Xiaomi Mi 5X Vs Mi 6: It is the season of dual camera phones

One of the major highlights of Xiaomi's 2017 flagship phone, the Mi 6 -- in addition to its glorious all glass and stainless steel design -- is its dual rear camera system. On Wednesday, Xiaomi launched a more affordable or mini version of the Mi 6 -- in China -- aka the Mi 5X that brings the former's dual rear cameras to the masses. The Mi 5X, just like the Mi 6, (also) comes with a dual camera setup on the rear -- 12-megapixel + 12-megapixel -- where one lens is wide-angle while the other is telephoto.

The Mi 6 is still Xiaomi's top-tier phone for 2017, but, with the Mi 5X buyers now have the option to try out the former's dual camera gimmickry in a more affordable package. Take a look.

Design

The Xiaomi Mi 6 boasts of a glass and stainless steel sandwich design. The Mi 6 apparently took seven years in the making and there's no denying that it's a gorgeous piece of tech just like its predecessor phone, the Mi 5. The Mi 6's stainless steel construction requires a 50-step manufacturing process and over 270 individual operations, according to Xiaomi. Moreover, the phone is available in slew of options ranging from white to blue. The Mi 6, just like the bezel-less Mi Mix, also has a limited edition ceramic version that's quite honestly a sight to behold. It is also supposedly stronger than the 'regular' glass Mi 6 versions. Although, Xiaomi doesn't specify whether or not the Mi 6 ships with a protective covering, it says the Mi 6 is splash resistant.

The Mi 6 has a front-mounted fingerprint scanner. Xiaomi has incorporated an under-glass -- ultrasonic -- fingerprint scanner in the Mi 6 which means you'll be touching a barren area of glass to unlock the phone. Having Qualcomm's Sense ID ultrasonic fingerprint technology embedded right into the home button means, the Mi 6 would be faster, more secure (as it employs 3D mapping rather than 2D mapping employed by incumbents like the OnePlus 5) and less susceptible to sweat and moisture damage in the longer run.

Also Read: Xiaomi Mi 5X: Top specs, features, price and everything you must know

The Xiaomi Mi 5X, which may be considered as a Mi 6 Mini, meanwhile comes with a full metal unibody design -- a stark departure from the Mi 5 and Mi 6's glass and metal bodies -- and a rear mounted fingerprint scanner. The phone, with its all metal body and dual rear cameras looks remarkably like the iPhone 7 Plus from every nook and corner. Everything from the 2.5 D curved glass on the front to the antenna lines placement on the back, screams the iPhone. The only visible difference is seen in the fingerprint scanner placement. As opposed to the iPhone 7 Plus that comes with a front-mounted fingerprint scanner, the Xiaomi Mi 5X sports one on the back. It comes with physical capacitive -- soft keys -- keys on the front and will be available in three colours: black, gold and rose gold (pink). The Mi 5X lacks a splash-resistant screen.

Display

The Xiaomi Mi 6 comes with a 5.15-inch 1080p display "with reduced glare and 0.15-nit adjustments (total 4096 brightness levels)." The Mi 5X, on the other hand, comes with a larger 5.5-inch 1080p LTPS display with 450nit brightness.

Software

The Mi 5X will notably be the first Xiaomi phone to ship with (Android Nougat-based) MIUI 9 out-of-the-box. Announced in China on Wednesday, and slated to be rolled out (in beta) globally from August 11, the MIUI 9 update is said to offer explosively fast app launch times on the back of "optimised haptic feedback, intelligent CPU acceleration and optimised thread scheduling." The MIUI 9 update will bring key Android Nougat nuggets, chiefly multi-window support to Xiaomi phones.

The Mi 6, meanwhile, runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat out-of-the-box with Xiaomi's custom skin MIUI 8.2 on top. It will be upgradable to MIUI 9 in the days to come.

Hardware

The Mi 5X is powered by a 2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor clubbed with Adreno 506GPU. The Snapdragon 625 is notably the first 600-series chipset to be built on a power-efficient 14nm process: the focus therefore lies on improved thermal efficiency and power-saving. The Mi 5X further comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage which is further expandable by up to 128GB via a hybrid micro-SD card slot.

Also Read: Xiaomi Mi 5X brings the flagship Mi 6's dual rear cameras to the masses

The Xiaomi Mi 6, on the other hand, comes with a top-of-the-line 2.45GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor clubbed with Adreno 540 GPU and 6GB of RAM. It comes with 64GB/128GB internal storage which is non-expandable. The Mi 6, in addition, also comes with a stereo speaker setup but doesn't ship with a 3.5mm audio jack. Xiaomi includes a USB Type-C to 3.5mm dongle in the box, but, remember you can't charge and listen to the music simultaneously.

Camera

The Mi 6 comes with a dual camera setup on the rear -- 12-megapixel + 12-megapixel -- where one lens is wide-angle while the other is telephoto. The Mi 6 offers 2X optic zoom and 10X digital zoom (just like the iPhone 7 Plus) and should technically result in clearer distant shots and professional bokeh effects in portraits. The dual camera system on-board the Mi 6 is assisted with 4-axis OIS which should technically entail in more stabilized videos. On the front the Mi 6 comes with an 8-megapixel camera.

The Mi 5X brings the flagship Mi 6's dual rear cameras to the masses. The Mi 5X, just like the Mi 6, (also) comes with a dual camera setup on the rear -- 12-megapixel + 12-megapixel -- where one lens is wide-angle while the other is telephoto. Although Xiaomi didn't mention the sensors on-board, it did say that the dual camera setup on the rear of the Mi 5X is the same as used in the Mi 6 leading us to believe that it is more or less the same deal. On the front, the Mi 5X comes with a 5-megapixel camera.

Battery

While the Mi 5X is backed by a 3,080mAh battery, the Mi 6 offers a bigger 3,350mAh battery.

Pricing and availability

The Mi 5X is exclusive to China for now and will cost RMB 1,499 which roughly translates to Rs 14,285.75. It will be available in three colours: Black, Gold and Rose Gold and will go on sale for the first time on August 1.

The Mi 6, on the other hand, has been priced at RMB 2,499 (roughly Rs 23,463) for the 6GB RAM/64GB memory version, RMB 2,899 (roughly Rs 27,219) for the 6GB RAM/128GB memory version and RMB 2,999 (roughly Rs 28,152) for the limited ceramic edition. Last we heard, Xiaomi will not be launching the Mi 6 in India.

Also Read: Xiaomi Mi 6: Full specs, price, features and everything else you need to know

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