Xiaomi Mi 5X doubles up on cameras, doubles down on iPhone-inspired styling

In case you hadn’t noticed, this year’s smarthphone ‘thing’ is taking the dual cameras and timeless styling of Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus, and cramming ’em into progressively cheaper Android alternatives. OnePlus did it, and now it’s Xiaomi’s turn. The Mi 5x is as mid-range as they come, with a Snapdragon 625 CPU, two 12MP rear cameras for getting your 2x optical zoom on, fingerprint scanner and a 5.5in Full HD screen up front. Chuck in 64GB of storage, Android 7 Nougat and Xiaomi’s brand new MIUI 9 interface, and you’ve got a pretty good-looking slice of smartphone. Will it ever actually make its way out of China, though? And if it does, expect to pay more than the 1499 Yuan (US$200) you’d pay for it there.

Tom Morgan-Freelander Deputy Editor

About

A tech addict from about the age of three (seriously, he's got the VHS tapes to prove it), Tom's been writing about gadgets, games and everything in between for the past decade, with a slight diversion into the world of automotive in between. As Deputy Editor, Tom keeps the website ticking along, jam-packed with the hottest gadget news and reviews.  When he's not on the road attending launch events, you can usually find him scouring the web for the latest news, to feed Stuff readers' insatiable appetite for tech.

Areas of expertise

Smartphones/tablets/computing, cameras, home cinema, automotive, virtual reality, gaming