Xiaomi’s certainly cracked the code when it comes to producing some outstanding value for money devices. The Mi X series sees a stunning addition to its arsenal of outstanding devices with Mi 5X (also known as the Mi A1). The smartphone is as good as it gets within a price of 25,000 rupees.

Two ‘S’ for its design: simplistic and sleek

We’re not the greatest of fans when it comes to Xiaomi designing its mid-ranged smartphones as they’re all very monotonous. The design is pretty simplistic with nothing apart from the dual-primary sensor giving the Mi 5X its own identity. That being said, its metal unibody is finely polished, as has always been the case with Xiaomi phones while its dimensions again live up to their hype by sporting a 7.3mm width but a-tad obese 165g weight. No dust and waterproofing yet again but that’s okay, is it?

Customary and superb display

When it comes to most mid-ranged devices, either their displays tend to have a large screen with low resolutions or it’s the other way around with the display size not being adequate enough. The Mi 5X features a fine combination of display size and resolution that’s exactly what the masses wanted to see.

What we have here is a 5.5 inches LTPS IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with 403ppi pixel density. Topped by Corning Gorilla Glass protection and sporting a 1080p HD resolution, that’s the best you can get from a smartphone costing below 25K. The display’s attention to detail and graphical prowess will simply leave you with nothing to complain about.

Xiaomi also goes dual cameras

On first sightings, the smartphone seemed like a copied version of the iPhone 7 Plus due to the way its primary sensor is placed and designed. If you haven’t gotten the point by now, the Mi 5X is one of the first Xiaomi devices to feature a dual-primary sensor; statistically, the smartphone features a dual 12 MP primary sensor with superb camera features that include phase detection autofocus, 2x optical zoom and a dual-tone LED flash elevating the camera’s snapping prowess even further.

The selfie sensor stays grounded as we’re only a detecting a 5 MP sensor here. That’s a department that certainly could be improved upon.

Performance savvy hardware

The caption finely describes the Mi 5X’s hardware on display; we have an octa-core processor with 4 gigs of RAM to power the device’s built-in Android Nougat. As Android Oreo is on the horizon come September 2017, the smartphone is also on the list of devices that could potentially receive an update to it.

Its internal storage at 64GB is massive news as the world is rapidly moving towards bigger cameras and heavier applications. Other important features include a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, USB type-C and an adequately sized 3080 mAh non-removable battery that powers the smartphone. Fast charging is another plus while three customary colour schemes namely black, gold and rose gold grace the smartphone’s sleek metallic exterior.

Xiaomi Mi 5X pros:

• Superb value for money
• Excellent build quality that really feels good to touch. Its dimensions, specifically its width, deserves a pat on their back
• A large 5.5 inches 1080p HD display… enough said?
• Dual primary sensor is its distinguishing feature
• Superb hardware that includes 4 gigs of RAM, 64GB internal storage etc.
• Planned upgrade to Android Oreo is another bonus

Xiaomi Mi 5X cons:

• Should’ve packed a bigger selfie sensor