14 DAY TRIAL // This summer, well-known industry analyst Pan Jiutang predicted that Qualcomm’s next big thing would start shipping out to manufacturers in December, with the first handset taking advantage of the platform to make it out on the market in March 2016.
Well, it appears that Jiutang has now revised these predictions. The first smartphone expected to make a debut with a Snapdragon 820 inside was said to be the Xiaomi Mi5. The analyst says this is still the case, just that we could possibly see the phone make an appearance as soon as December. If Qualcomm can handle the demand, that is.
The Xiaomi Mi5 has been rumored for quite some time, and we’ve been hoping the Chinese device maker will introduce the flagship sooner rather than later. After all, it’s been more than a year since the company rolled out the Xiaomi Mi4. But recently, the phone manufacturer has been concentrating on releasing upper middle-range products, like the Mi4c.
Xiaomi Mi5 getting Snapdragon 820 treatment before the Samsung Galaxy S7?
On top of getting its release date pushed closer to us, the Xiaomi Mi5 specs have also leaked once more via @Leaksfly’s Weibo account (as seen at Tech Grapple). At some point, we were hearing that Xiaomi might be prepping a Plus version of the flagship that would come equipped with the Snapdragon 820, but if we’re to take the current information at hand as true, the Mi5 will take advantage of the new Qualcomm SoC.
A leaked screenshot showing the phone being put through the AnTuTu benchmark revealed that it scored 73,000 points, which might be considered evidence enough that the handset is running the new SoC.
Xiaomi Mi5 should make a debut with a 5.2-inch display with 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution. Alongside the chipset we mentioned above, Xiaomi will be throwing in 4GB of RAM plus 16GB/32GB of internal storage (we’re not told whether there’s a microSD card slot on board as well).
The phone will feature a 16MP camera on the back, just like on the LG G4, plus an apt 8MP selfie shooter that can also be used for video chats. A fingerprint sensor and a USB Type C port will complete the spec sheet.
Interestingly enough, the leak says thedevice should make it out with Android 5.1.1 pre-installed. But until December, Android 6.0 Marshmallow will be out and about.
Apart from the Xiaomi Mi5, word on the street has it that we should be looking towards a new Mi Note 2 model as well, which is bound to arrive with a larger 5.7-inch QHD display (1440 x 2560 pixel resolution) and a more advanced camera. So if the FHD display on the Mi5 is not enough for you, you’ll have an alternative to turn to.
