Despite the "black technology" propaganda at the press conference, Xiaomi 5 is a small screen flagship that uses a 5.15-inch screen and is equipped with Snapdragon 820+UFS2.0+3000mAh optical anti shake IMX298. With the price from 1999, Xiaomi once again stood at the top of the price performance ratio.
This evaluation mainly focuses on its appearance design, performance, photography and MIUI, which Xiaomi is proud of, to see how the performance part of this "cost performance" performs.
PS： This evaluation is a high configuration engineering machine.
parameter
Appearance and workmanship
Both Xiaomi and Hongmi series are packed in new white paper boxes, with the parameters and production information of mobile phones on the back.
Accessories include pin, instruction manual, charger and Type-C data cable. The charger supports the fast charging specification of Qualcomm QC3.0 and three output specifications of 5V2.5A, 9V2A and 12V1.5A, with a nominal maximum output of 18W.
However, if the machine supports it, the output power of the charging head can be much higher than the nominal value. The Moto X-pole test shows that the output is up to 9.2V2.3A, and the power exceeds 21W, which is impressive.
Left: High configuration version Right: Ceramic exclusive version
This time, we got the black premium version and the ceramic exclusive version. The white version is more controversial in aesthetics because of the black edge design, so we also recommend buying the black version
Left: High configuration version Right: Ceramic exclusive version
The back cover of the exclusive ceramic version should have better gloss, smoothness and feel, and there will be a silver reflection under the side light.
Left: Samsung S6 edge with 5.1-inch screen Right: Xiaomi 5 high configuration with 5.15-inch screen
The right side of the earpiece is a hidden status indicator, light/distance sensor, and the right side is a 4 megapixel UltraPixel front camera (there is also a camera on Xiaomi Note).
The black edge control of the screen is excellent, but the bright side chamfer of the metal frame and the long and narrow fuselage have the function of highlighting the black edge, which makes the appearance of the screen somewhat discounted.
The Home key supports fingerprint identification, and the surface is a ceramic cover plate. The gloss and touch are slightly different from the surrounding. The touch buttons on both sides are changed to dot backlight, with weak brightness.
The back layout is the same as that of Xiaomi Note. The flash does not have an independent slot (below the back cover). The camera with an independent hole does not protrude, but there is a slight height difference between the edge and the back cover.
The antenna partition strip is still placed at the top and bottom, but it is significantly narrower. The top is a noise reduction microphone (it can be found that there is a dual noise reduction microphone after disassembly), an infrared sensor and a headphone connector.
The speaker is on the right side of the bottom, and the microphone is on the left side, but the three holes on the left side are not pierced. In addition to the hole symmetry problem, Virgos have another plan to block their hearts.
The upper left side of the fuselage is the sim card slot, and the right side is the volume and power buttons. The metal frame has a large area of bevel to fit the radian of the 3D back cover. The back and the frame form a complete surface.
Workmanship&feel&fingerprint identification
The proportion of the Home key and the width of the chin are the points where Xiaomi 5 is sprayed most. Although this scheme is not afraid to touch the screen by mistake when pressing the Home key, the pressing area is really too small, and the aesthetic sacrifice is large.
Workmanship: It may be because we got the engineering machine, and the overall workmanship of the machine is worse than that of the mass production version of the Xiaomi Note: the power and volume keys have a certain vacancy, and there is a slight sound when shaking; The main problem focuses on the removable glass back cover that can be opened directly with a suction cup. There is slight gap and uneven height between the glass back cover and the frame; Press the center of the side of the back cover, you can see that the back cover will have a very slight bending, which may be because the new back cover is thinner than Xiaomi Note.
Hand feeling: There is no pressure in the single hand operation of the 5-inch fuselage, and there is also a very large arc on the back. However, the hand holding feeling is normal, but the back cover and the frame seam are slightly cut. The front does not use 2.5D glass, and the metal frame will be scratched when sliding across the screen and operating in a large range. In addition, although the metal and glass fuselages have a high style, they are still slippery in normal use.
