Xiaomi MI5s might ditch home button


The Xiaomi Mi5

Xiaomi’s first phone to feature a home button might have it removed in its update coming soon.

The rumour mill is churning and people are talking about the Xiaomi Mi5S, an updated version of the current Xiaomi Mi5 but with a faster Snapdragon 821 chipset, or so we though.

Originally it was believed that the only update on the Mi5s would be a faster chipset, but today a Weibo user has revealed that their might be a physical and security upgrade coming too.

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Apparently Xiaomi are planning to remove the physical home button on the Xiaomi Mi5s, which incidentally houses the fingerprint scanner, and place the security measure “Under Glass” using new ultrasonic technology from partners Qualcomm.

With no physical button, the Xiaomi Mi5S is set to be a much more attractive looking phone from a virtual standpoint, and may even be enough of an upgrade to tempt current Mi5 owners over to the new device.

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63 Comments

  1. bro-reac
    September 14, 2016

    Wow under the screen?
    That will be a stunning phone. let us wait for it here and admire.

  2. Ulti
    September 14, 2016

    Do it. The Mi5 has the ugliest home button I’ve ever seen. Even the Zuk Z1 was better.

  3. realjjj
    September 14, 2016

    Add a microSD slot and OiS that actually works with video and it becomes a decent device.

    • SnowyCat
      September 14, 2016

      just that nobody in the world wants more resolution on a phone

      • realjjj
        September 14, 2016

        Guess the hundreds of millions that got a higher res phone in the last 3 cycles, were not informed about that.

        • SnowyCat
          September 14, 2016

          Those People dont buy it for the resolution..those are the same peopel that buy oppo phones..it looks nice in the store and works 🙂

          while i get with my phone 6hours SoT per day a friend had with his note 7 just 4 hours and that seems to be the overall picture…

          • realjjj
            September 14, 2016

            That’s total BS.
            You can have good battery life with 1440p, many 1080p screens worse in power.

    • Fábio
      September 14, 2016

      You always have hot news, so do you have some news for us about Mi note 2? Like price tag?

      • realjjj
        September 14, 2016

        Most rumors are fake so hard to say if anything about that device is accurate.
        The Redmi 4 seems to be imminent.

    • MinusPlusDivide
      September 15, 2016

      don’t forget the usable microphone for video too.

  4. Karly Johnston
    September 14, 2016

    They should worry more about LTE bands.

    • Nilzie
      September 14, 2016

      Why? Their phones have all the band’s for their corresponding market

      • John
        September 14, 2016

        So they do but can you blame anyone bout asking for band 20 when Hugo Barra presented mi5 on the mobile congress in Spain to gain more interest? Many chinese phones do have band 20 so dont see why xiaomi skips this if they wanna grow worldwide…

      • Karly Johnston
        September 14, 2016

        If they limit themselves to the over-saturated Chinese market that is a recipe for death.

      • balcobomber25
        September 14, 2016

        The Chinese market is matured, if Xiaomi wants any chance of future growth they need to start thinking outside of China. Their India launch has been a complete disaster due to failed product launches like Mi4i and the refusal to work out a deal with Ericsson. Xiaomi’s competitors are all capitalizing on the US and European markets for future growth.

  5. cyril symbio
    September 14, 2016

    the owner of a 2500 rmb Mi5 would change for the 5s because of a button disapeared??? If so, the xiaomi users are even more ridiculous than the iPhone users, and I will sell my xiaomi fast enough to not be assimilated to that.

  6. MattD
    September 14, 2016

    We’ve been hearing this ultrasonic technology for like the past 2 years, especially with xiaomi… And still, every past leak proved to be wrong! I’m not going to believe it until I see it!
    At this point, it’s the same as “meizu pro with exynos 8890” leaks: just clickbaits threw on weibo, but just because fans want it, it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.

    • SnowyCat
      September 14, 2016

      yeah with the curved design…those rumors were there even before the mx6 😀

    • MinusPlusDivide
      September 15, 2016

      Xiaomi is only brand I can think of to use chroma flash (another Qualcomm’s tech that no one use)

      But MIUI always come with home button so I doubt Xiaomi ditch the home button will happen.

  7. bro-reac
    September 14, 2016

    Wow under the screen?
    That will be a stunning phone. let us wait for it here and admire.

    • realjjj
      September 14, 2016

      Under the glass,means same position just no button.
      The so called leak is this

    • bro-reac
      September 15, 2016

      thanks

  8. Ulti
    September 14, 2016

    Do it. The Mi5 has the ugliest home button I’ve ever seen. Even the Zuk Z1 was better.

  9. realjjj
    September 14, 2016

    Add a microSD slot and OiS that actually works with video and it becomes a decent budget high end – would need higher res at least to be a proper flagship.

    • SnowyCat
      September 14, 2016

      just that nobody in the world wants more resolution on a phone

    • Fábio
      September 14, 2016

      You always have hot news, so do you have some news for us about Mi note 2? Like price tag?

    • realjjj
      September 14, 2016

      Most rumors are fake so hard to say if anything about that device is accurate.
      The Redmi 4 seems to be imminent.

    • realjjj
      September 14, 2016

      Guess the hundreds of millions that got a higher res phone in the last 3 cycles, were not informed about that.

    • SnowyCat
      September 14, 2016

      Those People dont buy it for the resolution..those are the same peopel that buy oppo phones..it looks nice in the store and works 🙂

      while i get with my phone 6hours SoT per day a friend had with his note 7 just 4 hours and that seems to be the overall picture…

    • realjjj
      September 14, 2016

      That’s total BS.
      You can have good battery life with 1440p, many 1080p screens do worse in power.

      Anyway , hold on to your hat because folks are working on 11k mobile displays and 2,250 ppi can be manufactured.

