but the attempt counts. We hope that someday Xiaomi smartphone software developers will master the simplest operations of matrix algebra and they will get an sRGB triangle without kinks on the sides. For now, we have the following result:

Everything is better. In the case of a profile Increasing contrast The screen brightness is maximum, but the balance is the worst, because the color temperature is too high and the ΔE value is too high. For the default profile ( Auto Contrast), the balance of shades on the gray scale is acceptable, since the color temperature is slightly higher than the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is below 10, which is considered a good indicator for a consumer device. At the same time, the color temperature and ΔE change little from shade to shade - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance. When choosing a profile Default the color temperature approaches 6500 K, but ΔE increases significantly. However, in this case, it is more important to reduce saturation to normal. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since the color balance does not matter much there, and the measurement error of color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

To summarize: the screen has a very high maximum brightness and has excellent anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors without problems even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable level. It is permissible to use the mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works adequately. Also, the advantages of the screen include the presence of an effective oleophobic coating, the absence of an air gap in the layers of the screen and flicker, high contrast, as well as not the worst color balance and approaching the sRGB color gamut when choosing a profile Default. Significant disadvantages are the low stability of black to the deviation of the gaze from the perpendicular to the plane of the screen. Nevertheless, taking into account the importance of the characteristics for this particular class of devices, the screen quality can be considered high.

Camera

The front module here, apparently, is the same as that of Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus, the camera has a 4 MP sensor with a pixel size of 2 microns and a wide-angle lens (80 °) with a maximum aperture of f / 2.0, with a fixed focus and without its own outbreaks. As usual for Xiaomi smartphones, there is a function for auto-detection of the gender and age of the subject. There are also modes for decorating the picture. Shooting quality is average.

The main camera here is not double, like the Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus, but the usual one. It uses a Sony IMX378 sensor (12 MP) and a six-element lens with a maximum aperture of f/2.0. Phase (PDAF) autofocus pleases with its speed both during the day and in low light conditions. Double multi-colored flash is bright.

The control menu is the same as in all Xiaomi smartphones, there are no noticeable differences, except, perhaps, for the emergence of more and more additional special modes, such as GroupShot, tilt-shift, etc. The dual camera in the Mi 5s Plus modification had two more unusual modes - stereo and monochrome, but for obvious reasons they are not here. There is a special night mode, and even if you do not turn it on manually, it turns on itself when shooting in low light conditions without a flash.

As usual, in the settings there is no choice of resolution in specific numbers, you can only set high, medium or low quality, as well as adjust the clarity, saturation and contrast - again, by choosing presets. In manual mode, ISO settings (up to 3200), shutter speed, white balance are added. Using the Camera2 API, you cannot transfer control of the camera to third-party applications; there is also no way to save pictures in RAW.

The camera can shoot video at a maximum resolution of 4K, for Slow Motion, the resolution is limited to 720p, there is a switchable stabilization for video. It's not perfect, but it still successfully compensates for small hand tremors when shooting on the go. And in general, the camera does an excellent job with video shooting: sharpness, color reproduction and detailing are normal, as is the soundtrack recorded at the same time. The sound is clear, there is no echo effect, the noise reduction system copes with its duties adequately.

• Video #1 (95 MB, 3840× [email protected] fps, H.264, AAC)
• Video #2 (57 MB, 1280×720, slo-mo)

We also tested the camera on a laboratory bench according to our methodology.

The camera was nice. It is not without flaws in the form of blur zones that periodically occur along the edges of the frame, but otherwise everything is quite good. The program works neatly and almost imperceptibly. In general, the camera will cope well with a variety of scenarios.

