Introduction
The Xiaomi Mi 5X was touted as the first smartphone to get the new MIUI 9 right out of the box and we think it makes a decent headline. Is it the key feature though? Well, if we were to decide, we would've focused on the camera instead.
But you know, near-flagship-camera-for-less-money isn't exactly the blurb that will earn the marketing department's money. Plus, it's not the exact same dual-camera setup as the flagship Mi 6. It's pretty close though and it's cheap. The Xiaomi Mi 5X costs about the same as a Redmi Note 4, whose Snapdragon 625 chipset it's using.
So, the screen size, performance and price of a Redmi Note 4, the premium design of the Mi Max 2 and a dual camera setup with a telephoto lens. There goes the Mi 5X.
In an ironic twist of events, the Mi 5X was demoted to a China-only phone by the time our review unit was shipped. Xiaomi decided to launch an entirely new A-series within the Google One initiative, and the Mi 5X became the Mi A1. The A1 is an identical smartphone, it just runs vanilla Android and will be available worldwide.
With the A1, Xiaomi will be looking to expand its global footprint but that doesn't completely rule out the Mi 5X. The phone may be officially available in China only at the time of writing but select retailers are already selling it worldwide with the MIUI 8.5 international ROM.
Official or not, A1 or 5X, the handset is a decent midrange package with a 5.5" 1080p screen, a reliable and energy-efficient Snapdragon 625 chip, and a dual-camera setup that was, until recently, a flagship privilege.
Xiaomi Mi 5X key features
- Body: Aluminum unibody design
- Screen: 5.5" IPS LCD display, 1080p resolution, 403ppi
- OS: Android OS v7.1.2 Nougat with MIUI 9
- Chipset: Snapdragon 625 chipset: octa-core 2.0GHz Cortex-A53 processor; Adreno 506 GPU
- RAM: 4GB
- Camera: Dual 12MP Sony IMX386 camera; wide-angle F/2.2 + telephoto F/2.6, live bokeh effects, dual-LED flash, phase detection auto focus, 2160p@30fps video;
- Selfie: 5MP front-facing camera with 1080p@30fps video
- Storage: 32GB/64GB of built-in storage
- SIM: Dual-SIM (nano-SIM)
- Connectivity: LTE; Dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS/GLONASS/Beidou, Bluetooth v4.2, USB-C port, IR blaster, FM radio
- Battery: 3,080mAh non-removable battery
- Misc: Fingerprint sensor (rear-mounted)
Main shortcomings
- MIUI 9 still in beta, some models come with MIUI 8.5
- Limited market availability (though available as A1 worldwide with vanilla Android)
- No NFC
- No QuickCharge
Although the Snapdragon 625 supports Qualcomm Quick Charge, Xiaomi has chosen not to take advantage of it yet again. The supplied charger does 5V/2A only and it probably isn't such a big deal for a 3,080mAh battery. The Redmi Note 4 didn't get fast charging either and it would've made a lot more sense there, considering there's a 4,100mAh battery to fill up.
So, the A1 or the Mi 5X? It may sound confusing but the difference essentially boils down to the launcher - or the absence thereof. The A1 comes un-skinned, most of the globally-available Mi 5X units have MIUI 8.5 and the China ROM is MIUI 9. We guess that's far from a decider, so let's take a closer look at what's good and bad about the phone at hand. Follow us on the next page for the traditional hardware checkup.
Special thanks to HonorBuy for providing the review unit.
Retail box
The Xiaomi Mi 5X comes within a regular paper box. The box contents are basic - a USB Type-C cable and a 5V/2A charger.
The retail box • the Xiaomi Mi 5X
Xiaomi Mi 5X 360-degree spin
The Xiaomi Mi 5X measures 155.4 x 75.8 x 7.3 mm - that's 4mm taller than the Redmi Note 4 but a whisker thinner. It weighs as much as the Note 4 though - 165g.
Design
Xiaomi Mi 5X comes with a very familiar design - the one we saw just a few weeks ago on the Mi Max 2. And we are glad the company decided to give yet another vote of confidence to this shell as it's both appealing and premium.
You can never go wrong with an aluminum unibody, but the devil is in the details, and it took a while for Xiaomi to get there. After two generations of metal Redmis with plastic strips on the back, Xiaomi has finally adopted the all-metal body and even the new antenna lines. That's why Mi 5X looks really good and fashionable.
The front is pure Mi however you look at it - most of it is occupied by the 5.5" screen, while the never-changing trio of keys sits below. The glass is said to be made by Corning, but we got mixed information from different official sources, so we can't confirm that with certainty.
Everything else is metal with nice matte finish. The antenna lines run along the top and bottom edge. The fingerprint sensor sits comfortable in the middle too. The dual-camera has a nice polished rim and as it occasionally happens - it is bulging, but only slightly so.
The Xiaomi Mi 5X feels very comfy and secure in hand not only because its size is just right, but also due to the sharp chamfer between the screen and the frame, as well as the mostly matte finish. The build is sturdy and gap-free, and we expect nothing less from an all-metal smartphone in 2017. Xiaomi did an excellent job of keeping up with the trends and delivering on both great build quality and appealing looks and we liked handling the 5X a lot.
