Review: Xiaomi Mi 5s VS Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus

In Sept 27st, 2016, Xiaomi company held the Autumn conference in Beijing National Conference Center and it officially released Xiaomi Mi 5s and Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus. Lei Jun, the CEO of Xiaomi company, emphasized on Mi 5s of the non-porous ultrasonic fingerprint identification technology and excellent camera imaging quality in this conference. How do they performance? Let me tell you some details next.

Designs & Shows

In terms of appearance design, Mi 5s looks similar to Mi 5 phone. Also, there are some differences between them. Mi 5s has the dimension of 145.6mm*70.3mm*8.25mm so that it has bigger fuselage than Mi 5 phone, and it is heavier that it has 145 grams weight. Exactly, Mi 5s Plus is the biggest one among these three smartphones.

In the front cover of the fuselage, as the Mi 5s using a 2.5D glass screen, combined with the metal trimming, it brings improvements in both looking and holding feeling. As the same design, Mi 5s Plus also uses a 2.5D glass. Because this phone does not use a very narrow frame design, it provides better user experience in the black-edge control than Mi 5s. Besides, these two new products both discard the “MI” logo, which makes the phone look simpler.

Ultrasonic Fingerprint Recognition

Mi 5s is the first Qualcomm non-porous ultrasonic fingerprint identification mobile phone, which uses more than three years of research and development. The obvious advantage of this technology is that the fuselage is without holes. However, in order to make users easily find the fingerprint location, Mi 5s specifically opens an oval-shaped groove in the fingerprint identification area. While Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus does not adopt this new technology that it uses the traditional FPC fingerprint recognition.

Camera Imaging Quality

Mi 5s adopts Sony IMX378 sensor and it supports 12 million pixels, 1 / 2.3 inch sensor and 1.55μm unit pixel size. To some extend, this unit pixel size is the largest in the current mainstream mobile phones. The advantage of large-size pixel can enhance the amount of light, so it is helpful for the night shooting. While Mi 5s plus uses the dual rear camera with 1300W plus 1300W black and white / color dual camera.

Specifications

Xiaomi Mi 5s Specifications

CPU: Quad-Core ( 2 x 2.15 GHz Kryo + 2 x 2.0 GHz Kryo )
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996
GPU: Adreno 530
Camera: 12 Megapixels with Dual-LED and AF Rear Camera | 4 Megapixel Front camera
Memory: RAM-3GB/4GB | ROM 64GB/128GB
Display: Screen size 5.15 inches QHD (1080×1920 Pixels)
Battery: Non-Removable 3,200 mAh Lithium-Polymer battery
SIM: Dual SIM (Nano + Nano)
Sensors: Accelerometer, Barometer, Compass, Fingerprint, Gyroscope, Hall Sensor, Light sensor, Proximity
Color: Gray, Rose-Gold, Silver, Gold
Operating System: Android 6.0 Marshmallow with MIUI V8
Dimensions: 145.6 x 70.3 x 8.25 mm
Weight: 145 Grams

Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus Specifications

CPU: Quad-Core ( 2 x 2.35 GHz Kryo + 2 x 2.0 GHz Kryo )
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro
GPU: Adreno 530
Camera: 13+13 Megapixels Dual Camera with Dual-LED and AF Rear Camera | 4 Megapixel Front camera
Memory: RAM-4GB/6GB | ROM 64GB/128GB
Display: Screen size 5.7 inches QHD (1080×1920 Pixels)
Battery: Non-Removable 3,800 mAh Lithium-Polymer battery
SIM: Dual SIM (Nano + Nano)
Sensors: Accelerometer, Barometer, Compass, Fingerprint, Gyroscope, Hall Sensor, Light sensor, Proximity
Color: Gray, Rose-Gold, Silver, Gold
Operating System: Android 6.0 Marshmallow with MIUI V8
Dimensions: 154.6 x 77.7 x 7.95 mm
Weight: 168 Grams

Summary

Xiaomi Mi 5s and Xiaomi Mi5 is a complementary relationship. Compared to Mi5, 5s takes the small hardware upgrades, which adds the ultrasonic fingerprint unlock, metal body, etc. While Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus is a new product line opened up. Although the configuration is high but the workmanship is compromise, and its dual-camera algorithm has yet to be improved.

For consumers, if you like to take pictures, metal body, wanna try ultrasonic fingerprint identification, pressure-sensitive screen, Mi 5s will be a very good choice. And for those who wanna try high-performance and large screen phones, I recommend buying Mi 5s Plus. Of course, if you are a practical person, and now prices have been reduced to 1599 yuan from the Mi5 series may be more worth buying.