Meet the new Xiaomi Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus

Much like any smartphone manufacturer does every year, Xiaomi announced its new Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus smartphones. If you take a hint from Apple, the Mi 5s is the replacement of last year’s Mi 5 – and the Mi 5s Plus is the bigger version. Now that’s out of the way, what’s the headline? The new ultrasonic fingerprint reader built under the glass at the bottom of the display where, taking a hint from every other manufacturer, is where the home button is located.

Ultrasonic fingerprint reader?

The fingerprint reader is apparently a static home button with just a dimple to act as a fingerprint scanner. This, according to Xiaomi, makes the Mi 5s and the 5s Plus have seamless and button-free design. If they mean about button free is a non-clickable home button, then it well may be a good design feature.

Ultrasonic means fast and that’s what the Mi 5s is trying to achieve. Faster and more accurate fingerprint readings using Qualcomm’s ultrasonic technology. Here’s the fun part, it can scan your fingers accurately even if it’s dirty or wet. Asking some iPhone users trying to unlock their phones with wet hands and this feature from the Mi 5s is really worth having.

Specifications

New specs for the Xiaomi Mi 5s includes the following:

• Snapdragon 821 chipset (Mi 5 had Snapdragon 820)
• Metallic rear case (Mi 5 had glass)
• 12MP camera (with Sony CMOS image sensor)
• 4k video recording ready
• 128GB of storage
• 4GB of RAM
• 5.1-inch 1080p display (with pressure sensitivity)

The Mi 5s Plus basically have the same specs as the Mi 5s except for the following:

• 5.7-inch 1080p display
• 6GB of RAM
• dual camera system

Where to order?

Well, it’s Xiaomi, so don’t expect immediate shipment or availability in the US but Chinese fans can have preorders of these new devices starting on September 29.

• Mi 5s (64GB, 3GB RAM) – $300
• Mi 5s (128GB, 4GB RAM) – $344
• Mi 5s Plus (64GB, 4GB RAM) – $344
• Mi 5s Plus (128GB, 6GB RAM) – $390