Handling the Xiaomi Mi 5X
Device overview
As we mentioned before, the Mi 5X is like any other Xiaomi at the front. Above the display are the notification LED, a couple of sensors and the selfie camera - all placed left of the earpiece.
Below the 5.5" screen are the backlit capacitive keys - Tasks, Home, and Back.
Xiaomi Mi 5X • the earpiece • the Android keys
The hybrid SIM slot is on the left - it can either take one nano-SIM and one microSD card, or two nano-SIMs. The right side has the volume rocker and the power/lock key.
The left side • the SIM slot • the right side • the metal keys
The IR blaster and the second mic are on top of the Mi 5X. The USB Type-C port, the mouthpiece, the audio jack, and the loudspeaker are all at the bottom of the phone.
The top of the Mi 5X • the bottom • the USB port
The dual-camera is on the back accompanied by a dual-tone flash. The fingerprint scanner is around, too, and, as usual, it's of our favorite always-on type.
The back of the Mi 5X • the fingerprint scanner • the dual-camera and its hump
Display
The 5.5" IPS display of the Mi 5X is very common among the Xiaomi smartphones, especially at the Redmi Note series. So, there are no surprises with the screen unit chosen for the Mi 5X - it has a 5.5" matrix with RGB arrangement and 1080p resolution.
Xiaomi promises 450 nits of maximum brightness for the Mi 5X screen and a contrast ratio of 1000:1. We did our display test and it revealed a maximum brightness of 470 nits and one of the deepest blacks we've seen on an LCD screen. Thanks to those impressive black levels and above average brightness we got a top-notch contrast ratio of 1738:1. The color reproduction turned out about average with an average DeltaE of 7.4 and somewhat punchy colors (especially the blue hues).
We then dug into the settings and change the screen's contrast from Auto (the default option) to Standard. The maximum brightness went as up as 550 nits while the deep black levels didn't take a hit and thus the screen kept its excellent contrast. The color rendering changed significantly - we got an average DeltaE of 3.7 where all colors were toned down to very accurate levels.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0.271 | 471 | 1738 | |
| 0.343 | 549 | 1601 | |
| 0.462 | 603 | 1305 | |
| 0.351 | 560 | 1595 | |
| 0.512 | 537 | 1049 | |
| 0.69 | 632 | 916 | |
| 0.364 | 484 | 1330 | |
| 0.322 | 484 | 1503 | |
| 0.38 | 439 | 1158 | |
| 0 | 482 | ∞ | |
| 0.614 | 463 | 754 | |
| 0 | 447 | ∞ | |
| 0.426 | 407 | 955 | |
| 0 | 348 | ∞ | |
The sunlight legibility is okay on the Mi 5X - it suffers from washed-out colors in the sun, but other than that you will be able to see what's happening on the screen quite well.
Sunlight contrast ratio
- Samsung Galaxy S8
4.768 - Samsung Galaxy S8+
4.658 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615 - Oppo R11
4.454 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
4.439 - OnePlus 3
4.424 - Samsung Galaxy S7
4.376 - HTC One A9
4.274 - Samsung Galaxy Note7
4.247 - Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241 - Nokia 8
4.239 - OnePlus 3T
4.232 - Google Pixel XL
4.164 - ZTE Axon 7
4.154 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
4.148 - Meizu Pro 7 Plus
4.147 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
4.124 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09 - LG V30
4.022 - Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019 - Vivo Xplay5 Elite
3.983 - OnePlus X
3.983 - Apple iPhone 7
3.964 - Oppo R7s
3.964 - Huawei P9 Plus
3.956 - Meizu Pro 6 Plus
3.935 - Lenovo Moto Z
3.931 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
3.918 - OnePlus 5
3.914 - Samsung Galaxy C5
3.911 - Samsung Galaxy C7
3.896 - Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895 - Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879 - Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873 - Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859 - Apple iPhone 6
3.838 - Sony Xperia XZs
3.818 - Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
3.817 - Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
3.812 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
3.804 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
3.802 - Xiaomi Redmi Pro
3.798 - LG V20 Max auto
3.798 - Sony Xperia XZ
3.795 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
3.789 - Apple iPhone 6s
3.783 - Meizu Pro 5
3.781 - Microsoft Lumia 650
3.772 - Xiaomi Mi 6
3.767 - Sony Xperia XZ1
3.765 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
3.756 - Oppo F1 Plus
3.709 - Vivo X5Pro
3.706 - Sony Xperia X Compact
3.694 - Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
3.688 - Apple iPhone SE
3.681 - Huawei Mate 9
3.68 - Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679 - Meizu PRO 6
3.659 - BlackBerry Priv
3.645 - Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
3.597 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3.588 - LG G6
3.556 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53 - Motorola Moto Z Play
3.526 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
3.523 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
3.523 - Acer Jade Primo
3.521 - Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512 - Oppo R7 Plus
3.499 - nubia Z11
3.466 - Huawei P10 Plus
3.456 - HTC U Ultra
3.453 - Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422 - Meizu MX5
3.416 - LG V20
3.402 - Huawei P10
3.379 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
3.378 - Oppo R9s
3.352 - Honor 8 Pro
