back to article Hands on with Xiaomi's Mi 5: Great smartphone, but when do we get it?

Following a hypetastic presentation from Xiaomi Global VP Hugo Barra, your correspondent was among the first to get a quick hands-on with the 5.15” Mi 5, Xiaomi’s newly announced smartphone. Xiaomi is the huge smartphone brand you may not have heard of, if you live outside the far east. It is the bestselling brand in China, …

  1. getHandle

    Prices converted to pounds

    Thank-you! Much more useful than euros (looking at you Andrew!)

  2. Tim Warren

    Dual SIM

    The world as his dog are now making dual SIM phones (sadly not often available direct in UK market). There are two types. The first has a single MODEM which can be switched over between SIMs, though only one is active at any given time. The second is dual MODEMs where you can have two active connections. Unfortunately they are always GSM / UMTS / LTE combo partnered with GSM only. Great for phone calls, not so good for data.

    What I need is to maintain two (useful) data connections - so I need is a phone with *TWO* UMTS capable MODEMs.

    Does such thing exist?

    1. Kristian Walsh Silver badge

      Re: Dual SIM

      To my knowledge it does not, but there are other ways to skin cats... What application is driving this requirement?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Dual SIM

      Why do you think you need that? What are you trying to accomplish that having one SIM active and the other on standby, switchable on demand, doesn't allow?

      How do you intend to tell which applications should use which data connection? I'm sure if you had root access to your phone you could probably write some firewall/routing rules, but running a multihomed host isn't trivial.

    3. This post has been deleted by its author

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Dual SIM

      Yes, they do; I just cannot remember the name of the model I came across a few months back; dual 4G with 4G Data on both SIMS, I even think they could both run at the same time.

    5. Bob H

      Re: Dual SIM

      Take a look at the Lenovo K3 Note which is about £150 from DX.com.

    6. Adam Inistrator

      Re: Dual SIM

      "What I need is to maintain two (useful) data connections - so I need is a phone with *TWO* UMTS capable MODEMs." What is the value in that? Like dual network adapters with load balancing or routed? Or choose one over the other at any one time?

      1. Tim Warren

        Re: Dual SIM

        It's all about availability. No network provides sufficient 3G / 4G coverage when I am out and about, so I need something that can seamlessly switch data between networks in a fail over manner. You can get SIMs with domestic roaming, but they can't handle inter-network hand off as far as I know, so one connection must completely disappear before the phone will start looking for alternative networks. There can be a significant time gap when this occurs.

        1. Kristian Walsh Silver badge

          @Tim Warren [Re: Dual SIM]

          It's possible, but impractical. First off, running two modems is not going to help your battery very much - you might have resilience but only for about six hours at a time (as it is, Android tries not to run Wifi and UMTS simultaneously); the long setup time for 3G connections means you have to run them simultaneously if you want failover. By the time you've upped the power reserves to allow for two data links, you've got a device that's not really practical as a hand-held.

          Remember too that for 4G modems, each modem needs two physically separate antennas, and these perform best if they're far apart. So four antennas are needed.

          The second problem is that most phone or even plug-in dongle modems don't make very good use of the signal they receive. They're sensitive receivers, but they can't push out enough power to reach a distant base-station, so you're losing out on throughput. Dedicated M2M modem modules, with proper antennas and a decent power supply are the way to go if you want better coverage, but that's even more awkward to carry around.

          And once you've gone to that effort, it seems a shame to restrict that resilient data connection to a single mobile client - what if you've got a laptop and a tablet you want to use?

          If you can accept in-vehicle mounting, then something like this: www.netcelero.com, attached to a wifi hotspot would do pretty much exactly what you're looking for, but trying to do this in a handheld package is not really worthwhile. (I've tried)

  3. Clive Galway

    Thin bezels - no thanks!

    Apart from the mentioned usability issue, they are just too flimsy.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Thin bezels - no thanks!

      The bezel on my Note is about 4mm, I have dropped it several times, but in and out of a protective case - no damage. My last Samsung got dropped in similar circumstances, and even the rubber case didnt stop the smashing

  4. Martin
    FAIL

    Too big...

    If you want a 4.5" or less phone these days, it's got to be either the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact, or....er, that's pretty well it.

    I can't be the only one who wants a phone I can use with one hand.

    1. Triggerfish

      Re: Too big...

      I used to dislike big screens, but then getting a Z3 it was great, so much easier to use things like maps, and also nicer surfing. Recently I lost it, my old S2 screen is so small, can't even type on the damn thing properly now, actually wondering how a larger screen would do in my pockets. Z3 compact is still for sale though reckon thats a bargain since the Z5 aint that much of a jump.