Telephone part and communications

The communication capabilities of the hero of the review are rich: the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 SoC provided the smartphone with the X12 LTE Cat.12 / 13 modem, and Xiaomi took care of supporting many frequency bands, including 3 FDD LTE bands (Band 1, 3, 7). Unfortunately, the LTE 800 MHz (Band 20) frequency is not supported, which is the best for indoor communications, as well as in sparsely populated areas. For residents of some regions, this can become a certain problem in terms of using the 4G network, but in the urban area of ​​the Moscow region, the device behaved more or less confidently. The quality of signal reception does not cause any particular complaints, although it was not possible to achieve maximum speeds in LTE in the usual test places.

In addition, Bluetooth 4.2 is supported from wireless interfaces, both Wi-Fi bands (2.4 and 5 GHz) MU-MIMO, WiDi, and even NFC with Mifare Classic support. There are no complaints about the sensitivity of the Wi-Fi module. You can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels. The USB Type-C connector supports connecting external devices in USB OTG mode.

The navigation module works with both GPS (with A-GPS) and domestic Glonass, it sees the device and satellites of the Chinese Beidou network. The first satellites during a cold start in the absence of a wireless network for data transmission are detected within the first tens of seconds. The smartphone is equipped with a magnetic field sensor, on the basis of which the digital compass of navigation programs usually functions.

The phone application supports Smart Dial, that is, while dialing a phone number, a search is also carried out immediately by the first letters in contacts. There is a built-in blacklist for unwanted contacts. The stock keyboard supports Swype stroke input by default. There is pluggable support for VoLTE. In conversational dynamics, the voice of a familiar interlocutor remains recognizable, there are no extraneous noises. The main speaker has a good volume, the sound quality is average, but quite clear. The volume level will be enough for any environment. The vibrating alert can be adjusted, at maximum power it is quite noticeable.

The smartphone supports two SIM-cards. The standard interface allows you to select a specific card for each of the functions in advance or directly during the connection. Working with two SIM-cards is organized according to the usual Dual SIM Dual Standby standard, when both cards can be in active standby mode, but cannot work at the same time - there is only one radio module.

Software and multimedia

As a software platform, Xiaomi Mi 5s uses Android OS version 6.0.1 and its own proprietary MIUI 8 shell, which we have already met more than once on the example of both the older model Mi 5s Plus and Redmi Note 4 from a simpler line. As in the case of the Mi 5s Plus, we received a model with the international firmware MIUI Global 8.0 already installed for tests, so we did not have to resort to installing the Play Store and Google Apps on our own. Such a need may sometimes arise for those who like to order Chinese smartphones in online stores, but usually these users know what they are getting into and are ready to “conjure” a little with the firmware. True, it is worth noting that online stores most often supply Xiaomi smartphones with modified firmware, so in this case the device has a customized global version that is not updated “over the air”. In the real global version, the index is different, camera2api works there and it is possible to save to RAW.

Performance

The Xiaomi Mi 5s hardware platform is based on the same SoC as the Mi 5s Plus – Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 (MSM8996pro). Basically, it's a slightly improved version of the Snapdragon 820, Qualcomm's top and most expensive platform for mobile devices. But in Xiaomi Mi 5s, the maximum core frequency was reduced to such an extent that the platform in this parameter is not much different from the usual Snapdragon 820. Obviously, this was done in order to artificially lower the performance of the Mi 5s model in relation to the Mi 5s Plus and justify thereby higher cost of the latter.

Be that as it may, the chip configuration here includes four Kryo processor cores in two clusters, the maximum frequency of the older cores reaches 2.15 GHz (against 2.34 GHz for Mi 5s Plus). The Adreno 530 video accelerator is responsible for graphics processing, the frequency of its cores was also lowered to 624 MHz (against 652 MHz for Mi 5s Plus). The amount of RAM is 3 or 4 GB, and the internal memory is 32, 64 or 128 GB, depending on the configuration. About 57 GB remains free on the 64 GB flash model, and about 1.4 of the 3 GB of RAM is usually free after a fresh reboot and clearing the memory.