3.341 - Oppo R7
3.32 - Lenovo P2
3.316 - Honor 9
3.289 - Xiaomi Mi 5s
3.276 - Nokia 5
3.261 - Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
3.244 - Xiaomi Mi 5
3.24 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
3.238 - Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235 - Sony Xperia X Performance
3.234 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
3.228 - Motorola Moto X Play
3.222 - Oppo F3 Plus
3.218 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
3.206 - Huawei P9
3.195 - ZTE Nubia Z17
3.159 - Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113 - Motorola Moto X Force
3.105 - LG Nexus 5X
3.092 - HTC U11
3.089 - Huawei Mate S
3.073 - Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065 - Sony Xperia XA1
3.012 - Sony Xperia L1
2.994 - Sony Xperia X
2.989 - Huawei P10 Lite
2.974 - Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97 - Sony Xperia Z1
2.95 - Huawei Mate 8
2.949 - Xiaomi Redmi 4
2.92 - Xiaomi Redmi 3S
2.913 - Sony Xperia XA Ultra
2.906 - LG G5
2.905 - HTC One S
2.901 - Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
2.893 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2.884 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
2.877 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium (sRGB)
2.877 - Sony Xperia Z5
2.876 - Nokia 3
2.871 - Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851 - Lenovo Moto M
2.813 - Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
2.803 - Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784 - Meizu MX6
2.751 - LG V10
2.744 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
2.714 - Meizu M5
2.71 - Sony Xperia M5
2.69 - Huawei P9 Lite
2.679 - Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
2.679 - Vivo V3Max
2.659 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
2.658 - Doogee Mix
2.642 - Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641 - Xiaomi Redmi 4a
2.635 - Xiaomi Mi 5X (Standard)
2.616 - Sony Xperia XA
2.609 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
2.582 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus
2.582 - Meizu M5s
2.58 - Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574 - LeEco Le Max 2
2.567 - Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
2.563 - Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
2.561 - Lenovo Moto G4
2.544 - Lenovo K6 Note
2.544 - Oppo F1
2.528 - Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525 - Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
2.506 - Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503 - Oppo F1s
2.481 - Motorola Moto G
2.477 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
2.473 - Huawei G8
2.471 - Huawei nova
2.467 - Sony Xperia Z
2.462 - Lenovo Vibe K5
2.459 - Meizu m3 max
2.447 - Xiaomi Mi 5X (Auto)
2.417 - HTC 10 evo
2.407 - Huawei Honor 7
2.406 - Sony Xperia E5
2.386 - ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
2.382 - HTC 10
2.378 - Oppo F3
2.376 - vivo V5 Plus
2.371 - Meizu m1 note
2.362 - Huawei nova plus
2.329 - HTC One E9+
2.305 - Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272 - Apple iPhone 4S
2.269 - Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
2.254 - Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
2.253 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
2.249 - Sony Xperia C4 Dual
2.235 - Xiaomi Mi Note
2.234 - Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233 - LG Nexus 5
2.228 - Huawei P8
2.196 - Meizu M5 Note
2.189 - Huawei Honor 6
2.169 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
2.166 - OnePlus Two
2.165 - HTC One X
2.158 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (X20)
2.145 - LG Aka
2.145 - Archos 50 Diamond
2.134 - Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119 - Xiaomi Mi 4S
2.095 - Acer Liquid X2
2.084 - Huawei P8lite
2.078 - vivo V5
2.059 - Moto G 3rd gen max manual
2.026 - Xiaomi Mi 3
2.001 - Xiaomi Mi Max
1.996 - Sony Xperia E4g
1.972 - OnePlus One
1.961 - Meizu m3 note
1.923 - Meizu m2 note
1.892 - BlackBerry Leap
1.892 - HTC Butterfly
1.873 - Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
1.772 - ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
1.759 - Sony Xperia U
1.758 - Asus Zenfone Selfie
1.68 - Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
1.675 - ZTE Nubia Z9
1.659 - Jolla Jolla
1.605 - Motorola Moto E
1.545 - Sony Xperia M
1.473 - Sony Xperia L
1.351 - Xiaomi Redmi 2
1.311 - HTC Desire C
1.3 - Sony Xperia C
1.283 - Meizu MX
1.221 - Sony Xperia E
1.215
Battery life
The Xiaomi Mi 5X has a 3,080mAh battery, not as impressive as the 4,000 mAh unit inside the Redmi Note 4, but the energy efficient Snapdragon 625 should help it achieve some good battery endurance. The Mi 5X supports regular 5V/2A charging, which restores 25% of the battery in 30 minutes of charging.
Indeed, the Snapdragon 625 chip once again lived up to our expectations. The Xiaomi Mi 5X scored an excellent 80h endurance rating. It did a fabulous job in all tested scenarios - video, calls, web browsing and demonstrated above average performance on standby.
Our endurance rating denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Xiaomi Mi 5X for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Connectivity
The Xiaomi Mi 5X is a dual-SIM phone with LTE connectivity. The slot is a hybrid solution and allows you to replace the one of the nanoSIMs with a microSD card.
There's also Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 4.2 is also available. For positioning, you get GPS, GLONASS and, quite naturally, Beidou.
