When it comes to the high-end smartphones, they usually cost a lot. But what if there is a device that challenges the concept of it. Meet the Xiaomi Mi5, the phone that costs as twice as less as the Samsung Galaxy S7. Can it really make the new Galaxy phone run for its money? Learn more in a full comparison review.

Check out Xiaomi Mi5 Review

Check out Samsung Galaxy S7 Review

Xiaomi Mi5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7: VIDEO REVIEWS

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki-S5atjFkE[/embedyt]

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKx1VmuOl_c[/embedyt]

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBOG1UVZyaA[/embedyt]

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEfBGXWe5zg[/embedyt]

Xiaomi Mi5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7: DESIGN and DISPLAY

Both phones are very similar in a lot of ways. First, they are fairly compact as they have the 5.1” displays and thus the devices can be managed in one hand.

Both phones use metal and glass in the construction and both have curved edges on the back to help with the grip and add a little bit of aesthetics. The Galaxy S7 has one major advantage though. Its IP68 rating assures that the phone is water and dust resistant.

As for displays, the S7 brings the latest and greatest Amoled technologies. Whether you like Amoled or not, the panel is one of the best we’ve seen on any phone.

However, it doesn’t mean the Xiaomi has a bad screen. Well, its colours may not look as punchy or saturated, and the 1080p resolution means that it is not as pixel dense, the display is still very sharp, vibrant and it is pleasure to look at. It’s worth mentioning that the Galaxy phone uses a Gorilla Glass protection while the type of protection the Mi5 is not yet officially confirmed.

Just above displays we have a 4MP camera on the Xiaomi phone and 5MP snapper on the S7. Right next to it each phone has the LED light but only the one found on the Mi5 can be highly customised.

We have identical button layout on the bottom on each device that includes an embedded fingerprint scanner in the physical home button. Both scanners work equally fast but neither of them work straight from the standby mode. The Mi5 has an edge as its home button can be also tapped not only physically pressed. 

The glass back panels on both phones are enormous fingerprint magnets as any other glass surfaces. As for cameras, the Mi5 sports a 16MP Sony sensor with f/2.0 aperture, and dual LED flash. The Galaxy S7 has a 12MP shooter with a very bright f/1.7 aperture, single LED flash. Both phones sport OIS and PDAF.

The buttons on each device are clicky and tactile but I found the power key to be rattling on the Mi5 while the S7 does not have this issue. 

The Xiaomi phone has the IR blaster while the S7 does not and I don’t really understand why Samsung took this feature away this year. 

Also, Samsung decided to be more conservative as the phone still uses the micro USB port while the Mi5 has a more future-proof USB type C port.

Overall, both phones are worth being called flagships. However, the Galaxy S7 has an edge here. It is more rounded, it does not have sharp edges, its power button does not rattle and its metal frame looks and feels more premium.

Xiaomi Mi5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7: USER INTERFACE

Xiaomi Mi5 UI:

When it comes to the user interface, both phones have different implementations.

People who say that the Touchwiz is a heavily customised version of Android, never saw the MIUI 7.2, which is built on top of Android 6.0 on Xiaomi Mi5.

All the apps sit on the home screens, you have your notification shade and quick settings toggles.

The Xiaomi Mi5 can be highly customised. You can choose from a ton of wallpapers, a huge variety of themes, fonts, assign different tasks to capacitive buttons and do other things to make the phone look your own. 

Most importantly, the UI is running fast and fluid. I didn’t have a single hiccup or lag and I’m really happy with the performance.

Samsung Galaxy S7 UI:

The Samsung Galaxy S7 is still a heavily skinned iteration of Android 6.0 but it offers more conventional look of the UI especially if you care about the app tray. 

In short, the performance of the user interface is fast. The transitions, animations, opening, closing and switching between the apps is fast and fluid. 

