Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi on Tuesday launched its new flagship smartphones, the Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus, as well as new versions of the Mi TV 3s in Beijing. The company aimed to make some gains with its new smartphones, arming them with the Snapdragon 821 processor and new fingerprint scanning technology.
“Xiaomi has set up 25 stores in shopping malls and 2 exclusive stores in China,” said Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi, at the launch party on Tuesday.
Besides its stores, Xiaomi has also been promoting its smartphones with the new and apparently “cutting-edge” technologies that have been introduced in them.
The company used a fingerprint scanning technology called “Under Glass Ultrasonic Identification” in the Mi 5s / 5s Plus, which operates using a whole piece of glass planted in the front of the smartphone, removing the necessity to cut a hole to place a traditional fingerprint scanner.
Also, the Mi 5s uses a 1/2.3-inch CMOS image sensor with 1.55 μm unit pixel. The company claimed that the photography capability of the Mi 5s can be compared to a conventional digital camera.
The metal-body Mi 5s is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor. It has a 5.15-inch display screen with a luminance reaching 600 nit. The Mi 5s comes in four colors. The 64 GB version is priced at RMB 1,999 (USD 299), and the 128 GB version at RMB 2,299.
The company then released the Mi 5s Plus with a larger screen at 5.7 inches. The Mi 5s Plus is 20 g lighter and smaller in body dimensions than an iPhone 7 Plus. It uses a dual-lens 13 megapixel Sony camera on its back, which does not protrude outwards.
The Mi 5s Plus is also powered by a Snapdragon 821 processor. It has a 6 GB RAM plus 128 GB ROM version, priced at RMB 2,599, and a 4 GB plus 64 GB version for RMB 2,299. It is also offered in four colors.
The company also launched two new versions of the Mi TV 3s, a 65-inch one and 55-inch one.
The metal-body 65-inch Mi TV 3s is 9.9 mm at the thinnest part. It uses a 4K Samsung display screen, and is powered by an Amlogic T966 processor and Mali T830 GPU. It has 2 GB RAM and 8GB ROM. It uses an AI-based operating system PatchWall, which can recommend different video content to different users.
The 65-inch Mi TV 3s is priced at RMB 4,999. The company also offers a Mi TV 3s alongside a set of Xiaomi’s own acoustic equipment, priced at RMB 5,999. The 55-inch Mi TV 3s is priced at RMB 3,499.
The Mi 5s / 5s Plus smartphones and the new versions of Mi TV 3s will go on sale on Xiaomi’s official online store, Mi.com, and its stores, this Thursday.
A spokesperson from Xiaomi told AllChinaTech after the launch party on Tuesday that the Mi 5s / 5s Plus smartphones will also go on sale in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and India in the coming months.
(All photos provided by Xiaomi)