The IR blaster is located at the top of the phone and, coupled with the right software, you can use it to remotely control pretty much any IR-enabled home appliance. Xiaomi provides its own MiRemote app, which supports a long list of devices right out of the box.
The USB Type-C supports USB On-The-Go with the proper adapter in case you need to access some external storage or use a USB accessory.
Finally, there is FM radio with FM recording available on the Mi 5X.
MIUI 9 premieres on the Mi 5X
Xiaomi Mi 5X is the first smartphone to officially come with the new MIUI 9 out of the box. At least that's the case in China, while the so-called global versions boot ROMs based on MIUI 8.5. The MIUI v9 launcher is based on the latest Nougat revision - 7.1.2, while Oreo will probably come later on with another major MIUI update.
As usual, Google services are not accessible in China, so Xiaomi refocused the ecosystem away from Mountain View's services. For those living elsewhere, the official and not-so-official importers are providing various international (global) ROMs, which come stripped from the Chinese services in favor of Google's. Our unit uses the Chinese ROM, but we were able to sideload all Google services hassle-free from the available App Store.
MIUI 9 adds milti-window support, quick replies for notifications, smart app launcher, smart assistance, and smart image search. Yes, there is a lot of "smart" with MIUI 9 and it's possible thanks to the new machine learning process.
There are tons of improvements under the hood, too, such as better RAM management, faster performance, lighter on resources, improved doze mode. Finally, the interface got a minor graphical overhaul so you'll be able to tell apart the new MIUI from the old ones.
MIUI 9 might be new, but it's still that familiar launcher we're used to see and enjoy. It sure got some new looks, but they are just a minor part of the way MIUI is different from stock Android.
MIUI 9
The lockscreen is rather trivial - time, notifications, a couple of shortcuts (including a few new ones - torch, Mi Remote, Mi Home). Once you set up the fingerprint reader, you'll rarely see it though. Still, the Wallpaper Carousel can put beautiful images on the lockscreen every 15 minutes.
The always-on fingerprint sensor is accurate and can take the phone from sleep to the homescreen in a flash (the lockscreen is bypassed). It's as fast as some of the latest flagship implementations, which is quite a treat.
The lockscreen
MIUI has a simple philosophy - every shortcut, plus widgets of your choosing, are dropped on the homescreen. You get a docked menu for the most commonly used apps, of course. The homescreen also supports a wallpaper carousel, so you can enjoy different beautiful wallpapers all the time.
The Homescreen
There is a new Quick Card pane, the leftmost one. It's quite similar to Today's page in iOS. It contains different cards with relevant information - recent apps, step counter, notes, calendar events, the weather, favorites, among others. You can configure what shows up here, or you can disable this altogether.
Quick Card • Quick Card • Settings • Settings
The notification drawer has a consolidated list of quick toggles, notifications, and a weather panel at the top that changes color and animation according to the weather. Thanks to MIUI 9 you will be able to respond to notifications (emails, SMS, IMs, among others) as they pop up on top of your screen without interrupting what's currently running.
The notification drawer
The app switcher feels like it came out of iOS - apps are represented by appropriate thumbnails in the same manner, but there is an additional key for the Split Screen mode. MIUI 9 adds native support for multi-tasking via the new Split Screen feature. It allows you to launch two apps side-by-side. All native apps support it and, luckily, all third-party apps with support for any kind of split screen mode work flawlessly on MIUI 9 side-by-side view.
The Task Switcher • Tasks • Split Screen • Split Screen
Dual Apps and dual spaces are here to stay. Dual Apps means you can have two instances of the same app on your device. This allows you to do things like have two WhatsApp accounts on the same phone, one for each SIM. You can enable dual-app functionality on almost every app.
Dual spaces lets you have two different workspaces on your device, each with its own set of apps, customizations, and image gallery, and you can enter a custom passcode or a different fingerprint to enter either space.
Dual apps • Space 1 • Space 1 • Space 2 • Space 2
Themes are fully supported, and several are available out of the box. You can download more and change your wallpapers, lockscreen style, system icons, font, and sounds.
New themes
The new Smart Assistance is accessible from pretty much everywhere - the notification panel, the leftmost pane, or by swiping upwards anywhere on the homescreen. It can find anything from photos to text. It can search for content in your files, messages, notes, music, Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Contacts, Bookmarks, Mail, among others. Currently it's available in Chinese only, but hopefully Xiaomi will add more languages soon.
The Smart App Launcher uses the Smart Assistance services to recognize the content on your screen and it can launch an app based on that. It can open Maps if you are talking about going somewhere or help you read more about an artist if you are reading an article on him.
Smart Assistance
Benchmark tests
The Snapdragon 625 chipset powers yet another Xiaomi - this time it's the Mi 5X, also available as the Mi A1. This particular piece of silicon is somewhat a favorite for the midrange class because of its power-efficiency and balanced performance. The S625 offers an octa-core Cortex-A53 processor clocked at 2.0GHz and Adreno 506 GPU. There are 4 gigs of RAM, more than enough for the class.
We always start with Geekbench and the Mi 5X processor did great, beaten only by the A72 core inside the Helio X20 chip.
