Xiaomi Mi 5 with Snapdragon 820, 4GB RAM, ceramic body unveiled

Xiaomi has unveiled its Mi 5 smartphone, the company's flagship model for 2016, at its first appearance at Mobile World Congress. Among the key features of the new smartphone include materials like metal and ceramic, Snapdragon 820 chipset, brighter screen, and better camera.

Like last year's Mi 4 model, the new Xiaomi Mi 5 has a 5.15-inch screen that is 30% brighter. The smartphone is powered by the Android Lollipop-based MIUI 7 custom software; there was no official word on the Android Marshmallow update for Mi 5 at the event. Xiaomi is using UFS flash memory in the new model, which is 87% faster in read-write operations.

Xiaomi will launch Mi 5 in three variants:

* 1.8GHz quad-core Snapdragon 820 processor, 32GB storage, 3GB RAM, 3D curved glass body

* 2.15GHz quad-core Snapdragon 820 processor, 64GB storage, 3GB RAM, 3D curved glass body

* 2.15GHz quad-core Snapdragon 820 processor, 128GB storage, 4GB RAM, 3D ceramic body

The three Xiaomi Mi 5 variants are priced at 1,999, 2,299 and 2,699 yuan, respectively. The smartphone will become available for sale in China starting next week and will head to the Indian market soon, Xiaomi's global vice president Hugo Barra said at the event.

Mi 5's 16MP rear camera has 4-axis optical image stabilization for blur-free photo & videos as well as sapphire glass lens and two-tone, dual-LED flash; it can capture 4K as well as 120fps slo-mo videos. The front camera has 5MP resolution and pixel size of 2 micron.

For connectivity, Xiaomi Mi 5 supports 4G+ (also called LTE-Advanced) networks for faster downloads (up to Cat12), NFC, and USB Type C. The battery capacity of the smartphone is 3,000mAh and features QuickCharge 3.0 technology that provides 4 hours of battery life on charge of 10 minutes.

On the design side, Xiaomi is offering Mi 5 in two finishes: metal and ceramic. The smartphone is based on the company's '3D' design language, which has been previously seen in the company's Mi Note. Mi 5 is the first smartphone in Xiaomi portfolio having the fingerprint sensor in front.