My Thoughts on Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus

I recently bought an Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus after looking for replacements for my previous phone, which was an iPhone 5s. I did a thread on it a few weeks earlier asking for any kind of suggestions and this phone was the one that stood out. See this thread.

Don't know if i'm breaking any rules, just wanted to do a little review for any potential buyers of this phone. Even though it's not a flagship phone anymore, and the fact it was introduced in late 2016, it has great specs that matches well with other mid range, if not flagship phones, of 2017-18.

So i'm just gonna break it down into different sub headings to show how good the phone is, including the shipping etc etc

Phone Specs:

So, this phone is a 5.7" IPS LCD touchscreen phone, equipped with:

• Snapdragon 821
• Dual SIM card capacity (not SD cards)
• Dual 13 MP camera at the back (one is a black and white camera while the other is just a normal one), while having a 4 MP front camera
• 3.5 mm headphone jack with active noise cancellation
• Bluetooth 4.2
• NFC enabled
• IR port
• Fingerprint sensor at the back
• Fast charging USB Type-C port
• non-removable 3800 mAh battery.
• Android 7.0 with a MIUI 9.1 skin on top of it (and rumoured to get Oreo soon, hopefully)
• 4/64 GB or 6/128 GB version

So overall, a great phone imo. Maybe not one of the best phones ever kind of thing, but it's a pretty good phone to use right now, especially now that most companies are ditching the headphone jack, removing IR functions and not giving us bootloader unlockable phones.

Buying and Shipping:

Of course, i got it from AliExpress. The thing with this phone is that it doesn't have a black colour version, and the closest it can come to that is the grey coloured version. I like pure black because it can match any kind of coloured case if you feel like changing the look, and also the fact that it's just a simple look.

I got the 6/128 GB version because i like more storage and RAM, but i think after buying it i didn't need that much. I realised i'm not going to play high end games or watch 4K quality movies, and just fine with watching HD movies and playing those simple games from time to time, which this phone does do well on. Anyway the price is $442 right now for that version so it was a bit costly, but not as costly as buying a Samsung Galaxy S7

Shipping was quick and easy to deal with, arrived within 2 weeks (arrived just after a week has passed tbh). AliExpress also offers a 1 year warranty too, and they also have buyer protection for about 22 days which ensures you can get a full refund if you don't get the phone in time. But sucks that they don't use PayPal though.

Link to the Phone i got

Packaging:

Packaging was very well done. Had a large case too. Instructions were in chinese, and i'm not chinese so i didn't bother to read them. It contained the phone, charger, 1 USB Type-C male to USB 3.0 (i think?) male cable, and an adapter for Australia plugpoints (i forgot to mention that i also got some headphones to with the deal, it's not a bad set of headphones but since it came with it i thought why not keep it?).

Now for the phone itself:

It's been a while since i used android. Last one i used was an Xiaomi Redmi Note 4x phone, and that was for my grandma. It's one of the reasons i considered buying an Xiaomi phone, because otherwise i would've went with the OnePlus 5T (which is probably the best android phone right now imo). This phone i only used sparingly because it wasn't a phone i owned or used daily.

Before that it was the Samsung Galaxy S3, which i also liked, but it slowed down for me. Most of these phones were handed down to me, so this new phone (the Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus phone) is pretty much the first phone i ever bought for myself.

Anyways, the goods:

The phone was big, and the screen was really nice. I guess that's basically the side effect of having an iPhone 5s for too long. The responsive times were, in my opinion, had almost no delays.

Setup was quick and easy, but i had a Mi Account (because i had bought a Mi Band 2 before so i had to make one) so chances are the time might slightly increase when you have to make a Mi Account. Just note that making a Mi Account might be tough because you don't get a confirmation email immediately if you use your email address to sign up. If that happens use the phone number, then change it back to using an email address after going through the settings.

MIUI was no different to touchwiz, and i didn't see a lot of bloatware in it for a phone that comes from China. I mean it had the usual Mi products, but even some of those were needed to use the functions on the phone (especially Mi Remote). I quickly installed apps with ease, since it's on Android.

Fingerprint sensor was fast and effective. Didn't even have to hold it for more than a second (i don't think it even took a second). It can detect when i'm using a wrong finger to unlock it too. I found a way in which my Mi Band 2 can also unlock the phone (and yeah, it's one of the options given on Mi Fit, which i didn't see on iPhone). So i can use either my fingerprint sensor or my Mi Band 2. Very effective when i'm eating or doing something with one hand.

Display screen is bright, but fragile. I expect people to immediately put a tempered screen protector on it as soon as they get it. I didn't want to use the stock screen protector sent alongside the phone i opted to use a better looking screen protector that fits the screen and doesn't make it seem out of place. I don't think this glass screen is Gorilla Glass certified, so i think i made the right choice to buy a separate protector.