GeekBench 4 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
1546 - Xiaomi Mi 5X
846 - Lenovo P2
840 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
832 - Sony Xperia XA1
800 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
799 - Moto G5 Plus
799 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
799 - Oppo F3
737 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
693 - LG Q6
508
The multi-core performance is great for the midrange class and the Mi 5X will hardly disappoint anybody.
GeekBench 4 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
4456 - Xiaomi Mi 5X
4106 - Moto G5 Plus
3789 - Sony Xperia XA1
3554 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
3011
2965
2685
2353
2353
1898
Moving on to graphics - the Mi 5X's Adreno 506 GPU is perfectly capable of handling every Full HD move or intensive 3D game. The Adreno 510 of the Snapdragon 650 series was somewhat dropped by the makers, as the whole chip lineup in fact, so while we would have liked it better, the 506 will serve you fine as well.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Sony Xperia XA1
15 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
9.4 - Xiaomi Mi Max
9.4 - Lenovo P2
6.7 - Moto G5 Plus
6.4 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
6.4 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
6.4 - Xiaomi Mi 5X
6.3 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
6.2 - Oppo F3
4.5 - LG Q6
3.5 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
3.3
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Sony Xperia XA1
7.9 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
5.4 - Xiaomi Mi Max
5.4 - Lenovo P2
3.7 - Moto G5 Plus
3.5 - Xiaomi Mi 5X
3.5 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
3.5 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
3.5 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
3.4 - Oppo F3
2.4 - LG Q6
1.9 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
1.9
Basemark X
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi Max
15487 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
13666 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
10482 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
10482 - Lenovo P2
10472 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
10446 - Moto G5 Plus
10406 - Xiaomi Mi 5X
10403 - Sony Xperia XA1
9714 - LG Q6
6179 - Oppo F3
6148 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
5489
Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
287 - Xiaomi Mi Max
238 - Sony Xperia XA1
191 - Xiaomi Mi 5X
138 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
138 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
138 - Moto G5 Plus
137 - Lenovo P2
137 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
93 - LG Q6
82
The compound tests AnTuTu and BaseMark confirm the Mi 5X is perfectly capable of handling any task thanks to its balanced hardware design and output performance.
AnTuTu 6
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
85162 - Xiaomi Mi Max
74488 - Xiaomi Mi 5X
63548 - Lenovo P2
63493 - Moto G5 Plus
63390 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
61616 - Sony Xperia XA1
60707 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
57902 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
57902 - Oppo F3
53008 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
46822 - LG Q6
37276
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
1728 - Xiaomi Mi Max
1362 - Sony Xperia XA1
1351 - Xiaomi Mi 5X
1246 - Lenovo P2
1235 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
1107 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
1107 - Moto G5 Plus
1089 - Oppo F3
1085 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
1050 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
349 - LG Q6
275
The Xiaomi Mi 5X is well equipped to handle Android and its apps, and while the Snapdragon 625 may not be the most powerful midrange chipset, it was chosen for a reason. The performance is balanced, the processor is lightweight on the battery thanks to the high-end 10nm manufacturing process, and everything runs very cool even under peak load. MIUI runs smooth and lag-free, and the games we tried were handled pretty well, too. That's enough by our books.
Telephony
The dialer and the phonebook share a single app, but two shortcuts bring you straight to the tab you need. The app has a pleasant flat look which feels somewhat fresh. It uses a tabbed interface - recents and dialer on the first and the contact list on the second.
Call recording is available - the files can be saved either on your device or on your MiCloud.
The Phonebook
The dialer may look rather familiar, but it's quite capable. Unfortunately, most of the new smart features are only available in the few markets where Xiaomi has an official presence.
It can automatically recognize business numbers, as well as scan contacts thanks to the Xiaomi's Caller ID database.
The Dialer
Loudspeaker test
The stereo speakers on the Xiaomi Mi 5X scored an Excellent mark in our speaker loudness test, the same as the Mi Max 2. The sound is rich and crisp, with good bass and clean high notes.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing |
Overall score | |
| 63.0 | 62.1 | 66.6 | Below Average | |
| 61.7 | 69.7 | 71.8 | Average | |
| 64.2 | 67.2 | 76.9 | Good | |
| 61.0 | 69.3 | 78.3 | Good | |
| 63.9 | 70.0 | 81.7 | Good | |
| 67.3 | 70.3 | 81.5 | Very Good | |
| 66.1 | 69.0 | 84.1 | Very Good | |
| 67.8 | 71.2 | 83.1 | Very Good | |
| 78.4 | 71.7 | 79.2 | Excellent | |
| 78.4 | 73.9 | 88.4 | Excellent |
Notable apps
The Mi 5X offers an excellent file managing app called Explorer, which lets you browse the files in its internal storage and group them by type.
Explorer
The MIUI v9 also offers a Security app. It can scan your phone for malware, manage your blacklist, manage or restrict your data usage, configure battery behavior, and free up some RAM. It can also manage the permissions of your installed apps.
The Security app also allows you to define the battery behavior of selected apps and applies restrictions only to the apps you choose.