We have some features that we’ve seen on other Samsung phones for quite some time now. Just to name a few, you can run two apps simultaneously or open up the app in a pop-up window. Also, you can launch the camera straight from the standby mode.

In addition, we have some customisation options. You can choose from a variety of themes from a dedicated themes store, change the wallpapers, fonts and so on.

At the end of the day, it all comes to a personal preference as both user interfaces are fast and I didn’t have any stutter or lag. 

Just keep in mind that the Xiaomi Mi5 is currently released in the Chinese market only meaning that it comes without Google Services pre-installed. Sure, it is very easy to install them but you have to keep in mind that the phone does not have multi-languages and there are quite a few Chinese aspects like some apps or some missed translation left in the UI.

Xiaomi Mi5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7: BENCHMARKS

Xiaomi Mi5:

Samsung Galaxy S7:

Xiaomi Mi5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

Samsung flagships have been known to bring all the best hardware components currently available and the Galaxy S7 is no exception.

I have an international model and it sports an octa-core Exynos 8890 chip with the maximum clock speeds of 2.6GHz, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, which is expandable via the microSD card slot.

But that doesn’t mean the Xiaomi Mi5 brings a knife to a gun fight. 

I have a standard model, which has a Snapdragon 820 chip with the clock speeds of 1.8GHz, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, which is, however, non-expandable. If you really need even more power, the Pro model offers a more powerful chip, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of local storage. 

The gaming performance is top-notch on each device. There is no stutter or lag and and graphics look stunning. 

However, I found the Xiaomi Mi5 to get a little warm quickly while the Galaxy S7 remained cool to the touch and that is thanks to the liquid cooling system. 

Anyway, you can be rest assured that neither of the devices have overheating issues.

Xiaomi Mi5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7: MULTIMEDIA

The sound via earphones is great on each phone but the Mi5 has a much louder volume output that I could not even listen to music at the highest volume setting.

Both phones sport good but not great loudspeakers. The quality of sound that is coming out the Xiaomi Mi5 is good but I would love to hear more depth and bass. The Galaxy S7’s speaker has more depth but the sound is a little bit muffled due to its waterproof properties.

Xiaomi Mi5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7: CAMERA

Xiaomi Mi5:

Galaxy S7:

The camera apps on each phone are similar but at the same time different. There are some shooting modes and settings to play with but I have to say that Samsung did a better job. The settings and shooting modes can be accessed quicker but most importantly, picture taking and video shooting modes are not separated like on the Mi5.  

Xiaomi Mi5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7: IMAGE QUALITY

I have made a 17-min long camera comparison of these phones, so make sure to check that out.

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqDaQf8SxaY[/embedyt]

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pGW1svD7bQ[/embedyt]

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQz47PXFxFk[/embedyt]

Xiaomi Mi5 camera samples:

Samsung Galaxy S7 camera samples:

In short, the Galaxy S7 has a better camera.

The daylight shots have more detail, sharpness and the dynamic range adjustment is better. However, its images tend to be overexposed and the colour reproduction is not always accurate as most of the shots have warm colours or even yellowish tint.

The Xiaomi Mi5 tends to do a better job with a colour reproduction but that’s the only department where this phone shines.  

The low-light image quality is a department where the Galaxy S7 shows its strength and a great implementation of powerful hardware. The photos have more detail and less noise than the ones taken with the Mi5. Also, the Galaxy S7 tends to brighten up the scene quite a lot in night shots. Some people may like it, some may not. 

Both selfie cameras can take good looking images but S7’s photos tend to have more detail.

When it comes to video, Galaxy S7 wins again. Its footage is sharper, the OIS works much better and continuos auto-focus is more graceful. In fact, the continuos auto-focus can become annoying on the Xiaomi Mi5.

Xiaomi Mi5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7: CONNECTIVITY

I didn’t have any connectivity issues with neither of the phones. Wifi, Bluetooth and GPS worked fine. However, I found that the earpiece was louder and the sound had more clarity on the GS7.

