Xiaomi launched its flagship Mi 5s in September, and as the company has done in the past, it looks like it will release a more affordable version of that phone called the Mi 5c.
While we can all but assume the device is on the way, so far we’ve only heard rumors and seen leaks of it. Here’s everything we know about the Xiaomi Mi 5c so far.
Specs
While we previously heard that the Xiaomi Mi 5c would come with a Snapdragon 625 processor, new reports suggest we could see the device with Xiaomi’s own processor, called Pinecone. It’s also possible that the Pinecone chipset will only appear on the Chinese version of the phone and that other markets will get the phone with a Snapdragon chipset.
In fact, the device was recently spotted in a Geekbench filing, showing an unnamed 1.4GHz processor and 3GB of RAM.
The Xiaomi Mi 5c’s 3C certification in China was also spotted by Gizchina, giving us a few interesting details of the phone. According to the certification, the device will boast a nice Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor with 3GB of RAM and a cool 64GB of storage. The rear-facing camera on the device sits at 12MP, while the front-facing camera boasts 8MP. It’s not yet known exactly what kind of battery capacity we should expect from the phone, but the flagship Mi 5s has a 3,200mAh battery, which offers plenty of juice.
Release date
So when can we expect to see the Mi 5c? Well, an exact release date isn’t known just yet, but it’s most likely the phone will launch before Xiaomi releases its new flagship, the Mi 6, which is expected to hit retailers sometime in March or April. It’s possible we will see the Mi 5c at the Mobile World Congress in late February — a theory backed up by the most recent news that suggests the phone will be launched on February 28.
Design
When it comes to design, the Mi 5c has been leaked in a few photos from Chinese social media site Weibo, which show that while it is not Xiaomi’s flagship device, it still looks very nice indeed. The phone looks to have a basic and simplistic design, and the leaked photos show that it comes in black — although we can most likely expect it in other colors, too. Check out the leaked photos for yourself below.
Updated on 02-23-2017 by Christian de Looper: Added news that the phone could launch in February with a Pinecone chipset.