Even though there is no band 28, i had no issues with call connectivity. But i have Vodafone and this phone supports Vodafone really well compared to other networks, so if you're in Telstra, Optus or any other carrier, you probably might get hit with connectivity issues because their 4G levels are partially supported on this phone. But for Vodafone users, they will encounter minor to no issues when dealing with connectivity.

I requested permission to unlock the bootloader through their website, which wasn't a hassle. Although i've yet to try rooting because i didn't get the time, but i don't think it'll be that hard, especially for a guy like me who hasn't got any experience in rooting.

Headphone jack, NFC and IR, three things i love are pretty much packed into the phone. With the way this mobile industry is going, i'm really disappointed with the manufacturers who ditch the jack just to follow a "Courageous" trend that Apple put on, just so they can be the cool dudes hanging with the cool adults or something like that. The IR remote is not the most effective IR (i think the one on Samsung Galaxy S4 or S5 were the best, they had really good range too), but it does the job. Now i can be even more lazy while turning my LG TV, Yamaha surround sound system with the A/V receiver and Panasonic A/C on. NFC works like a charm too, but i've had my share of being embarrassed because i thought that NFC worked on those woolworths self-checkout EFTPOS readers.

Notification LED light is nice too. It's a bit small, but just having it there makes me feel good about not missing out on an important email or even a message.

Finally, the battery in this is so good. Xiaomi phones have been doing very well in the battery department and the battery in this phone lasts so long i even forget when to charge, unlike my other phone iPhone 5s when i know it's not even good enough to last one day. Not the best battery lasting phone right now, but with 3800 mAh it's on the top end of battery lasting phones out there.

Now for the bad parts:

I gotta start with the camera. 12 MP dual cameras kind of disappoint me because the MIUI camera doesn't do enough justice to enforce the full power of those cameras. It's why i installed a google camera mod into it, which performs way better than the MIUI version. And really if this had a better camera it would be the best phone in 2018, but Xiaomi has yet to achieve those status yet with their other phones. 4 MP on the front also disgusts me, because that takes me back to 2013. I mean i didn't expect iPhone 7 plus or X kind of quality camera, but at least have a good camera i can take good pictures with.

Talking about the camera, the camera lens is also very fragile. I've cracked mine already and i have only been using it for a week or two. I had to order some replacements, hopefully they fix that issue but man it just breaks my heart to see them getting broken, especially me not even dropping it so hard, if at all (trust me, i'm very careful with phones, the only things that go as damage to my phones if dents here and there, not a screen or camera lens being damaged). I think it'll be a good idea to get some protectors for those lenses too.

I also wish the screen was Gorilla Glass based. At least i would know it had some kind of protection. But hey, it is a good screen. 1080p HD screens are not out of date, at least not for a while until 2K or even 4K becomes mainstream.

Conclusion:

Despite the camera issues, i really like this phone. Maybe it's because it's been a long time since i used an Android phone after being miserable with an iPhone 5s, or maybe that i'm just excited for a new phone. I might probably hate it after a year or so (i hope that's not the case, i don't want to spend for another phone for about 2 years). I think it's got everything i wanted (Android version 7, NFC, headphone jack, IR, a big screen, very responsive gesturing touchscreen, awesome fingerprint sensor, fast charging, and much more to come with rooting) at a pretty good price too. It's better than spending $1000 at a phone which will not be worth it long term and saves me money from buying apps which i use temporarily. I guess i'm finally with the cool Android dudes now (well, i'm still on the MIUI fad, but i'll be there, soon).

Other Accessories:

These are the other stuff which i bought to make the phone look better/protect it better. I found them useful, so if you have an Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus, or are hoping to get one, maybe consider these too:

• Tempered Glass screen protector from GearBest Link
• Outer Case from GearBest Link
• Camera Lens (back) protector from AliExpress Link
• Strong durable USB 3.0 to Type-C fast charging cable (red) from Banggood Link
• USB desktop Charger with 1 QC3.0 Qualcomm certified USB port Link

Helpful links:

• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus Specs from GSMArena Link
• To check if your future phone supports the network carrier you have through willmyphonework.net Link
• A helpful review from TechTablets.com on Youtube Link
• [EDIT} List of all the modded versions of Google Camera APKs from Reddit Link
  > Direct link to the site for the Modded Google Camera APKs with a detailed explanation Link

And as a little rating, i had this thing which i like to call my buyer's remorse, which is about 2/10, could potentially bump it up to 3/10 due to the camera (just wanna say, the lower the score, the better the phone is, hence my "Buyer's remorse").