In terms of big releases in the Android world before the end of the year, industry watchers pretty much figured that they had the schedule down pat. Google, of course, has been taking most of the spotlight what with the release of the latest Nexus devices, namely the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, expected to happen any day now but it looks like Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi could also have a device ready to go that could certainly steal some of Google’s thunder. Chinese smartphone industry analyst Pan Jiutang has recently stated that he believes Xiaomi could release their Mi 5 smartphone by December, and that this device could be the very first running Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor.
Earlier this year, Jiutang had predicted that Qualcomm would not start shipping the Snapdragon 820 out to manufacturers until December and that Xiaomi would not release the Mi 5 until March of 2016 but, one must assume that he has received some insider info which has caused him to revise his initial prediction. In terms of specs, aside from the Snapdragon 820 processor the Mi 5 is reported to come with 4 GB of RAM, a 5.2 inch display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 and an Adreno 530 GPU. On the software side of things, the Xiaomi Mi 5 is expected to run Android 5.1.1 out of the box and in terms of internal storage it will come with 16 GB and 32 GB options. Its main camera is believed to be a 16 MP shooter with the front facing camera having an 8 MP sensor. Other rumored features include a Type-C USB port and a fingerprint sensor.
Considering it’s been quite some time since Xiaomi released the Mi 4, they have a lot running on the Mi 5 in terms of their ability to assert themselves in the increasingly competitive global smartphone industry. However, Xiaomi probably isn’t the only one who has high hopes for the success of the Mi 5 as Qualcomm’s reputation has certainly taken a hit in recent months due to the rumours that their Snapdragon 810 chip was prone to overheating and that this was the cause for Samsung choosing to use their in-house Exynos processors in their newest flagship devices. The world could get its first look at the Snapdragon 820 when the Mi 5 is released and it seems like a safe bet that both Xiaomi and Qualcomm are crossing their fingers that people like what they see.