Security app • Cleaner • Battery management • Managing a single app • Battery Saver
The Mi Remote uses the IR blaster to control anything from TVs (including the Mi TV, of course) to digital cameras. The setup process is relatively straightforward, and a handy option shares the remotes you've set up with others on the same Wi-Fi network. You'd have to go through the setup only once per home, assuming everybody else uses a Xiaomi phone as well.
MiRemote app
We liked the Compass app. It has a clean interface, shows the magnetic directions, and doubles as a level meter. If you lift the phone up, then you'll get a nice augmented reality view with a real-time overlay of East/West/North/South.
Compass • level • VR directions
The Calculator app supports advanced calculations and conversions. Finally, the Notes app offers templates and checklists support.
Notes • Notes • Calculator • Conversions Menu • Conversions
Finally, the Mi Browser is a very powerful web browser with integrated download manager, night mode, reading mode, ad blocker, pop-up blocker, among other useful features. It's fast and lightweight and we like it.
Mi Browser
Gallery
The Xiaomi Mi 5X comes with the Mi Gallery app that shows the camera row by default, but the second tab includes all images and videos on the phone. You can set up a photo backup with your Mi Cloud account.
There is a new smart image search, but it's currently not available to everyone. It is supposed to search your images by keywords thanks to the new machine learning process.
The Gallery app
The integrated editor offers various effects, filters, and enhancements, plus fun stuff like stickers and doodling.
Editing an image
Music player
The MIUI music player is a custom app with a well laid out, easy to navigate interface. The player has cool effects, transitions, and transparent elements, especially on the expandable Now Playing section. Lyrics are supported, too.
The music player • Albums • Now Playing • Audio settings • Audio settings
Xiaomi Mi 5X offers customizable equalizers within the phone's Settings menu - there are a few default presets already available for use. You can also try Xiaomi's MiSound enhancer, which comes into play when you use headphones, and especially, a Xiaomi-branded headset.
Video player
MIUI 9 comes with a separate video app. It supports paid streaming content for China only, but you can opt to disable it. Local content is here, of course. There's no subtitle support here, but DLNA is on board.
The paid content for China • The simple video player • Now playing
FM radio
The FM radio requires a headset to be connected, but can play sound either through this or through the loudspeaker. The app can record audio and there's a sleep timer.
FM Radio
Audio output impresses
The Xiaomi Mi 5X demonstrated perfectly clean output when hooked up to an active external amplifier. Its loudness was among the highest we’ve seen too rounding up a rarely great performance in the first half of our test.
Volume remained just as impressive with headphones and the degradation was minimal too, so we were in for another excellent showing here. Stereo quality was the only notably affected reading and even that was above average for the occassion.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| +0.15, -0.04 | -90.1 | 91.3 | 0.0017 | 0.0085 | -82.3 | |
| +0.15, -0.04 | -90.0 | 91.1 | 0.016 | 0.043 | -64.9 | |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -92.8 | 92.8 | 0.0032 | 0.031 | -92.3 | |
| +0.23, -0.15 | -92.1 | 91.8 | 0.013 | 0.223 | -77.3 | |
| Sony Xperia L1 | +0.10, -0.11 | -93.6 | 92.9 | 0.0090 | 0.013 | -93.8 |
| Sony Xperia L1 (headphones) | +0.79, -0.10 | -92.9 | 91.9 | 0.010 | 0.420 | -53.1 |
| Nokia 5 | +0.02, -0.03 | -94.3 | 92.8 | 0.0035 | 0.019 | -91.9 |
| Nokia 5 (headphones) | +0.00, -0.09 | -92.4 | 89.9 | 0.0041 | 0.016 | -68.6 |
| Xiaomi Redmi 4 | +0.06, -0.02 | -94.3 | 90.8 | 0.0024 | 0.0089 | -94.0 |
| Xiaomi Redmi 4 (headphones) | +0.06, -0.04 | -93.8 | 90.6 | 0.035 | 0.044 | -79.5 |
Xiaomi Mi 5X frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
12MP dual-camera borrowed from the Mi 6, sort of
Xiaomi Mi 5X comes with the same dual-camera we saw on the Mi 6, sans the OIS and bright lens. The regular wide-angle camera on the 5X has a 12MP Sony IMX386 sensor with 27mm f/2.2 lens and 1.2µm big pixels. The 12MP telephoto sensor's maker is still unknown, but its specs sound familiar - 1.00µm pixels and 56mm f/2.6 lens, close to what Apple used for the iPhone 7 Plus telephoto cam.
The camera interface is fairly simple and features toggles for HDR, Portrait Mode, and flash on the left, and 2x telephoto and the video camera on the right.
There are 17 filters available with live previews. The camera also offers quite a few different shooting modes - Panorama, Timer, Audio, Straighten, Manual, Beautify, Group Shot, Tilt Shift, and Night (HHT) as well as the camera settings. The Manual mode lets you tweak ISO (100-3200), exposure time (up to 1/15s), white balance, and focus.
Camera UI • Modes • Settings • Manual mode • Filters
Daylight photos
The Xiaomi Mi 5X, just like the Mi 6, snaps pictures blazingly fast, resolves a great deal of detail, and the noise levels are kept reasonably low (though a bit higher than what we saw on the Mi 6 due to the not-so-bright lens). The white balance is accurate, and we liked the lively color rendition. The dynamic range is high without ever resorting to HDR. There is no corner softness either, but some oversharpening is noticeable on trees and buildings.