Fingerprint identification: the larger the area of the fingerprint identification module, the more fingerprint information it can obtain at the same time, and the speed and direction tolerance of fingerprint identification will be significantly improved, which is an important reason why the recognition speed of the back fingerprint identification scheme is far higher than the front scheme. Xiaomi 5, a long and narrow Home key, should have had a great impact on fingerprint recognition function, but in fact, the fingerprint recognition speed of the machine is close to that of iPhone 6s. Its direction tolerance is also better than expected, but try to cover more thumb areas when you need to input, otherwise you may not recognize people if the position changes slightly.
screen
Xiaomi 5 screen test
Xiaomi 5 adopts 5.15 inch IPS screen and 16 LED beads as backlight, with a nominal maximum of 650 nits. The measured maximum is 615 nits, and the contrast is up to 2451:1, showing excellent performance.
The color accuracy of the machine in the default standard mode is much worse than that in the adaptive mode, so we tested the color accuracy in the adaptive mode. The average deltaE of the 104 colors of the machine is 4.1, and the maximum deltaE is 7.9, which is not very good. For comparison, Note 5 is 1.8, S6 edge+is 2.6, and S7 edge is 2.9.
system
Xiaomi 5 is equipped with the stable version of MIUI 7.2 based on Android 6.0. The system UI and response speed are not much different from those of Xiaomi Note, but the sliding operation has the unique softness of Android 6.0, and the smoothness will be better.
In addition, this is the first Xiaomi mobile phone with a physical Home key. You can choose whether to trigger the "return" or "home page" operation when you touch it. The former is similar to Meizu's mback, while the latter is similar to one plus two and iPhone with plug-in. Both schemes need some time to adapt, but the efficiency is definitely higher than that of simple touch or entity Home key.
The left slide of the lock screen interface is the smart home center, and the right slide is the camera
Notification bar, shortcut switch of notification bar, multi task page
The single-layer desktop has no application drawer, and the application icon management and sorting functions are also very useful up to now. The notice bar has quick notice management. The multitask interface can be locked by pull-down and closed by drawing up.
After several times of simplification, its functions are no more abundant than those of its peers, but it is better than the uniform and beautiful UI style. Dial up, SMS, application market and other ROMs are not very different, but the system also has some interesting functions. For example, WiFi hotspot can choose 2.4G and 5G frequency bands, and Xiaomi/Hongmi full series are equipped with infrared remote control function as standard. Its "universal remote control" app is very powerful, and can automatically match TV/set-top box/air conditioner and other remote controls, After binding the set-top box, you can directly browse the program list and change channels in the app.
Universal remote control equipment list, TV remote control and station selection interface
Bus card consumption records, bank card information and bank card consumption records read by NFC
After the return of NFC, it is directly incorporated into the "Xiaomi Wallet" app, and the information page will pop up automatically when it is close to the subway card, bank card, etc., but the bus card recharge mentioned in the press conference is not available in all cities (Shenzhen Tong cannot recharge in the app).
Xiaomi video, game center, news and information app page
Xiaomi Life and Xiaomi Finance app pages. The former is an e-commerce platform, while the latter is somewhat "unexpected" as a pre installed app.
The setting menu is not only long, but also very messy and unfriendly.
The calendar and weather app are crammed with various information.
Desktop folder and upscale search box. The former has its own application recommendation (you can see the hidden switch when the folder is renamed), and the latter also has a pile of promotion information.
MIUI is recognized as the strongest domestic ROM, but now the situation has changed. In MIUI V4, it reached the peak of functional richness. Since MIUI V5, its focus has shifted from function to beauty and ease of use. After that, MIUI 6/7 has not undergone major functional updates. It is basically a small modification and shell replacement. In addition, there are many problems in the Xiaomi 5 generation:
The shortcut buttons in the notification bar can adjust their order, but some unused shortcut buttons cannot be hidden
There is no NFC in the shortcut switch, perhaps it has not been added yet
The setting menu is arranged in a disorderly way, and low-frequency functions such as font size, wallpaper and children's mode are placed in the first menu
The development version doesn't even have the root switch, Go through The so-called BL lock application process can be root
When Xiaomi 5 connects to the computer, it still needs to manually click MTP storage to read the content, just like native Android 6.0. However, Samsung and LG Android 6.0 models have changed to the default MTP storage
It is estimated that there is only one domestic ROM with advertisements for calendar, weather and other systems
Even the desktop folder and the search bar of the desktop drop-down will have mandatory application recommendation advertisements
Previously, MIUI installed apk to forcibly scan files or forcibly connect to the Xiaomi App Store to install the corresponding version. Fortunately, this setting was later canceled.