There is no possibility of expanding the memory by installing microSD cards, but you can connect an external flash drive in USB OTG mode. The simultaneous connection of a USB flash drive and an SD card using an OTG hub also works well (Transcend Smart Reader RDC2 was used for testing).

Qualcomm claims that the Snapdragon 821 is about 10% faster than its predecessor. Here, the performance of SoC, slightly reduced in frequency of CPU and GPU cores, clearly demonstrates the opposite picture: the results of all tests without exception (complex, graphics and even browser) are slightly lower than those of Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus. In AnTuTu, for example, this difference was about 11K (141K versus 152K), in other tests the gap is within the same limits. But both Xiaomi models, of course, have such high performance that most modern smartphones cannot even dream of such results. The hero of the review is one of the most powerful modern smartphones, only a few can compare with it in terms of performance today.

The platform provides the highest numbers in benchmarks, and in real scenarios it confidently copes with any tasks, including the most demanding games. Any games we have tested, including Dead Trigger 2, Modern Combat 5, Mortal Kombat X, not to mention less demanding ones like World of Tanks, run without the slightest lag at maximum settings and are played with great comfort. The device is very powerful, it has a significant headroom for future updates for several more generations.

Testing in the latest versions of AnTuTu and GeekBench comprehensive benchmarks:

For convenience, we have summarized all the results obtained by us when testing a smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks in tables. Several other devices from various segments are usually added to the table, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry numbers). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison, it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” due to the fact that they once passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions of test programs.

Testing the graphics subsystem in 3DMark gaming tests, GFXBenchmark and Bonsai Benchmark:

When testing in 3DMark for the highest performing smartphones, it is now possible to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (due to which the speed can rise above 60 fps).

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for evaluating the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowances for the fact that the results in them depend significantly on the browser in which they are launched, so that the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this possibility is available when testing not always. In the case of Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

AndroBench memory performance test results:

thermal images

Below is a thermal image of the back surface taken after 10 minutes of running the GFXBenchmark battery test:

It can be seen that the heating is more localized in the upper part of the device, which apparently corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. According to the heat chamber, the maximum heating was 37 degrees (at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees), which is relatively small.

Video playback

To test the "omnivorous" when playing video (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Web. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern versions using processor cores alone. Also, do not expect everything from a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are summarized in a table.

According to the test results, the test subject was not equipped with all the necessary decoders that are needed for the full playback of most of the most common multimedia files on the network, in this case, sound ones. To successfully play them, you will have to resort to the help of a third-party player - for example, MX Player. True, it also needs to change the settings and manually install additional custom codecs, because now this player does not officially support the AC3 audio format.

Further testing of video playback performed Alexey Kudryavtsev.

Due to the lack of the necessary adapter, we could not check the hypothetical presence of the MHL interface, as well as Mobility DisplayPort, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Methodology for testing video signal playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices) Red marks indicate possible problems associated with playback of the corresponding files.

According to the criterion for displaying frames, the quality of playing video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is very good, since frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) to be displayed with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and in most cases without frame drops. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the border of the screen, one to one in pixels, that is, in its original resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235: in the shadows, only about a couple of shades merge with black, and in the highlights, all gradations are displayed.

Battery life

The non-removable battery installed in Xiaomi Mi 5s has a capacity of 3200 mAh smaller than that of Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus. By modern standards, such a capacity is not impressive, but even with its super-powerful platform, the smartphone showed not only decent autonomy results, but also better than many competitors in the top segment. Particularly pleased with the long time of work in video viewing mode and in games - both new Xiaomi devices operate in these scenarios for a very long time, and these are relatively life scenarios, unlike, for example, a day of uninterrupted reading of e-books.

Of course, in real life, the situation is usually more complicated, and even the most enduring smartphone may not reach the evening charge, but with normal average use, the hero of the review is quite capable of quietly holding out for a day or more without recharging. Testing has traditionally been conducted at normal power levels without power saving features.

