Analyst says Xiaomi Mi 5 could be launched before the year is out

Earlier this year, electronic industry analyst Pan Jiutang predicted that the first handset to contain the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset would be the Xiaomi Mi 5. The analyst figured that Qualcomm’s new high-end chip would be sent to manufacturers in December, with the first phones to use the Snapdragon 820 rolling out in March. But Mr. Pan has revised his forecast, and now sees the new Xiaomi flagship getting released as soon as December. That is, if Qualcomm has enough product to send out.

For Xiaomi, it has been well over a year since the launch of the Xiaomi Mi 4. That is a lifetime in the industry. In the meantime, the phone has appeared on AnTuTu scoring a tremendous 73,075 on the benchmark site. That would seem to be enough evidence to show that the Snapdragon 820 SoC will be driving the device.

From tipster @Leaksfly comes the latest rumored specs of the Mi 5. The phone should be equipped with a 5.2-inch screen, with a 1080 x 1920 resolution. The Snapdragon 820 SoC is under the hood, with a quad-core Kryo CPU and the Adreno 530 GPU. 4GB of RAM is inside, along with 16GB/32GB of native storage. A 16MP camera is on back, with an 8MP front-facing snapper for selfies and video chats. A fingerprint sensor is included along with a Type-C USB port. Android 5.1.1 is pre-installed.

Also expected at the same time is the new Xiaomi Mi Note 2. This would carry the same exact specs as the Mi 5, except for a larger 5.7-inch display, a 1440 x 2560 QHD resolution, and a better rear-facing camera.