Xiaomi Roundup: Mi 5X, MIUI 9, and more

Xiaomi tends to make the news every week, with its new launches and one year anniversary in India coming up, there are a ton of new leaks and rumors doing the rounds. Xiaomi tends to keep its big bang releases delayed until the latter half of the year, and that time is almost here.

One of the biggest anticipated news is that of MIUI 9. MIUI is Xiaomi’s take on Android, and it is one of the most controversial skins around, with equal parts of hatred and love going for it. Thus, it is kinda obvious that any news about MIUI 9 is sure to make waves. However, a new device launch is also around the corner. The device touted the Mi 5X, is an incremental step down from the erstwhile flagship. However, it is being targetted towards the young audience, and the threat seeming stems from other Chinese manufacturers that are giving Xiaomi fierce competition in China and India, one of the key markets for these manufacturers.

Mi 5X: Xiaomi’s Answer to OnePlus 5?

Xiaomi’s Mi 6 never saw an official release in India and a lot of internal surveys done by Xiaomi predicted that the removal of the headphone jack would not bode well with the budget conscious crowd in India, which is the target market for a lot of Chinese companies these days. Thus, the Mi 5X, which reportedly lacks courage (AKA has a headphone jack), might see a public launch in India. We have also recently seen the Mi 5X passing FCC certification as well.

The Mi 5X

From the mockups, one gets a sense that the device seriously looks pretty good! One of the things that I love about it is the rear mounted finger print sensor, which I find easier to use naturally. Your mileage may vary. The dual camera does look a bit like the iPhone, but this is certainly not a new trend by any means.

A quick glance at the FCC certification confirms the presence of a 3,000mAh Li-Po battery, which can be charged using a USB-C cable by a 10W adapter (5V @ 2A, which is a Xiaomi staple). The device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625, which is very good when it comes to conserving battery life. The screen will be a 1080p 5.5” screen, and the device will sport 4 gigabytes of RAM as well. The base MIUI will probably be MIUI 9, and this device will ship with Android 7.1 Nougat. This will also perhaps be the first Mi phone with MIUI 9.

MIUI 9: A New Beginning?

Some of the things that we can confirm at the moment are that MIUI 9 will be arriving with split screen multitasking and floating video mode shipped along with floating video support for devices that are on Android Marshmallow and upwards. We have also seen that MIUI 9 will feature a completely revamped lock screen as well.

Official Teaser

The image that you see below is the MIUI lock screen from the China ROM. We can see that there is a quick toggle on the lock screen, which activates the flashlight on tapping on it. A shortcut for Mi Payment Services is present as well. There is support for a universal remote control and a bus card application too. It is being said that these shortcuts will be customizable, as per the user’s preferences.

MIUI 9 lock screen

Future: Xiaomi invests in OLED Displays

As per an article in The Investor, Samsung seems to have signed a deal in which Samsung will supply Xiaomi with 6 inch OLED panels that are “rigid” in nature. It is being said that the first shipment of displays is of about a million units, followed by 2.2 million units in the next month. The shipments will start from December onwards, tentatively.

Perhaps this is the start of a long drawn out process of Xiaomi finally making a device with zero or near zero bezels for mainstream consumers. The Mi Mix was a huge success, as it was lauded by a lot of critics as well. We have not yet heard rumors about the Mi Mix 2 but stayed tuned in case.

Source: FCC, The Investor