Chinese smartphone vendor Xiaomi is slated to unveil its MIUI 7 Android software on August 13th, as per invitations sent out by the company to the media earlier in the week. The company is also believed to be launching a product on that day alongside the MIUI 7 unveiling, which is where some amount of confusion has crept in. Technobuffalo believes that Xiaomi may well launch its fifth generation flagship, the Mi 5, on that same day, seeing as the company had launched MIUI 6 last year alongside its current flagship smartphone, the Mi 4. However we, at Android Headlines, feel it is highly improbable that the Mi 5 is coming any time soon, going by the rumors, leaks and claims that have been coming out of China recently. We keep a very close tab on all things Chinese here at AH, and everything we’ve seen and heard points towards a later release.
In any case, with Samsung expected to make its big announcement regarding the Galaxy Note 5 on August 13th, it would probably not be in Xiaomi’s best interest to take on the marketing muscle of the South Korean behemoth head-on – and you’d think Lei Jun, Lin Bin and Hugo Barra would know that. Also, if there’s one thing Xiaomi is really good at (apart from making great value-for-money smartphones), it would be marketing and hyping-up its already excellent products, and there would certainly be more orchestrated leaks and rumors in the lead up to the big launch. If the launch was really to take place next week, Xiaomi would probably drum it up more than Samsung, to try and garner some free online publicity in the run-up to the event. As things stand, the media barely knows basic details regarding the Mi 5, which leads one to believe that the originally rumored release date of Q4, 2015 or even Q1, 2016, will hold in all likelihood.
Coming to what we’ve gathered about the Mi 5 from various sources, the device is expected to feature a 5.2-inch Quad HD (2560 x 1440) display, and come with 3 GB of RAM, a 3,000 mAh battery, a 16-megapixel rear camera and a 13-megapixel front camera. The device is also rumored to cost less than $400 in China. There is however, immense confusion regarding the processor on the Mi 5, as rumors have alternatively swung between the upcoming Snapdragon 820 and the controversial Snapdragon 810. With the Snapdragon 820 not expected to ship till the very end of this year, a Mi 5 with the chipset would automatically be out of question for an August release. Even with the Snapdragon 810, it will be a long shot, what with the complete lack of publicity. Having said that though, we’ll just have to wait till next Thursday for Xiaomi to clear everything up once and for all.