Samsung’s Galaxy S7 is a very refined flagship and has brought in many significant improvements over its predecessor. However, the Galaxy S6 is still a very good smartphone to buy if you have got the budget. Of course, you can take a look at other alternatives too, and if you are low on budget, you might consider the Xiaomi Mi5.
Xiaomi Mi5 is obviously the best phone Xiaomi has ever made. It comes with flagship-level specs and features and is one of the best affordable flagships right now. Of course, you could say that the Galaxy S6 is a device from Samsung and hence has a brand value. But can it beat the newer Mi5 from Xiaomi that is selling like hot cakes in China? Let’s do a Xiaomi Mi5 vs. Galaxy S6 comparison.
Galaxy S6 vs. Xiaomi Mi5
Let’s start from the display and battery first. We all know that Samsung produces the best display in the smartphone market, so there’s no doubt that the S6 is going to be better than the Xiaomi Mi5. The Galaxy S6 features a 5.1 inches Quad HD AMOLED screen with a pixel resolution of 577 ppi. On the other hand, the Mi5 has to make do with a 5.15 inches Full HD IPS LCD screen with 428 ppi pixel density. Both the phones come with Gorilla Glass 4 protection. The Xiaomi Mi5 gets a 3000mAh battery, and the Galaxy S6 lags behind with a 2550mAh juicer inside it.
Coming to the processor, the Xiaomi Mi5 is obviously more advanced as it comes with the latest Snapdragon 820 processor. The Galaxy S6 runs on an octa-core Exynos 7420 processor that’s still better than most of the phones this year that do not get the SD 820. The Galaxy S6 offers 3GB of RAM and 32/64/128GB of internal storage without any option to expand it. The Xiaomi Mi5 offers 3GB/4GB RAM variants with the same storage capacities as the S6 but no microSD slot.
Let’s talk about the camera now. The Galaxy S6 was praised for its great camera quality, which was possible due to the 16 MP f/1.9 rear camera with OIS and LED flash that resulted in crisp shots even in low light. Even the front 5 MP f/1.9 snapper was great in low light. The Xiaomi Mi5 gets a 16 MP f/2.0 with 4-axis OIS, PDAF, and LED flash, so you can expect more or less a similar result. The Mi5 features a 4MP f/2.0 UltraPixel camera at the front.
Both the S6 and the Mi5 get fingerprint sensors, but the S6 does not get USB Type-C, while the Mi5 does. Apart from that, there’s nothing major to be talked about. The Xiaomi Mi5 starts at around INR 24,999 ($372), while the Galaxy S6 currently starts at around $477 (around INR 32,000). So yes, there’s a major difference in the price, and the Xiaomi Mi5 is the better deal. If you want to buy a Samsung flagship, wait for the Galaxy S8 that is expected to bring in major changes.