The Xiaomi Company has revealed that it is going to start selling its much-awaited Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone in its home market China beginning on March 1.
The device's availability was hinted a few hours after this year's Mobile World Congress by Xiaomi vice president Hugo Barra. According to the official communication he made, Mi 5 will launch in India soon after getting released in the China market. Furthermore, the smartphone will be released to other "global markets" although they have not been specified yet.
According to Android Geeks, even though reports in the past have suggested that Xiaomi could be joining the United States market in the future, many analysts still think that it is too early for them to show up this soon. Xiaomi Mi 5 was one of the most impressive devices that were launched in the recently held MWC.
It runs on the latest and most innovative Snapdragon 820 chipset and comes in three variants. The first variant with 32GB of internal storage and 3GB of RAM will be priced at $300 in China while the 64GB model with 3GB of RAM will cost $350. The last variant, aka Xiaomi Mi 5 Pro, will feature 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage at a price of $400.
With its completely new design, the Mi 5 comes in either "3D ceramic" or "3D glass" and sports a 5.15 display with 1080 × 1920 resolution HD display. Other innovative features include a 16 MP rear camera with optical image stabilization, a 4MP Ultrapixel front-facing camera, a 300mAh battery and a fingerprint sensor.
Putting the hardware aside, the biggest Xiaomi's innovation until now has been its distribution approach. Rather than having third-party retailers, the company delivers handsets to consumers itself, Tech Crunch reported. The company pulled sales of over 70 million in 2015 and is expecting a boost after releasing the Xiaomi Mi 5.
Since its launch six years ago, the Xiaomi company has brought a change in the smartphone world standing against competitors like Samsung, Apple and Lenovo. Currently, it is the top smartphone brand in China and fifth in the world.
Watch a clip of Xiaomi Mi 5's exclusive review here;