    2. FrogsAndChips Silver badge

      Re: Too big...

      Try GSMarena's phone search:

      http://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3

      They have a very long list of search criteria and an impressive number of brands, so you should find a few more handsets than the Z5 Compact to match your requirements.

      User reviews on the website are pretty useless though.

      1. Martin
        Thumb Up

        Re: Too big...

        Thanks - bit late now, as I already bought a Z5 (which I like). But I'll keep that gsmarena search in mind for next time...!

  5. inmypjs Silver badge

    MIUI

    Gees how hard would it be for the Chinese (actually scrub that) anyone except Motorola and Google to produce a phone without a layer of crap on top to make it not look like android?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: MIUI

      Actually, I LIKE MIUI; some of the early versions themes were a bit "Chinese/Japanese Teenage Girl", but other than the odd problem (gps switch missing from some versions), I enjoy using it more than any other phone I have tried.

      And Xiaomi also allows you to do what you want with the phone; there is even a port of IOS available to try.

      (I proudly own a Note 3G I bought brand new a year ago, for the princely sum of £84).

      BTW, a Spare battery and external charger for the spare battery cost me less than £5 a couple of months ago; I dont really need them though, the battery lasts me for days.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    That looks a lot like a Samsung phone...

    ...Apple had better sue them.

    1. Bob H

      Re: That looks a lot like a Samsung phone...

      Yes, I love the price vs spec (dual SIM in particular) but the fact that it looks like a Samsung clone makes me more reticent.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What's in a name?

    Probably be a good idea to rename it before putting it on sale in the UK.

  8. To Mars in Man Bras!
    Paris Hilton

    Ceramic?

    Ceramic seems to be the new buzzword material to make phones from the days, what with Unicorn-Horn Anodised Aluminium being so daggy and last year.

    Apart from preventing your phone burning up on re-entry, does a ceramic casing actually offer any benefits? Admittedly my experience of stress-testing ceramics is mostly limited to 'accidentally' dropping plates in attempt to get out of helping with the washing up —but I'd not have thought it the most resilient family of materials.

    1. Cuddles

      Re: Ceramic?

      "Apart from preventing your phone burning up on re-entry, does a ceramic casing actually offer any benefits?"

      It's hard (as in Moh's scale) so won't scratch easily, doesn't bend or warp, and is generally quite light. The downside is that it tends to be brittle so will crack more easily than a metal phone. Given the prevalence of glass these days, that's probably not too much of a downside and the screen is still likely to be the most fragile part. The other potential issue is heat - a metal case will be better at cooling the phone at the expense of heating the person holding it, so whether higher or lower conductivity is better will depend on the design and how you're trying to optimise it.

      And speaking of heat, I can't help noticing that "thermal control in software" is not actually the same as cooling, and in fact the only way software can do anything about heating is to use the CPU less. Their answer to Samsung's complicated cooling is just to turn the power down. Whether anyone actually needs a phone that squeezes that extra bit of processing power out by running things as hard as possible is of course open for debate, but it would be a huge surprise if Samsung's phone doesn't end up being significantly more powerful than alternatives which choose software power management over active cooling.

  9. Alan Denman

    .

    Ceramic is ultra light, and fairly tough too

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Great smartphone agreed but

    Who the hell photographed it?!?

    1. BugabooSue

      Re: Great smartphone agreed but

      Probably a screen-grab "nicked" from a video while the phone was in motion ;)

    2. Bob H

      Re: Great smartphone agreed but

      I loved the irony of talking about the 'okay' camera just below a terrible shot of the phone.

  11. Tom 64

    Far East?

    Never seen this brand for sale in Tokyo.

    I wonder why the lowest end one is clocked back by 350Mhz. Indicative of yield problems on the 820?

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Wait a while before ordering.

    Early adopters are going to get gouged, the current prices being asked pre-launch are about 50% OVER the reported launch prices, for the top model they are asking nearly £450.

    And dont forget you may well have to pay import duty/VAT when it lands in the UK, taking it to about £550 - depending on the admin fee gouge from the people handling the shipping in the UK.

    I have a friend in China right now, I may ask her if she can pick one up for me at the Chinese price.

  13. BenMyers

    Xaomi needs to play its cards right

    The Xaomi Mi 5 looks very good, and may well be price-and-feature competitive with LG and Samsung. Now, if they can get some brand name recognition, they could do some claim some decent market share outside China. The English pronunciation of the company name should help. I have long been a proponent of inexpensive, almost throwaway, mobile phones, to be replaced inexpensively every couple of years. And this is a market where Xaomi could play well.

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