We are not used to it, which means that we are no longer its target customers. It is understandable that the manufacturer has changed its positioning for a larger user group. This is no longer a fan's MIUI, but a beginner and light user.
However, MIUI is becoming bloated and closed, and its advertising flavor is getting stronger. In the environment where Meizu Flyme, vivo Funtouch OS, OPPO ColorOS and other large domestic ROMs have caught up, MIUI is still a very useful system, but it is certainly not the best one.
performance
The Xiaomi 5 high configuration version is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 820+3G LPDDR4+UFS2.0 flash memory. Snapdragon 820 uses a four core Kryo core, 2 * 2.15GHz+2 * 1.593GHz large and small core architecture. GPU is the strongest Adreno mobile phone platform in service 530@624MHz 。
The left is our exclusive version, and the right is our high-end version
Using@ IONCannon's GPUGFLOPS check the physique This Xiaomi 5 is close to the bottom of our five Snapdragon 820 models. Its heating may be higher than the average level, but because the final frequency control is 2.15GHz, the performance in a short time will not be much different.
The floating point operation performance of the four core full open copy machine is about 120GFLOPS, between the eight core full open Exynos 7420 and Kirin 950. It can maintain a full frequency of 27 seconds, and then the frequency of the big core is reduced to 2080 MHz and maintained at about 1 minute and 50 seconds. Compared with the Snapdragon 810, the thermal stability is significantly improved, but there is still a gap with the abnormal frequency stability of Kirin 950.
In the Geekbench test, Xiaomi 5 showed a single core performance second only to the iPhone 6s Plus, and its multi-core performance was also equal to the eight core Galaxy Note5, but it was still a long way from the same generation of Kirin 950. In addition, in the test of pi and RAR that require multi-core performance, its performance in the flagship is only satisfactory.
GPU graphics performance is unsurprisingly superior to the iPhone 6s Plus, crushing all models in service.
On the left is the high configuration version (64GB), and on the right is the disk test results of the premium version (128GB). The speed of continuous/random read and random write is very close. But our high-quality version with excellent physique even exceeds the exclusive version in continuous writing speed.
On the whole, the reading performance of Xiaomi 5 is already quite excellent in UFS2.0, which is stronger than that of Samsung S6 and Meizu Pro 5. However, the performance of random writing is average, even worse than that of eMMC 5.0 products.
In daily use, the CPU can easily reach the highest frequency. Compared with the flagship version of Xiaomi Note, the system smoothness has also been greatly improved, and the thermal stability is better. The overall fluency performance is very close to Samsung's Note5, S6 edge+and other models.
photograph
Xiaomi 5 adopts Sony's 16 megapixel IMX298 sensor, supports phase focusing, and has 4-axis optical anti shake. It directly "applies" the 14 bit dual ISP (image processing sensor) of Snapdragon 820. In terms of hardware parameters, it should be the flagship standard configuration of the following year.
In terms of photographing experience, the interface of the Xiaomi 5 camera is exactly the same as that of the previous generation. It can quickly adjust the exposure to the focus. It has HDR and night view modes that can be automatically triggered. It has its own beauty and filter functions. It is already a model that can take photos when you pick it up. The focusing speed of IMX298 is impeccable, and there is no obvious gap with international manufacturers such as Note5/iPhone. It can also focus faster in dark light. The 4-axis optical anti shake performance is quite aggressive, and the shaking filtering effect of the focus plane (up, down, left, right) is very obvious.
Effect comparison between normal and HDR mode
Xiaomi's mobile phones are not lack of good hardware, but the software tuning still needs to be improved. When it comes to the parts related to software algorithms, Xiaomi's problems appear. Even in this generation, Xiaomi's HDR algorithm still has obvious problems. Although the noise of the picture is suppressed better, the HDR sample is extremely colorful and has a very serious sense of oil painting. It is recommended to keep it closed in daily use.
Metering and white balance
Daytime Scenario 1
Daytime scenario 2
Light Scene 1
Light Scene 2
Weak light scene 1
In terms of light measurement and white balance, Xiaomi 5's light measurement will be slightly darker than the naked eye, and the white balance will be significantly improved compared with the previous generation. It will not be uniformly yellow like Xiaomi Note, but it will be blue and cold. The white balance under complex environment light is not stable, and the probability of yellow and green is high.
