Amid probes over Xiaomi's marketing strategy in China, the budget smartphone maker is working to make a major impact on the market. After a successful premium lineup of flagship smartphones, Xiaomi is set to release the Mi 5 later this year in an attempt to take on bigger rivals. The new handset is expected to come with top-of-the-line specs and the latest technology.
It is widely believed that the Mi 5 will sport Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 chipset, electronic industry analyst Pan Jiutang had predicted earlier this year. If so, Xiaomi's flagship will be the first to sport Qualcomm's most advanced chipset, which is an important milestone for the chipmaker as the current generation SoC is linked to heating issues. As a result, several manufacturers have switched to alternate options such as MediaTek and Exynos processors.
In a recent leak spotted by Xiaomi Today, the Mi 5 smartphone was listed on AnTuTu benchmark with a high score of 73,075.
Besides using the most advanced chipset, the Xiaomi Mi 5 is expected to pack a 5.2-inch Full HD screen, 4GB RAM, 16GB/ 32GB storage and a quad-core Kryo CPU coupled with Adreno 530 GPU for graphics. These rumours come from mobile tipster, @Leaksfly, who further speculated that the Mi 5 smartphone will pack a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera, 8MP front snapper, a fingerprint scanner, USB Type-C port and Android 5.1.1 OS, Phone Arena reported.
Rumours also suggest that Xiaomi will launch a bigger variant of the Mi 5, to be called the Mi 5 Plus, with higher Quad HD resolution on a screen as big as 5.7 inches and a better camera.
Xiaomi is likely to launch the Mi 5 smartphone as early as December this year, if Qualcomm manages to ship sufficient Snapdragon 820 chips. It has been well over a year since the Chinese tech company upgraded its flagship lineup and it seems right to expect the Mi 5 by the end of this year.
There is no concrete evidence on the pricing of the Mi 5 but given the company's history, it is likely to tap into the budget flagship price range, much like the OnePlus 2 and Moto X Play.
