With the launch of Mi 5c at MWC, Xiaomi has made itself a fourth smartphone maker to build with its own chip processor. Previously Samsung, Apple and Huawei owned this title with their proprietary chips namely – Exynos, A, and Kirin respectively. Xiaomi now counts in the league with its own Surge S1.
Put aside the Surge S1 for a while, Xiaomi’s Mi 5c features a 5.15-inch display with full HD resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. It’s an IPS display with no notable glass protection. The phone has a 64GB of internal storage and a 3GB of RAM.
Even though 64GB is large enough for most, some still want expandable memory option via microSD card. It’s not an option for them. The dual-SIM phone runs Android 7.1 Nougat with MIUI 8 on top. Weighing only 135 grams, the phone is backed up by a 2860mAh battery. Interestingly the phone supports 9V/2A fast charging.
The display is developed by JDI with high-brightness eye protection mode, up to 550 nits. “It supports 2,048 level brightness adjustment also it only has 1.66mm front frame.”
The new Mi 5c sports a 12-megapixel camera with pixel size of 1.25µm. The phone features Surge ISP algorithm with an increased light by 150%. The algorithm performs dual-noise reduction while preserving details in low-light.
Mi 5c features an 8-megapixel front camera with f/2.2 lens aperture and 27mm equivalent focal length. Both the cameras support video recording up to 1080p at 30fps.
The phone comes with fingerprint scanner mounted on the front side along with other standard sensors. And yes the phone supports USB Type-C along with WiFi and 4G/LTE connectivity.
Surge S1 – Xiaomi’s First Ever Chipset
Like many smartphone makers, Xiaomi has also been using chipsets from vendors like Qualcomm and MediaTek. This is purely a new attempt by the company to gain market attention.
Company’s first chip Surge S1, that runs Mi 5c, features and octa-core configuration of ARM’s Cortex-A53 cores – 4 clocked at 2.2GHz and 4 at 1.4GHz.
Surge S1 stands among mid-rangers as Xiaomi compares it with the likes of Snapdragon 625 and MediaTek’s P10/P20. Whereas the chip outperforms all of these three in a Manhattan test, it could stand somewhere between them when tested with multi-core performance.
Benchmarks? You be the judge. #SurgeS1 pic.twitter.com/dZ1RoVbKl5
— Mi (@xiaomi) February 28, 2017
Mi 5c – Features and Specifications
- OS/Software: Android 7.1 Nougat, MIUI 8
- Display: 5.15-inch IPS display, FHD 1080p resolution, 550-nit brightness, 2,048 level brightness adjustment
- SoC: Xiaomi Surge S1 octa-core,
- CPU: Cortex-A53 4x 2.2GHz + 4x 1.4GHz
- GPU: Mali-T860MP4 GPU
- Memory: 3GB of RAM, 64GB internal storage (no microSD card slot)
- Rear Camera: 12-Megapixel, 1.25µm pixels, PDAF, f/2.2 aperture, LED flash
- Front Camera: 8-Megapixel, f/2.2 aperture
- Connectivity: Dual SIM 4G/LTE, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 4.1, FM Radio.
- Other Features: Fingerprint scanner, GPS/AGPS, Gyroscope, proximity, compass, accelerometer.
- Battery: 2860mAh, 9V/2A fast charging.
- Colors: Black, Gold, Rose Gold.
- Weight: 135 grams.
Price and Availability
Mi 5c is a budget or lower mid-range phone costing 1,499 RMB in China which is around $220 (or PKR ~23,000/-). Xiaomi’s handsets are now officially available in Pakistan and considering the price range of this smartphone, you can expect it to arrive in local markets. But expect not too early.
