Specs Comparison: Xiaomi Mi 5 vs Xiaomi Mi 5X

Xiaomi is known, as well as loved, for producing affordable yet powerful smartphones. And now, we’re going to put two Xiaomi phones into scrutinization — the Xiaomi Mi 5 and the Xiaomi Mi 5X.  Without further ado, let’s jump right into their comparison.

Last year, Xiaomi released the Mi 5 that sports a 5.15-inch full HD display with 1920 x 1080 resolution, 16MP rear camera, 4MP front facing, and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 quad-core processor, 3GB/4GB RAM, 32GB/64GB/128GB internal storage, Android 6.0 Marshmallow w/ MIUI 7, and 3000mAh non-removable battery.

On the other hand, the Mi 5X has just been released yesterday and it sports a 5.5-inch LTPS Full HD display with 1920 x 1080 resolution, 12MP dual rear camera, and 5MP front facing. Powering it is Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB internal storage, Android 7.1.1 Nougat w/ MIUI9, and 3080mAh non-removable battery.

You can find their detailed specs below.

Here are the advantages for each smartphone:

Xiaomi Mi 5

+ Corning Gorilla Glass 4 back panel

+ Flagship processor

+ Higher GPU

+ Has 128GB ROM variant

+ Higher camera MP paired with Sony IMX298 sensor

+ LTE Cat12

Xiaomi Mi 5X 

+ LTPS Full HD display

+ Dual rear camera

+ 1 MP higher front cam

+ Android 7.1.1 Nougat w/ MIUI9

+ Larger battery

Now that we’ve listed down their advantages, it’s about time to separate them into chunks. Surely, the Mi 5 excelled in terms of processor and graphics. With Mi 5X being equipped with Snapdragon 625 and Adreno 506 GPU, you’ll find it no match to Mi 5’s Snapdragon 820 and Adreno 530 GPU; however, this shouldn’t be a reason to underestimate Mi 5X’s processor and GPU as these are battery efficient and perform well.

As for their display, the Mi 5X sports a larger LTPS Full HD display. For those unaware, LTPS provides your smartphone with higher resolution and lower power consumption while the Mi 5 only dons a Full HD display. But wait, you’d find that Mi 5 has a higher pixel density compared to Mi 5X’s. You’ll also notice that the Mi 5 sports a Corning Gorilla Glass 4 back panel and may have been a cutting edge but the new Mi 5X features a full metal body with anti-fingerprint coating.

Camera-wise, both devices sports PDAF rear cameras. The Mi 5 with 16MP camera is paired with Sony IMX298, a stacked CMOS sensor that provides an increased light sensitivity so the camera is expected to produce high-quality images even in low-light conditions. On the other hand, the Mi 5X features a 12MP dual rear camera (wide angle 26mm, f/2.2 + portrait 50mm, f/2.6). This means greater depth of field due to its low aperture and better image clarity. On its front facing, the Mi 5X is 1MP higher than the Mi 5’s.

In terms of OS, the Mi 5X runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat w/ MIUI 9 while the Mi 5 runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow upon release but is upgradable to Nougat. There’s also a minimal difference in terms of their battery capacity, with the Mi 5 having 3000mAh whereas the Mi 5X has 3080mAh.

The Xiaomi Mi 5 is now priced at Php13,000 – Php14,000 while the recently released Xiaomi Mi 5X is priced at CNY1499 (~Php11k).

It sure is tough to compare these two smartphones as Xiaomi never seems to disappoint its users when it comes to its specs. But for you, which of these two is your bet?