If you live in the U.S., you have to know that the Xiaomi Mi5 does not support 4G connectivity with neither of the major carriers but the 3G network will work fine. 

Make sure to check out the 4G compatibility in your region and I will leave a link to a website where you can check that out in the description down below the video. 

Xiaomi Mi5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7: BATTERY LIFE

Xiaomi Mi5:

Samsung Galaxy S7:

Both phones sport 3000mAh batteries but the Galaxy S7 tends to perform better. I could get 5 or 6 hours of screen-on time (depending on the usage).

I could reach only around 4 hours of SOT on the Xiaomi Mi5 and hopefully, this can be improved with future software updates.

A great thing that both phones support a fast charging feature and they can be fully charged in just 1:15 h. 

The Galaxy phone has an edge as it has an embedded wireless charging feature. 

Xiaomi Mi5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7: CONCLUSIONS

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S7 is a better phone in almost each and every department and it’s got the Xiaomi Mi5 beat… but of course it does! But here’s the thing, the latest Galaxy phone costs as twice as much as the Mi5. 

If you are looking for a phone that has a better build quality, water resistance, higher resolution display, better camera or you just simply want one of the best devices the money can buy – the Galaxy S7 is your choice. 

If you are on a budget or simply believe that the S7 is overpriced, go with the Xiaomi Mi5. It is still a great phone. It sports a processing power that easily rivals the S7, its design and display are gorgeous, the UI is running fast and it has tons of features. 

At the end of the day, both phones are great at their respective price categories. It all comes to your personal preference – if you need a top-shelf phone for a premium price or saving money is more important for you. Of course, if you don’t mind a few shortcomings.

The post Xiaomi Mi5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7 FULL Comparison Review appeared first on Gizmochina.

We have all waited for quite a while till Xiaomi, one of the largest smartphone makers in the world, releases a new flagship phone – Xiaomi Mi5. Learn more in the full review.

We wanted to say thanks to Giztop for sending Xiaomi Mi5 for a review.

Buy Xiaomi Mi 5 from Giztop

Xiaomi Mi5 Review: VIDEO REVIEW

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBOG1UVZyaA[/embedyt] [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bRZ6vrN-rg[/embedyt]

Xiaomi Mi5 Review: UNBOXING

The phone comes in a colourful box and the contents of it include a charging brick, USB type C cable, SIM ejector pin and some documentation.

Xiaomi Mi5 Review: SPECS

Xiaomi Mi5 Review: DESIGN and DISPLAY

The Xiaomi Mi5 is a beautiful and well crafted device, and you will notice that as soon as you pick it up. One of the main highlights is a curved glass panel on the back. It not only looks great but also helps with the grip. 

The metal frame, which is also curved on each side of the phone, goes around the device and it adds a lot of premium look and feel. 

The usual buttons are on the right and they are very tactile. However, I found the power button to be rattling a little. 

The dual nano SIM card slot is on the left. Unfortunately, Xiaomi Mi5 does not have microSD card slot.

We have a 5.15” 1080p display. Xiaomi decided to stick with full-HD display and that’s ok for me, because the panel is bright, sharp, it has great viewing angles, colours and it is a very high quality display overall. 

The front camera has 4MP or ultra pixels we should say. Besides some other usual stuff, we have a notification LED light, which can be highly customised as on the majority of Xiaomi phones. 

On the bottom, we have nicely backlit capacitive buttons and the for the first time on any Xiaomi phone, we have a physical home button, which also doubles as a fingerprint scanner. A great feature is that the home button can be also just tapped but not necessarily physically pressed. 

The scanner is fast and accurate but it does not work straight from the standby mode meaning that you should press home or power button first. 

The backplate is nice to look at but it is a huge fingerprint magnet.

As for camera, we have a 16MP shooter with f/2.0 aperture, OIS, PDAF and dual tone dual-LED flash.