Discriminative power
The focus and zoom point of all photos are in the center. Click the picture to view the large picture:
Sunlight Scene 1 Center Zoom In
Sunlight Scene 2 Center Zoom In
Sunlight Scene 3 Center Zoom In
Sunlight Scene 4 Center Zoom In
Light Scene 1 Center Enlarged
Light Scene 2 Center Enlarged
Light Scene 3 Center Enlarged
Light Scene 4 Center Enlarged
Light Scene 4 Zoom in below the center
Weak light scene 1 central amplification
Enlarge the center right of weak light scene 1
Weak light scene 2 central amplification
Zoom in below the center of weak light scene 2
Comparison with iPhone 6s Plus and Note5
Sun Scene 1
Sun Scene 2
Sun Scene 3
Light Scene 1
Light Scene 2
Light Scene 3
Weak light scene 1
Weak light scene 2
Millet of this generation has very obvious sharpening traces, with a large sharpening radius and sharp edges. In the daytime scene, the hardware of Xiaomi 5 easily defeated the Xiaomi Note using IMX214, and obviously abandoned the iPhone with 12 million pixels.
The hardware advantages of pixels and optical anti shake make Xiaomi 5 even beat the iPhone 6s Plus in normal lighting scenes. However, when going to the weak light scene where software algorithms are more needed, Xiaomi 5 seems to be struggling. The algorithm smearing is not as heavy as before, and the noise is moving, which is more unsightly, but the discrimination is better.
In the daytime and strong light scenes, the performance of Xiaomi 5 is remarkable even compared with Note5, which stands at the peak, but there is still a certain gap between Xiaomi 5 and the peak under weak light. On the whole, the photography performance of Xiaomi 5 is not as good as that of Xiaomi. It is far away from the previous generation, and even surpasses the iPhone 6s and ranks among the strongest.
The IMX298 sensor comprehensively crushes the mainstream IMX214 in terms of focusing, discrimination and noise control the year before last. With the help of optical anti shake, it will not be a problem to defeat the iPhone 6s. This year, we should see more and more domestic computers defeat the iPhone 6s. This is absolutely a good thing for Android users.
Endurance&Heating&Charging
Xiaomi 5 is equipped with 3000mAh batteries. After 30 minutes of large-scale games (NBA 2K15), 30 minutes of wifi and 4G Internet access (including 10 minutes of web browsing, microblog and post bar), 1 hour of music playing and 30 minutes of local video playing, the remaining power is 73% after a full three hour endurance test.
Although not as abnormal as the S7 edge, it also surpasses the Mate8 of 4000mAh and the Note5 with good endurance. In addition to its small screen, the Snapdragon 820's power consumption control also contributes.
Xiaomi 5 charges from 6% to 100%, about 55% in half an hour, about 80% in 43 minutes and starts to slow down. It takes a total of 1 hour and 24 minutes to fully charge, and the performance is excellent. The flagship of the new generation of Android, in addition to the obvious progress in endurance, the popularity of fast charging has also brought huge dividends.
summary
It seems that the role of Xiaomi has not changed much for so many years. It uses first-class hardware and crazy prices to crush its peers. With its own MIUI, it completes the barriers on software:
The screen features extremely high brightness and contrast, but the color accuracy performance is general;
In addition to Samsung, Meizu, Huawei and other manufacturers that use Exynos and Kirin SoCs, the best SoC that other manufacturers can get is Snapdragon 820. Although the actual computing performance of the latter is limited by the number of cores, it fails to reach the peak, but the smoothness of daily use can easily crush the previous generation of Snapdragon series;
It is also beneficial to the Snapdragon 820. The Xiaomi 5 has the bonus of dual card All Netcom 4G+and Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0, which is excellent in both charging and endurance;
In terms of photographing, thanks to Lei Fengxia, Sony's IMX298 can do so well. The hardware strength of the 4-axis optical anti shake is also solid. But when it comes to software tuning, it seems that there is still a big gap with international manufacturers.
MIUI is becoming bloated. All kinds of advertisements and promotions, and all kinds of closed performances are beginning to make old users feel uneasy. Although it is still easy to use, in front of this generation of hardware and the peers who have worked hard for several years, this MIUI, which was once a bonus item, actually let Xiaomi deduct 5 points.
In general, apart from personal "aesthetic" in appearance and marketing, Xiaomi is not only the first and cheapest Snapdragon 820 mobile phone to be sold, but also the most balanced domestic model in hardware.
