XIAOMI MI 5 RUMORS AND NEWS LEAKS

Rumors of the Xiaomi Mi 5 have been circulating for quite a while and fans may be wondering — will it ever arrive? According to rumors, it’s still in the works, so here’s everything we think we know about the Mi 5.

Will the Mi 5 ever arrive?

The Xiaomi Mi 5 has been rumored for months, and evidence is mounting that Xiaomi might finally announce the device in February. In a Weibo post, Xiaomi co-founder and senior vice president Liwan Jiang said the company is accelerating production of the Mi 5 and it will supposedly be in stock soon after the Spring Festival, the holiday period around Chinese New Year. It goes on until mid-February.

This fits with an earlier Weibo leak (credit to My Drivers), where a banner inside an unnamed Foxconn facility was pictured saying the Mi 5 is now in mass production. This led to speculation regarding the launch date, which according to the leak will be sometime in February. My Drivers breaks this down further, taking into consideration the holiday around Chinese New Year, and estimates the big day may be February 20. This isn’t final, or even close to being official; plus it’s not even the only release date rumor in play: there is another about a January 21 Mi 5 launch date.

We’ve been tracking Mi 5 launch rumors for a while. In 2015, the last we heard was the phone would be shown off on December 3, but it never materialized. Going back further, there were lots of rumors of a November launch date, but analyst Pan Jiutang stated Xiaomi would hold off the Mi 5 launch until the Snapdragon 820 became available for mass production. Before the November leaks, we heard about an October 19 event, which turned out to be the launch of the Segway-type scooter. Specification leaks go back even further.

What will it look like?

Recently leaked images by a user on Weibo show off what looks to be the Xiaomi Mi 5 in four colors: black, gold, white, and pink. The notable difference in this image compared to that of previously leaked renders is the home button, which is not as round and resembles the button on Samsung Galaxy devices. The image does seem to confirm the rumored 2.5D glass front panel, assuming it’s the real deal.

In early December, two leaks gave us a look at what potential Xiaomi Mi 5 designs. The first came from GizmoChina and a Weibo source, and showed the front of the phone with a black border. The Mi logo and a home button — that’s expected to house a fingerprint sensor — were the only other points of interest.

A few days later, another image was published on the Weibo social network, this time in the shape of a full render. It shows a curved 2.5D glass front panel, and a similar home button design to the first leaked image, plus there is the hint of a USB Type-C charger mounted underneath. The Mi logo is missing from its usual home in the top left of the body.

None of the images are official, and should be considered speculative until the phone is finally made official.

What about the specifications?

While speculation still grows, one thing seems certain — the Mi 5 will be a powerhouse. In mid-November, after months of silence regarding the phone’s possible specification, a benchmark test for a device codename Gemini appeared on Geekbench’s site. While these can easily be faked, it does show the Gemini running an MSM8996 Qualcomm chip — better known to use as the Snapdragon 820 — with 3GB of RAM, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow installed. The Gemini’s appearance coincided with talk of a December announcement.

In late September, @leaksfly on the social network Weibo published another set of specs, and because they differ once more than those we’ve seen before, it suggests Xiaomi has been gradually tweaking the phone while it waits for the right moment to launch it.

Apparently, the phone will feature a 5.2-inch screen with a 1080p resolution, smaller and lower resolution than previous rumors — including those from @leaksfly — stated. The Snapdragon 820 processor with 4GB of RAM are still likely, according to the source, along with a 16-megapixel camera on the rear, and an 8-megapixel from cam. Android 5.1.1 is the OS mentioned, which will inevitably be covered in the MIUI skin, plus a choice of a 16GB or 32GB model.

Before this, according to a leak in early July, the spec was thought to be different. For example, the display was said to be 5.3-inches — slightly larger than the Mi 4 — and with a 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution. The rear camera was listed as  having 16 megapixels, while the front facing camera may come in at 6 megapixels. The rumor mentioned a Micro SD slot for expanded storage, a micro SIM slot, a 3030mAh battery, and Android 5.1.1 Lollipop.

Talk of the Snapdragon 820 started back in May, after a @leaksfly rumor said Xiaomi will pair the processor with 4GB of RAM, and offer both a 16GB and a 64GB model. At that time, the screen was expected to measure 5.5-inches and have a 2,560 x 1,440 pixel resolution, making it slightly smaller in size than the 5.7-inch Mi Note Pro.

Other features listed back then included a 16-megapixel rear camera, an 8-megapixel front camera — both with optical image stabilization — plus a USB Type-C charging port. Xiaomi may use aluminum for the phone’s body, and it may measure just 5.1mm thick. Finally, as part of the Snapdragon 820, the phone may use Qualcomm’s ultrasonic fingerprint authentication system. The fingerprint sensor was also part of the July rumor report from Mobipicker.

We’ll keep you updated on all the rumors regarding the Xiaomi Mi 5, and let you know any official news when the time comes.