Xiaomi Mi 5X 12MP regular camera samples
The telephoto camera also does a great job in good light and comes in handy when you need a bit of zoom. Its quality is close to the main camera's - the images have plenty of detail and the same great processing, colors, and dynamic range.
Xiaomi Mi 5X 12MP telephoto samples
The telephoto lens has a narrower f/2.6 aperture and won't do for low-light shots. In those scenes the phone will stop using the telephoto camera and would instead switch to cropping the output of the main camera to achieve the zoomed effect. The iPhone 7 Plus does the same thing, by the way. This, of course, takes its toll on image quality so we'd recommend against using the second camera in low light.
HDR
The Mi 5X regular camera has a wide dynamic range, sure, but there are times when you'd still want to use the HDR. Here the phone does a great job brightening up the shadows without compromising the highlights.
HDR off • HDR on • HDR off • HDR on
Low-light
The Mi 5X low-light shots came out very soft in a variety of scenes. You can see what's on the picture, just don't expect much detail when you zoom in. There is a lot of noise, sometimes we also got blurry images due to the lack of stabilization, but those still would do for the social networks.
Low-light photos
If you leave the automatic HHT mode enabled - it enhances the low-light samples - you will get much less noise in the images but most of the samples won't benefit from much more detail or higher contrast. Still, we prefer less noise and we suggest keeping this option on.
Low-light samples with HHT enabled
The closeups on the other hand greatly benefit from the HHT model. We can show you the differences between normal and HHT low-light closeup samples with our low-light picture quality chart. We snapped the chart with both modes and here are some full-res crops.
Just like Apple, Xiaomi wants you to use the telephoto camera only in really good light and mostly for portraits. Due to the lens' narrower aperture of f/2.6, the lack of optical stabilization and its smaller sensor, the telephoto camera is probably unfit to capture good low light images.
Portrait Photography
The Mi 5X uses the combination of the two cameras to shoot the so trending Portrait shots. It's a process of mapping the distance to all objects of the scene and attempting to isolate the subject in front by blurring the background. This works best when you're shooting a well-lit subject which stands out against the backdrop. The software will get fooled by a strong backlight or a busy scene.
The Mi 5X shoots its portrait shots faster than the iPhone 7+, but it takes longer for the camera to read the scene and determine where the depth effect should be. The samples turned out very pleasant with mostly accurate shapes and blur effects. It's possible for the algorithm to smear an ear or some hair, though that's not an Mi 5X-specific issue, but an issue of the methods itself.
Xiaomi Mi 5X 12MP Portrait samples
Panorama
You can capture only portrait panoramic photos with an 180-degree field of view. Shooting is easy and the resolution about 18MP (up 2,000px tall). The image quality is great - there is plenty of fine detail, accurate colors, and no signs of bad stitching. The dynamic range is great as is the contrast. The pano shots are somewhat softer than the regular shots, and the foliage isn't as great, but those are still some fine shots.
Xiaomi Mi 5X panoramic images
Selfies
We also tested out the 5MP front-facing camera. The images came out average in detail and a little bit noisy, but with high contrast, and pleasant colors. The dynamic range is about average, too.
Xiaomi Mi 5X 5MP selfie samples
Picture Compare Tool
Finally, you should check how the Xiaomi Mi 5X does against the Mi 6 and Huawei P10 in our Photo Compare Tool. We've pre-selected these two, but you are free to pick any other phone to compare it against.
Xiaomi Mi 5X vs. Mi 6 vs Redmi Note 4 in our Photo quality comparison tool
You could also use our tool to compare the telephoto cameras of the Mi 5X, iPhone 7 Plus, and Galaxy Note8.
Video recording
Video mode gives you a choice of 2160p@30fps and 1080p@30fps for common shooting with a 720p@120fps option if you want some slow-motion effects. There's no 1080p@60fps mode, though, which would make a big difference in fast-paced scenes. No telephoto videos either.
Anyway, the 2160p videos are captured at a bitrate of 41.6Mbps and have rock solid 30fps. The audio is stereo captured at 96KBps bitrate.
The 4K video quality is great - the resolved detail is plenty, the dynamic range is above average, the colors and contrast are very good. The noise is kept quite low, and the Mi 5X produces some really nice 4K videos. The audio quality is pretty bad - there are traces of compression, and you'll notice that the it gets even worse with loud sound sources (loud music, crowds, cars honking, etc.).
The 1080p videos are shot at a bitrate of 20Mbps and have the same audio bitrate. The video quality in 1080p is quite different to the 4K videos though. The level of detail is very low and everything is way oversharpened. It looks like the picture was upscaled from a lower resolution and sharpened too much. This isn't the first time we experience this with a Xiaomi, unfortunately.
You can also download the 4K@30fps (9s, 48MB) and 1080p@30fps (10s, 26MB) video samples taken straight off the Xiaomi Mi 5X.
Video Compare Tool
Finally, you can use our Video Compare Tool to see how the Mi 5X stacks against the Mi 6 and Mi Max 2 when it comes to video capturing.
