Xiaomi smartphones have improved greatly over the past and the build quality has become very good for the price you pay. That alone is reflected by the success of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, which is the best budget smartphone the company has made till date. A few months back, the flagship Xiaomi Mi5 was launched (while the Xiaomi Mi5s is in talks). The Mi5 proved that the company could make premium-like flagships at very affordable prices, something in line with OnePlus phones.
On the other hand, the same segment that the Xiaomi Mi5 sits in is also covered by the popular LG-made Nexus 5X smartphone. As we all know, Nexus phones have their own fan following and sell very well even if they have a couple of shortcomings. Nexus devices are mainly loved for their stock Android experience, and the Nexus 5X is definitely the best affordable Nexus smartphone made till date.
So when you have to choose between the Nexus 5X vs. Xiaomi Mi5, it gets really tough unless you carefully weigh the specs and features. So if you are confused between these two phones, this quick comparison will clear you up. Note that we will not talk about design here as looks are subjective and a matter of personal choice.
Xiaomi Mi5 vs. Nexus 5X Specs and Features Comparison
Display and Battery: The Xiaomi Mi5 comes with a 5.15 inches IPS LCD display with Full HD resolution and Gorilla Glass 4 on top. The Nexus 5X gets a 5.2 inches Full HD IPS LCD screen with Gorilla Glass 3. The display on the two phones are almost identical in pixel density, with the Mi5 at 428 ppi and Nexus 5X at 423 ppi.
As for the battery, the Xiaomi Mi5 gets a 3000mAh battery while the LG Nexus 5X comes with a slightly smaller 2700mAh battery.
Processor and Memory: The Nexus 5X is powered by a hexa-core Snapdragon 808 processor with Adreno 418 GPU. It offers 2GB RAM and 16GB/32GB internal storage. The Xiaomi Mi5 gets a much more powerful flagship Snapdragon 820 processor (Adreno 530 GPU) with 3GB/4GB RAM and 32/64/128GB internal storage. Both the phones do not get microSD slots for expansion.
Camera and Software: The Xiaomi Mi5 comes with a 16MP f/2.0 rear camera with PDAF, 4-axis OIS, and dual tone dual LED flash. It comes with a 4MP UltraPixel front camera and runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with MIUI 7.0 on it.
The Nexus 5X gets a 12.3MP f/2.0 camera with laser autofocus, dual tone dual LED flash, but no OIS. It has got a 5MP front camera and runs the latest version of Android Marshmallow.
Extras: Both the phones come with USB Type-C, NFC, and fingerprint sensors.
Price and Verdict
As of now, the Nexus 5X costs INR 29,500 (around $434) while the Xiaomi Mi5 starts at around INR 24,999 ($368). Needless to say, the Xiaomi Mi5 has got much better specs than the Nexus 5X and should definitely be the winner here. But if you are looking for a pure Android experience, then there’s nothing better in this budget than the Nexus 5X.