On the top we have a headset jack and the IR blaster to control the TV or other devices. On the bottom we have a mic, loudspeaker and the USB type C port. 

Overall, the phone looks great, feels like an expensive device and it sits comfortably in the hand. The only shortcoming is a slightly rattling power button but it is far from the deal breaker. 

Xiaomi Mi5 Review: USER INTERFACE

Xiaomi Mi5 ships with the MIUI 7.2, which is built on top of Android 6.0. 

You have to keep in mind that the phone is still running on an early software build. In fact, I received 3 huge software updates in the last 5 days and that means that Xiaomi is working hard to fix any bug it finds. 

If you are familiar with the MIUI, you will feel right at home as there are no major changes.  All the apps sit on the home screens, you have your notification shade and quick settings toggles, which can be customised. The multitasking window has been improved. It now shows the preview of the app, not just an icon as it used to be.

We have quite a few built-in apps. Some of them are great but others are just a bloatware but they can be easily removed.  

The Xiaomi Mi5 can be highly customised. You can choose from a ton of wallpapers, a huge variety of themes, fonts, assign different tasks to capacitive buttons and do other things to make the phone look your own. 

It’s worth mentioning that the phone has around 26GB of user available storage and the RAM management seems to be pretty good. 

Most importantly, the UI is running fast and fluid. I didn’t have a single hiccup or lag and I’m really happy with the performance. However, I noticed that Google Chrome loads pages really slowly in comparison to the built-in browser. Anyway, I hope this will be fixed with the software update soon. 

Xiaomi Mi5 Review: BENCHMARKS

Xiaomi Mi5 Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

When it comes to sheer power, the Xiaomi Mi5 has top-shelf specs. I have a standard version of the phone meaning that it has a Snapdragon 820 chip with the clock speeds of 1.8GHz, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, which is, however, non-expandable. 

I spent quite a lot of time playing Asphalt 8, Nova 3 and Modern Combat 5 and I can tell you that the phone handles all the games very well and the graphics look stunning.

However, the device gets a little warm quite fast but it does not overheat and that’s the most important thing.

Xiaomi Mi5 Review: MULTIMEDIA 

The sound via earphones is very good. It crisp and clear,  and the volume output is very loud that I could not listen to music for a long time at the highest volume setting. 

The loudspeaker is pretty good too. It is loud and the audio is clear. However, I would love to hear a little bit more depth.

Xiaomi Mi5 Review: CAMERA

When it comes to the camera app, we have a familiar fast and responsive user interface. The shutter, as well as the focus speeds, are fast too.

We have some shooting modes and just to name a few, there is a manual mode if you don’t like the auto and the fish-eye lens mode if you feel creative.

Xiaomi Mi5 Review: IMAGE QUALITY

When it comes to the actual image quality, it is really good. The daylight images have plenty of detail, the colours look natural, dynamic range is usually handled well and the contrast levels are decent.

The indoor shots taken in dim environments have less detail and more noise but still look good. Well, I had a few blurry shots but the lighting was really poor.

The night shots look pretty good too. I took all the pictures side by side with the Galaxy S7 and obviously, they don’t look that good but knowing the fact that the Xiaomi Mi5 costs half the price, the night image quality is really good.

As for selfies, the pictures look great and it will be more than enough for social media. 

The 4k video has lots of resolved detail and it looks quite sharp. However, the footage looks quite shaky despite OIS and the continuous auto-focus could be more graceful at times. Same can be said about the 1080p video. Another shortcoming is that the audio quality could be better and sometimes the audio sounds a little bit distorted. See a video review for the video sample.

Xiaomi Mi5 Review: CONNECTIVITY

All the connecitivity options work fine. The 2.4GHz or 5GHz wifi is working fine, Bluetooth connection is good and the GPS is fast and accurate. Also, the signal reception is great. However, the earpiece could be slightly louder.

