Xiaomi Mi 5 to bring back good old NFC?


NFC may not have been the kind of success it was first envisioned to be, but the gradual popularity of NFC payments is making phone makers reconsider the ageing-yet-novel technology.

Xiaomi dropped the NFC feature with the Mi 4, but the next big thing from the Chinese company might mark the comeback of NFC on Xiaomi phones.

And yes, it most likely that this will be to enable NFC payments.

Xiaomi thrive on their on MIUI ecosystem, and a payment system is definitely something they could do with. Xiaomi have been known to call themselves a ‘software company’, and are also known to sell phones at near cost, only to be able to make money after the sales, via — you guessed it — the MIUI ecosystem.

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If NFC payments do make a way into Xiaomi phones, it’ll mean that users will be able to make seamless transactions whenever and from wherever, without the point-of-sales having to upgrade, unlike Apple Pay.

All this makes a really strong case for the Mi 5 to have NFC.

Another possible case is where Xiaomi give NFC to the Chinese model, because the MIUI ecosystem isn’t as popular outside of China as it is inside the country. But then, a school of thought would suggest that it would actually be cheaper to make all phones with NFC than to produce them with separate specs.

Whatever it be, the Mi 5 is shaping up to be a device to look out for. As for NFC, we should know soon… especially towards the time when the TENAA leaks start appearing.

NFC, yay or nay?

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20 Comments

  1. Ulti
    December 14, 2015

    Yes please to NFC. They had it too early in the Mi3 when there was hardly anything that supported NFC but now we have payment via NFC tech, speakers using NFC tech and other tech that use NFC. Would be good to bring it back.

    • balcobomber25
      December 14, 2015

      NFC speakers?? I hope they have Bluetooth as well because you would need to always be sitting right next to the speaker to use it with NFC.

      • King
        December 14, 2015

        Agree. I got the Sony SRS-X11 (portable ones)…. and use bluetooth to connect and play music.

        • balcobomber25
          December 14, 2015

          Blutooth is better option for speakers because it operates at a much higher range. The average blutooth range is around 100ft, whereas the best NFC chips have a range under 10ft, most smartphone chips that range shrinks to under 6ft. But NFC is a much faster connection.

      • Ulti
        December 14, 2015

        Correct me if I’m wrong but the way NFC speakers work is that it just bypasses the BT scan and pair. It basically just let’s you connect via BT much quicker by just tapping the devices together. Used to work in retail and that’s how I sold them.

        • balcobomber25
          December 14, 2015

          I have no clue how they work, I never knew they existed if its just for connecting that is good because NFC is almost an instaneous connection whereas some BT can take almost a minute.

  2. Owsley_66
    December 14, 2015

    And NFC would be good for sales in the U.S.

  3. Adam Irvine
    December 14, 2015

    Yep, NFC is why I didn’t get a OnePlus 2…

  4. Ulti
    December 14, 2015

    Yes please to NFC. They had it too early in the Mi3 when there was hardly anything that supported NFC but now we have payment via NFC tech, speakers using NFC tech and other tech that use NFC. Would be good to bring it back.

    • balcobomber25
      December 14, 2015

      NFC speakers?? I hope they have Bluetooth as well because you would need to always be sitting right next to the speaker to use it with NFC.

    • King
      December 14, 2015

      Agree. I got the Sony SRS-X11 (portable ones)…. and use bluetooth to connect and play music.

    • balcobomber25
      December 14, 2015

      Blutooth is better option for speakers because it operates at a much higher range. The average blutooth range is around 100ft, whereas the best NFC chips have a range under 10ft, most smartphone chips that range shrinks to under 6ft. But NFC is a much faster connection.

    • Ulti
      December 14, 2015

      Correct me if I’m wrong but the way NFC speakers work is that it just bypasses the BT scan and pair. It basically just let’s you connect via BT much quicker by just tapping the devices together. Used to work in retail and that’s how I sold them.

    • balcobomber25
      December 14, 2015

      I have no clue how they work, I never knew they existed if its just for connecting that is good because NFC is almost an instaneous connection whereas some BT can take almost a minute.

  5. MaxPower
    December 14, 2015

    No NFC no MI5 for me.

  6. Owsley_66
    December 14, 2015

    And NFC would be good for sales in the U.S.

  7. Adam Irvine
    December 14, 2015

    Yep, NFC is why I didn’t get a OnePlus 2…

  8. MaxPower
    December 14, 2015

    No NFC no MI5 for me.

  9. Chico Migraña
    December 15, 2015

    Mi3’s NFC isn’t compatible with the only thing I can use it so really don’t care about it

  10. Ricardo A.
    December 15, 2015

    Mi3’s NFC isn’t compatible with the only thing I can use it so really don’t care about it