Xiaomi Mi 5X vs. Mi 6 vs Mi Max 2 in our 2160p Video quality comparison tool
Wrapping it up
If you ever wanted a Redmi Note 4 with the Mi 6 camera - that's the Mi 5X. It's really that simple, and the best part - the price gets to stay quite low. The Mi 5X has many notable qualities, but kudos to Xiaomi for such a bold move that blurs the lines of the flagship definition and fills the gap between the high-end and midrange series.
Sure, Mi 5X sold as the Mi A1 under the Android One initiative may be more tempting for some, but we are not here to talk about the purist-friendly device. It's MIUI what makes the Mi series so popular and favorite, so the Mi 5X will be successful even without the A model as a plan B.
The Xiaomi Mi 5X is great-specked, that's for sure, but it delivered on pretty much every promise, too. The all-metal design and modern looks are very appealing, the LCD screen has flagship-grade brightness and contrast, the battery life is great thanks to the snappy and yet energy-efficient chip, while the dual-camera is almost as good as seen on the Mi 6, it just trails behind in low-light because of the OIS omission. Last, but not the least important, MIUI 9 is blazing fast on the Mi 5X and we can see why Xiaomi chose it for a launch platform.
Xiaomi Mi 5X key test findings
- Build quality is excellent, premium and modern design with an all-metal unibody, redesigned antenna lines.
- The display is great with 500+ nits of brightness, high contrast, and good legibility in direct sunlight. The minimum brightness is superb for night reading, the blacks are deep enough, and the viewing angles are decent.
- With an 80h Endurance Rating, the Mi 5X is a solid performer and does great in the individual tests of web browsing, video playback, and voice calls, while the power consumption during standby is about average.
- MIUI 9.0 is built on Android 7.1.2 Nougat and runs blazingly fast; it has rich theme support, lots of options for notification area, app switcher with split screen, second space, security center and whatnot. It's smarter and better than MIUI 8 even though it's technically still in beta.
- The Snapdragon 625 chipset offers enough punch for the class and will handle tasks trouble-free. It doesn't excessively heat up at even peak loads. There are faster chips out there, but not nearly as power-efficient as this one.
- Audio output through the jack is one of the loudest around with excellent clarity. The speaker loudness is excellent, as is its sound quality.
- Image quality from the main camera in good light is superb: a lot of detail, low noise, pleasing colors. In low light it's quite uninspiring as the sensor lacks OIS and uses a high ISO. It's still a decent performer, especially if you use the HHT low-light option.
- The telephoto cam produces a bit softer, though still great samples. It works only in very well-lit scenes because of the narrower aperture. As it gets darker, the phone would switch to the primary camera and used digital zoom and crop instead.
- The Portrait shots turned out very good with punchy colors and well-balanced blur effects. The selfies are low-res at 5MP and with average detail, but still fine for the class.
- 4K videos have top-notch picture, but poor audio. The 1080p videos lack in detail, came way oversharpened and then comes the poor audio again.
Noteworthy alternatives
We can't kick off this section without the Xiaomi Mi A1. It's the same phone and should provide the same synthetic and audio performance, battery life and camera quality, but coming with vanilla Android OS instead of MIUI. It's the company's first smartphone made under the Android One program and should be getting new Android versions as they come out. Mi A1 is available worldwide.
Xiaomi Mi A1 (5X)
If the dual-camera is not a must have, then you can save some cash with the Redmi Note 4. It's pretty much the same phone as the Mi 5X, but instead of a dual-camera, it will offer much bigger battery and thus longer power independence.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017) has a Super AMOLED screen, the same premium unibody, equally snappy and efficient chip, better selfie camera and even bigger battery - all of these and you can have at the expense of the dual-camera setup and some additional €60.
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
The Nokia 6 has an inferior chipset and lacks a telephoto camera, but does very well in riding the nostalgia train. It's also a very balanced and snappy device running on vanilla Android Nougat, so there is that. The 6 costs as much as the Mi 5X, but we think it's more of a competitor to the Mi A1.
Nokia 6
The Sony Xperia XA1 has a smaller and low-res display, but it relies on a stylish and iconic design and high-end camera to impress. It's a very comfortable and snappy design with Xperia launcher that works quite well with other Sony appliances, so you may want to check it out.
Sony Xperia XA1
One very good match for the Mi 5X is the Oppo R11. It has a more powerful Snapdragon 660 chip and an AMOLED panel, plus an excellent high-res selfie camera, but this would cost you nearly twice as much.
Oppo R11
Final verdict
The Mi 5X is pretty straightforward - one of the most affordable smartphones in the upper midrange, where available, that is. It offers great dual-camera experience on the cheap and that can't be matched by any reputable maker.
While its availability may be limited, the Mi A1 will surely help boost the Mi 5X popularity and vice versa. Xiaomi offers some great tools for flashing different ROMs and you can turn an A1 into 5X or a 5X into A1 if you are not afraid of tinkering with your phone. So, no matter what you decide - the Mi 5X is probably one of the most tempting offers right now with unmatched camera experience for the class, premium design, and snappy performance. MIUI or Android - it's worth having this Mi in your pocket.
Special thanks to HonorBuy for providing the review unit.
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