Continuous reading in the Moon + Reader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd / m²) with auto scrolling lasted until the battery was completely discharged for about 14.5 hours, and with continuous viewing of video in high quality ( 720p) at the same brightness level through a home Wi-Fi network, the unit operates for a little less than 12 hours. In the 3D game mode, the smartphone can work up to 7 hours or more, although here, of course, everything will depend on specific games and their settings.

The device supports the Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 proprietary fast charging function; it is charged from the bundled AC adapter in about 1 hour and 40 minutes with a current of 2.3 A at a voltage of 6 V. The smartphone does not support wireless charging.

Outcome

Xiaomi Mi 5s turned out to be pleasant in appearance, practical and easy to use, medium-sized and light. This very attractive smartphone received a high-quality screen and camera, which is very important to justify the considerable price of the device. Excellent communication capabilities and a high level of autonomy complete the rosy picture. In addition, Xiaomi Mi 5s is the most productive smartphone. In a word, once again we have to admit that the medium-sized Xiaomi Mi series devices are now almost the only worthy alternative to Apple smartphones for lovers of miniature mobile devices with maximum capabilities.

The hero of the review may be inferior to his older brother Mi 5s Plus in some ways, having a smaller display and a “simple” camera, but the regular model costs less and is, of course, designed for a more mass consumer. The cheapest option is priced at 1,899 yuan, while the older one (4 GB RAM, 128 GB flash) is priced at 2,299 yuan, which corresponds to about 17,500 and 21,500. But these are official prices for China, and online stores, especially domestic ones, will definitely throw something on top.

Already managed to attract the attention of the world community. After all, in fact, this is the cheapest flagship with the same platform that we are used to seeing in expensive smartphones from Samsung, HTC or other famous brands. Well, Xiaomi is famous not only for producing the cheapest solutions with mind-blowing characteristics, but also for installing the most advanced platforms in its solutions. So update in the form Xiaomi Mi 5s should be of interest to many fans of the brand, because behind a simple prefix in the form of the letter s, very difficult improvements are hidden.

Design

We should start with the design: although the common features have been retained, the design has changed. First, 2.5-d appeared in a protective glass. It’s not that this was so lacking in the original flagship, but the company simply couldn’t help but catch up with the trend, because in the case of Mi 5, it didn’t have time to do this and is now at least catching up. The second change is the body. As already noted, he retained common features: namely, side edges rounded to the frame.

Now we see not glass, but a solid piece of metal, it looks good. The manufacturers were especially clever with the antenna wiring, here the contours of the antenna wiring strips are quite unusual by the standards of the modern market, but the fact that they do not repeat the iPhone ones is already pleasing. In general, the case looks more impressive than in the plus version, perhaps because of the branded wiring, and not the usual overlays. Yes, and one cannot fail to note another strange feature of the older brother Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus: he received a fingerprint scanner, which is located on the back. In the basic version, this scanner is located on the hardware home button. But it is strange that few manufacturers do not adhere to unification, here everything is scattered, including the location of hardware elements.

Now about the display, we have a device with a diagonal of 5.15 inches. The diagonal is non-standard, but the resolution is full-width. But this is not interesting, but the fact that the screen has acquired a proprietary technology that perceives the pressing force. Directly, as in an indirect competitor phone Apple iPhone 7, which is the new product from Xiaomi.

Technical capabilities

As already noted, the platform in the latest products from Xiaomi is always the most relevant. Xiaomi Mi 5S also received a brand new processor - snapdragon 821, exactly the same as in the new expensive Google Pixel smartphone. So the user will have no problems with performance, especially since the device has 3 or 4 gigabytes of RAM, which can be selected upon purchase. Well, the versions differ in permanent memory, 64 or 128GB. The microsim slot is still missing.