Xiaomi Mi5 Review: BATTERY LIFE

The 3000mAh battery performs okay. I used the Xiaomi Mi5 with auto-brightness feature on and I can’t say that my usage involved a lot of demanding tasks. 

I could reach just over 4 hours of SOT while mainly browsing the web, making calls, checking social media and taking pictures.

I believe it is still possible that we will see a slight improvement with the future software updates and I would love to see at least 5 hours of SOT on this phone.

A great thing is that the Mi5 supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0. I could fully charge the phone in 1 h 15 min.

Also, the phone takes little power on standby. In my test it used just 1% of power in 7 hours with the wifi off and all the apps closed.

Xiaomi Mi5 Review: CONCLUSIONS

So, there you have it, the latest and greatest from Xiaomi. 

The Mi5 is a fantastic device and it offers quite a lot of flagship-grade quality features for a lower price. It all starts with a beautiful design and great build quality despite a bit rattling power button. Also, the display is near excellent, the UI has tons of features but it is still running fast and the 3D gaming performance is great.

In addition, we have a really good camera, which is very hard to beat in this range. 

On the other hand, you have to keep in mind that the phone is currently released in the Chinese market only. Side-loading Google services is not an issue but you will still have some Chinese aspects left in the phone. In addition, make sure to check the 4G compatibility in your region. 

Another shortcoming is that the fingerprint scanner does not work straight from the standby mode. Last but not least, the battery life is good but it could be slightly better. 

At the end of the day, the Xiaomi Mi5 still runs on an early software build and we all know how much of a difference that makes. Still, the Xiaomi Mi5 can be easily recommended for those who are looking for a top-shelf phone, which does most of the things very well but it will not break your bank. 

Purchase link: Buy Xiaomi Mi 5 from Giztop

The post Xiaomi Mi5 Review – The Beast of a Smartphone. For Less. appeared first on Gizmochina.

Let’s be honest, most of us were pretty excited when Xiaomi announced the long-awaited Mi5. Also, it was a significant event for the company not only for the fact that they released the upgrade to their flagship smartphones’ portfolio, but also it was the first MWC Xiaomi’s product launch in Barcelona.

We have just received our Xiaomi Mi5 review unit and we are very glad to get it so early.

We wanted to say thanks to Giztop for providing us with a Xiaomi Mi5 for a review.

Buy Xiaomi Mi5 from Giztop

Xiaomi Mi5: UNBOXING

As usual to Xiaomi phones, we have just the basic accessories that include USB plug, USB-type C cable, SIM ejector pin and instruction manuals.

Xiaomi Mi5: DESIGN and FIRST IMPRESSIONS

I have just reviewed the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the S7 edge and I was impressed by the build quality those phones had.

Honestly, Xiaomi Mi5 carries a very similar high-quality build and it sits very comfortably in the hand.

We have a curved glass on the back, which makes the Mi5 sit very comfortably in the hand and adds a lot of character to the design.

We have a 4MP Ultrapixel shooter, customizable LED light and some other usual stuff on the front.

The home button is very tactile and it also doubles as a fingerprint scanner. So far, it seems to be very fast and accurate.

Our review unit (3GB RAM, 32GB ROM) comes in a white colour. As usual to all glass back panels, it is prone to fingerprints and smudges.

We have a 16MP shooter on the back with a dual LED flash. We can’t wait to see how it performs in various lighting conditions and we are also going to put it against Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge.

On the top we have a headset jack and the IR blaster.

The USB-type C, loudspeaker and the mic are on the bottom.

Overall, we were really impressed with the Xiaomi Mi5. It is well built, it has a brilliant looking display, a fast fingerprint scanner and the phone is compact. Also, the MIUI has been running very fast and fluid so far.

I have already used the phone for half a day and I will work hard to provide you with a full review as soon as possible. Stay tuned to Gizmochina.

Buy Xiaomi Mi5 from Giztop

The post Xiaomi Mi5 Unboxing and First Impressions appeared first on Gizmochina.