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Xiaomi Mi 5- The First Xiaomi Phone with USB Type-C

Xiaomi has a 'Budget smartphone' image in India.  With the introduction of its new flagship model the Mi 5, Xiaomi is showing off what it can do in the high-end market segment. This is the Xiaomi's most expensive offering yet in India, and signals a break away from Xiaomi's budget image. 

The Mi 5 has new features compared to previous Xiaomi models such as a fingerprint sensor, 3D Ceramic body, Android Marshmallow 6, 16 MP rear camera with Sony IMX298 sensor and Secondary Camera of 4MP, and Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor.  On the connectivity side, like the LG G5 the Mi 5 is also Xiaomi's first USB Type-C phone that also supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 and also supports UFS 2.0 for internal flash storage.  However, unlike the LG G5 and Samsung Galaxy S7, the Mi 5 does not have external SD card support.

I have ordered the Mi 5 from Mi.com through a flash sale and they shipped through Blue-Dart courier within two days. The package came up with Mi Logo and other details of the company printed on the top. 

Inside the cover there is Plain brown box (with barcode) containing a properly packed mobile box. 

Inside the brown box there is another box which has the phone and accessories.. The accessories include a power adapter, Type-C cable and a user manual. Unfortunately, it's tough to open sim slot on the Mi 5 since Xiaomi for some reason didn't provide a SIM eject tool.

The Xiaomi's Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 enabled charger supports 10 Watts (5 Volts @ 2 Amps or 9 Volts @ 1.2 Amps) and 12 Watts (12 Volts @ 2 Amps).  For some reason Xiaomi chose to only supply these lower power and resulting slower charge rates compared to the LG G5 supports 16 Watts of battery charging (9 Volts @ 1.8 Amps).

Once we switch on the power button which is on the right side of the mobile, it will start with Mi logo.  

Once it is on, you need to select language, country and type of keyboard of our choice.

You then need to connect to WI-FI and login with a Google account.

Once the Google account setup is done, you can create Mi account or skip it. Further it will asks to add your finger print and allows you for the additional setting such as location.

You can then select the theme of your choice before finally going to the Home screen so you can start using the phone.

The Xiaomi Mi 5 runs Android 6.0 and is powered by a 3000mAh non removable battery. It measures 144.50 x 69.20 x 7.25 (height x width x thickness) and weighs 129.00 grams.It has 3 GB Ram and 32 GB internal storage which cannot be expanded.

The Mi 5 is a dual SIM (GSM and GSM) smartphone that accepts two Nano-SIM. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, 3G, 4G (with support for Band 40 used by some LTE networks in India). Sensors on the phone include Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, and Gyroscope.

The Mi 5 is very slim and extremely light at 129 grams, and you will feel the lack of heft in our hands. However, the main draw back of the phone is that it gets hot very quickly during normal usage while using apps, camera, etc. 

Unlike the LG G5 which supports both USB Power Delivery and Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 as well as DisplayPort over USB Type-C, the Mi 5 only supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0.  Unfortunately, this limits the ability to "quick charge" your Mi 5 especially since the accompanying Xiaomi Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 charger provides less power and charges slower compared to other Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 chargers.