Mi5S is the new flagship from the Chinese company Xiaomi. Inflated expectations were initially riveted to the device, since its predecessor, Mi5, was considered one of the best smartphones of the beginning of 2016 in terms of price / quality ratio. However, the presentation of the novelty, which took place on September 27, caused a controversial reaction from the community.

Looking ahead, let's say that the smartphone turned out to be ambiguous. In this review, we will analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the device and decide whether the Mi5S is a worthy continuation of the Xiaomi flagship line.
Content

Price and main characteristics

The declared price of Xiaomi Mi5S is $330, at this price the device can be bought on Aliexpress or in other Chinese online stores. Our smartphone is more expensive, in Svyaznoy, which is the official representative of Xiaomi in Russia, Mi5S is available for pre-order at a price of 35 thousand rubles.

Consider the technical characteristics of the smartphone:

• operating system - Android 6, shell MIUI 8;
• processor - Snapdragon 821 (4 cores: 2 * 2.15 and 2 * 1.6 GHz) with an Adreno 530 graphics accelerator;
• flash memory - 64/128 GB (there is no memory card slot), RAM - 3/4 GB;
• display – 5.15” IPS Full HD, pixel density 428 ppi;
• cameras: main - 12 MP (Sony Exmor IMX378), aperture 2.0, front - 4 MP, f2;
• battery - 3200 mAh;
• interfaces - Wi-Fi, USB-C, Bluetooth 4.2 LE;
• networks – GSM, LTE, 4G.

Appearance, dimensions

On paper, Xiaomi Mi5S is one of the most powerful flagships of 2016, and the announced price of 330 USD (relevant for Aliexpress) is more than acceptable for such characteristics.

The dimensions of Xiaomi Mi5S are 145.6*70.3*8.3 mm, the weight of the device is 145 grams. The smartphone has an all-metal body with rounded edges of the back cover, and is available in 4 colors - white, black, gold and pink.

Compared to its predecessor, which was made of glass and had a smaller thickness, Mi5 S feels quite “chubby”. It will be comfortable for a man with a large palm to hold it, despite the constant attempts to slip the smartphone out of his hand, but the fair sex may have more serious problems with ergonomics.

The display of the smartphone is covered with 2.5D glass - this is a winning solution that has a positive effect on the aesthetics of the device. Under the screen is the Home button, which has a built-in fingerprint sensor. The button itself is a touch pad, which caused dissatisfaction among many users of the previous model, which used a mechanical version.

According to the arrangement of functional elements in Mi5S, everything is standard: at the bottom - USB and speaker perforations, on the right side - power and volume buttons, at the top - a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

Questions are raised by the back cover of the case, in the upper part of which there is a plastic insert for the antenna, edged with light stripes. The arrangement of the stripes completely repeats the design of those in the iPhone 6. Didn't Xiaomi engineers have enough enthusiasm to make their own design, and not copy the solution of competitors?

Screen

The main stumbling block for Xiaomi fans was the black stripes around the Mi5S display. The device is declared by the manufacturer as a frameless smartphone, and indeed, the mechanical side frames have an extremely small width, but the whole picture is spoiled by black stripes that frame the screen, which appear when the display is turned on.

Mi5 had similar frames, whose users repeatedly asked to remove the black bezel in the new flagship, but something prevented Xiaomi engineers from doing this. Note that this problem is relevant only for smartphones in white colors, while in black devices, the frames completely merge with the body and are not striking.

The screen itself in Xiaomi Mi5S is not bad enough - it is an IPS matrix with a resolution of 1920 * 1080 pixels, which has a pixel density of 428 ppi and a diagonal of 5.15 ". The display has good color reproduction, it produces a contrasting, saturated picture without distortion in color temperature. Claims can be only to the viewing angles, as the image fades when the screen is strongly tilted outward, but in everyday use this drawback is unlikely to appear.

Performance

The Xiaomi Mi5 S uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon 821 processor, the most powerful smartphone hardware solution on the market. The S-821 has four cores running at 2.1-2.4 GHz and an Adreno 530 graphics accelerator running at 650 MHz.

