Xiaomi Takes on iPhone 7 Series With 'Mi 5s' and Dual-Lens 'Mi 5s Plus'

Chinese mobile phone maker Xiaomi has responded to Apple's iPhone 7 with the launch of a pair of new high-end smartphones.

The two handsets succeeding the company's flagship Mi 5 phone are called the Mi 5s (5.15-inches) and the Mi 5s Plus (5.7-inches), the latter featuring dual cameras as per Apple's own 5.5-inch Plus device. The 12-megapixel cameras come with an f/2.0 aperture, dual-tone LED flash, phase detection auto-focus, automatic HDR, and video recording of up to 4K resolution at 30fps.


Both phones have a 1080p display and a fingerprint scanner under the front glass, which Xiaomi says "recognizes a 3D map of each user's fingerprint through ultrasonic waves", so no physical button is needed. The use of ultrasonic is also said to tolerate dirty fingers better than the capacitive sensors found in Apple's devices.

Both dual-SIM handsets are also powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, but the Pro is clocked higher and has 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, whereas the Mi 5s features 3GB RAM and 64GB storage as standard, with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage as optional add-ons. Similarly, a higher spec Mi 5s Pro is available with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage.

#Mi5s new Xiaomi flagship: ultra-large camera sensor with 1.55um pixels, ultrasonic under-glass fingerprint sensor, 600-nit display, SD821 pic.twitter.com/BChcE3OGgP

— Hugo Barra (@hbarra) September 27, 2016

The phones will be available in China from September 29, with the Mi 5s priced from 1999 RMB ($299) and the larger Mi 5s Plus costing upwards of 2299 RMB ($345). There's no word yet on when the phones will become available in other regions.