      As for the Note 7, the display should use on average 1W with peak at 1.8W . Maybe your friend spends a lot of time outside where brightness is boosted, or he/she games a lot.
      The Note 7 has a 13.48Whr battery, rather difficult to get only 4h. It also has better battery life than the MI5 and its 1080p.

    • Guest
      September 15, 2016

      don’t forget the usable microphone for video too.

  10. Assefa Hanson
    September 14, 2016

    I really despise home buttons

    • balcobomber25
      September 14, 2016

      I really love them lol.

      • Jh1
        September 14, 2016

        Prior to my m2 note, I didn’t have a preference, but now I find I really miss the home button when using other phones. Not a deal breaker either way, but definitely prefer a home button.

      • Assefa Hanson
        September 14, 2016

        I only like meizu ones

  11. Karly Johnston
    September 14, 2016

    They should worry more about LTE bands.

    • Nilzie
      September 14, 2016

      Why? Their phones have all the band’s for their corresponding market

    • John
      September 14, 2016

      So they do but can you blame anyone bout asking for band 20 when Hugo Barra presented mi5 on the mobile congress in Spain to gain more interest? Many chinese phones do have band 20 so dont see why xiaomi skips this if they wanna grow worldwide…

    • Karly Johnston
      September 14, 2016

      If they limit themselves to the over-saturated Chinese market that is a recipe for death.

    • balcobomber25
      September 14, 2016

      The Chinese market is matured, if Xiaomi wants any chance of future growth they need to start thinking outside of China. Their India launch has been a complete disaster due to failed product launches like Mi4i and the refusal to work out a deal with Ericsson. Xiaomi’s competitors are all capitalizing on the US and European markets for future growth.

  12. cyril symbio
    September 14, 2016

    the owner of a 2500 rmb Mi5 would change for the 5s because of a button disapeared??? If so, the xiaomi users are even more ridiculous than the iPhone users, and I will sell my xiaomi fast enough to not be assimilated to that.

  13. MattD
    September 14, 2016

    We’ve been hearing this ultrasonic technology for like the past 2 years, especially with xiaomi… And still, every past leak proved to be wrong! I’m not going to believe it until I see it!
    At this point, it’s the same as “meizu pro with exynos 8890” leaks: just clickbaits threw on weibo, but just because fans want it, it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.

    • SnowyCat
      September 14, 2016

      yeah with the curved design…those rumors were there even before the mx6 😀

    • Guest
      September 15, 2016

      Xiaomi is only brand I can think of to use chroma flash (another Qualcomm’s tech that no one use)

      But MIUI always come with home button so I doubt Xiaomi ditch the home button will happen.

  14. Assefa Hanson
    September 14, 2016

    I really despise home buttons

    • balcobomber25
      September 14, 2016

      I really love them lol.

    • Jh1
      September 14, 2016

      Prior to my m2 note, I didn’t have a preference, but now I find I really miss the home button when using other phones. Not a deal breaker either way, but definitely prefer a home button.

    • Assefa Hanson
      September 14, 2016

      I only like meizu ones

  15. NextHype
    September 14, 2016

    Mi5s will be what the Mi5 should have been, Xiaomi is in quest for a second chance. But I’m affraid most ppl already bought their cheap SD820 phone a few months ago and won’t get aboard the Mi5s train.

  16. Dragan Mladenov
    September 14, 2016

    I’m waiting for MI6. I hope it will looks like this :

    https://s22.postimg.io/6npai9tf5/Xiaomi_mi_6.png

    … triple main camera , side fingerprint scanner , size 144 x 70 x 8.5 , 5.4 inch screen , 4200 mAh battery …

  17. Plus
    September 14, 2016

    PLEASE REMOVE BLACK BORDER!

    • Zeca-BR
      September 14, 2016

      I agree.

  18. NextHype
    September 14, 2016

    Mi5s will be what the Mi5 should have been, Xiaomi is in quest for a second chance. But I’m affraid most ppl already bought their cheap SD820 phone a few months ago and won’t get aboard the Mi5s train.

  19. Dragan Mladenov
    September 14, 2016

    I’m waiting for MI6. I hope it will looks like this :

  20. Dragan Mladenov
    September 14, 2016

    … triple main camera , side fingerprint scanner , size 144 x 70 x 8.5 , 5.4 inch screen , 4200 mAh battery …

  21. Guest
    September 14, 2016

    PLEASE REMOVE BLACK BORDER!

    • Guest
      September 15, 2016

      I agree.

  22. Zeca-BR
    September 14, 2016

    I like home button. I like feeling of touching something physical and get an answer. I hate virtual buttons.

  23. Guest
    September 15, 2016

    I like home button. I like feeling of touching something physical and get an answer. I hate virtual buttons.

  24. justjc
    September 17, 2016

    To be honest the home button does not matter enough to make me consider an upgrade from my Mi5.
    The only things I would change is:
    – The screen should be OLED, for lower power usage and heat generation
    – The camera could be better, especially at capturing video, although I am satisfied with the current solution
    – A bit more RAM, only to assure that it does not become a limiting factor in the near future
    – and perhaps making the phone less slippy, as I’ve seen mine fall a couple of times from places that wasn’t as level as I thought.

  25. justjc
    September 17, 2016

    To be honest the home button does not matter enough to make me consider an upgrade from my Mi5.
    The only things I would change is:
    – The screen should be OLED, for lower power usage and heat generation
    – The camera could be better, especially at capturing video, although I am satisfied with the current solution
    – A bit more RAM, only to assure that it does not become a limiting factor in the near future
    – and perhaps making the phone less slippy, as I’ve seen mine fall a couple of times from places that wasn’t as level as I thought.