This processor is 10% faster than the Snapdragon 820 that came with Mi5, which at the time of release is the most powerful smartphone (136857 points) according to Benchmark synthetic tests. The novelty is gaining 164 thousand parrots in Antutu and takes the unconditional first place in terms of overall performance.

The characteristics of the Snapdragon 821 enable the smartphone to perfectly cope with any task. The device allows you to play the most demanding games at maximum graphics settings, watch high-quality video in BDRip 1080p format, and there can be no talk of slowdowns in the operation of conventional programs and problems with the smoothness of the interface.

In terms of performance, Mi5S gets a well-deserved 5+. The speed of this device can be compared with class A flagships, the cost of which is 2-3 times higher (recall, the Mi5S price on Aliexpress is only $330).

Battery

The smartphone has a 3200 mAh battery, which is 200 mAh more than its predecessor. The new flagship demonstrates an increase in battery life, which is achieved not only due to a more capacious battery, but also due to the optimization of the power consumption of the Snapdragon 821 processor, the gluttony of which has decreased by 10%, according to manufacturers.

Xiaomi Mi5S lasts for 2 days of moderate use without recharging. With a constantly on screen, it can withstand almost 19 hours of work, when playing HD video - 13 hours, in the maximum load mode (3D games) - 6 hours.

These are very worthy indicators, and given that the Mi5S supports the fast charging function (it takes 50-60 minutes to fully charge the battery from scratch), its autonomy can be noted as the highest rating.

Camera

The main camera in Xiaomi Mi5S is represented by the latest Sony Exmor IMX378 sensor, which is now used only in the flagship from Xiaomi and Google Pixel devices, the camera of which was recognized as the best among mobile devices.

The 12MP camera delivers amazingly sharp and detailed images that are head and shoulders above the Mi5. In terms of video, everything is also worthy, the device records in 4K resolution, there is also the ability to record Slow-Mo in HD mode at a frequency of 120 frames per second.

However, there is also a fly in the ointment, which was the lack of optical stabilization.

What prevented Xiaomi from bringing the camera to mind is incomprehensible, so it would be one of the best photo smartphones on the market, but now we just have a device with a very good camera.

speaker, sound quality

We are already used to the fact that Chinese smartphone manufacturers do not bother too much with the quality of sound reproduction in their devices - a dedicated audio chip is extremely rare even in flagships from China. It is also absent in Xiaomi Mi5S.

When using high-quality headphones, things are not bad, but the Mi5S does not deserve special praise here, it produces a standard sound without critical flaws, but without frills.

The external speaker of the smartphone copes with its immediate tasks - an alarm clock and an alarm about incoming calls. The speaker is not bad, the interlocutor can be heard well, without extraneous noise.

Communication and Internet

Like all modern flagships Xiaomi Mi5S works in 3G and 4G networks, LTE and TDD. We also note the presence of a built-in modem that allows you to receive traffic at speeds up to 600 Mbps (however, with our operators, this advantage can be ignored).

The device supports 2 NanoSim SIM cards, has GPS (compatible with Glonass), Wi-Fi (bands 2.5 and 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.2 (Low Energy). It also provides the ability to synchronize with external peripherals (printer, keyboard, mouse) via USB Type-C.

Video review of Xiaomi Mi5S

findings

Xiaomi Mi5S can be bought on Aliexpress for 330 USD. In this price category, the device has practically no competitors - it is a powerful smartphone, with a good camera and long battery life. If you are not embarrassed by the design of the device and the lack of an optical stabilizer in the camera (it affects video recording, it does not affect photos), we recommend taking it - the price for such a device is extremely humane.

As a more affordable alternative, we note the old representative of the Xiaomi Mi5 line (the current price on Aliexpress is 270 USD) - this is still a flagship device with excellent characteristics, which will last for 2 years of trouble-free use.

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