Last week, the tech community got word of a new Xiaomi device, dubbed Gemini, being leaked online on benchmark sites and communities. The news comes as a long-awaited piece of confirmation that the Chinese company is working on a successor to one of its best releases, the Xiaomi Mi4. Apparently, the company is using the Xiaomi Gemini name internally as a placeholder for the Xiaomi Mi5, as all evidence points towards the two being one and the same device. However, the interesting part of this entire thing is the information that was leaked about the Xiaomi Mi5, pertaining to a flagship that aims to concquer the US flagships market as well as compete against major companies like Samsung, Sony, LG, Motorola and Apple.
Chinese companies like Xiaomi are trying to get a break in the U.S. market and Huawei is the first company to make a serious impact this year with its parternship with Google. Rumors coming from insiders within Xiaomi suggest that the Xiaomi Mi5 aka the Xiaomi Gemini will be the first smartphone the company makes with US customers in mind and based on the leaked product information and specs, it’s going to be a monster device capable of competing even against future devices like the Samsung Galaxy S7.
The most comprehensive leak concerning the Xiaomi Mi5 is a set of benchmark results from GeekBench which reveal the proposed in ternal specs of the flagship. From the results, we find out that the Gemini sports a Snapdragon 820 CPU, the one Qualcomm officially announced last week, making it possibly the first smartphone launched with the brand new SoC on board. If Qualcomm stays true to promises, the CPU will be a monster with no overheating problems and with Quick Charge 3.0 on board.
The Xiaomi Mi5 specs also include 3 GB RAM, a 5.5-inch QuadHD touchscreen up front, a 16 MP camera with OIS on the rear, a 5 MP camera for selfies and Android 6.0 Marshmallow on board. Benchmark results revealed that the processor itself is one of the best ones that were ever tested on the site, and that’s bound to improve. Early benchmarks for newly released smartphones or components might change at the time of launch, seeing as prototypes are the most likely phones to be tested on such sites. Consequently, the end result after testing the final build of the Xiaomi Mi5 will probably be quite a bit higher.
Rumors say we won’t even have to wait that long to find out what exactly Xiaomi is doing with the Gemini handset, seeing as the Xiaomi Mi5 release date is estimated for December 3 in China. Pricing and availability for the Xiaomi Gemini prototype is still up in the air, but if these rumors are true, than the Chinese company will definitely be able to say “first” when it comes to using the Snapdragon 820 in a device.
Regarding the US Xiaomi Mi5 release date, there is no official information we can access about that at this time. However, analysts say that the hypothesis of the company getting in on the US market is entirely plausible. If Huawei did it, why shouldn’t the best selling Chinese company attempt it as well? The Xiaomi Mi5 release in the US would have a huge impact on the company and its popularity, and if the smartphone ends up being just as impressive as the Xiaomi Mi4 and its subsequent variants Mi4I and Mi4C, the Gemini smartphone could gather a serious American fanbase pretty quick. However, we’re going to stay skeptical until the company officially confirms our hunch. I would definitely love being able to get a Xiaomi Mi5 in the US, through carriers or on Best Buy, seeing as the company repeatedly proved that it can make affordable premium smartphones with long lifespans and positive user experiences. Would you ever consider one of hese if Xiaomi came to the US?
[update] The Xiaomi Mi5 release date is pegged for Tuesday, November 24, following the release of an invite for a Huawei Watch unveiling event in China. Hopefully, we will get to see the new flagship in a few days.
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