[Update 8:50PM, 16/6/2016]: Xiaomi Malaysia has just announced that due to unforeseen circumstances, the Mi 5 will only be available in stores from the 25th of June instead of the 18th of June as reported earlier. The company would also like to remind customers that official Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphones are distributed only by Thorus. To help consumers find the Mi 5, Xiaomi Malaysia has listed a full list of retail stores that are selling the device here.
After an exceptionally quick period of teasing that lasted less than 24 hours, Xiaomi Malaysia has officially announced that its flagship smartphone will finally be available for sale in the country.
Of the three Mi 5 variants, Xiaomi will be bringing in the lower-end variant of the Mi 5 to Malaysia. It’s still powerful, with a Snapdragon 820 chipset and all the bells and whistles that the two higher-end models have, but there’s 32GB of internal storage paired with 3GB of RAM. There is no microSD card slot.
Nonetheless, this is the first Snapdragon 820-powered smartphones to be launched in Malaysia. The Mi 5 also features an interesting rear camera: a 16MP Sony IMX 298 sensor paired with PDAF and a new, four-axis OIS module. On the front, the Mi 5 sports a 4MP 2 micron camera.
This compact, 5.15-inch smartphone will retail for RM1,549 from 18 June 2016 via Xiaomi’s local distributor, Thorus. For now, only the White 32GB variant will be available. It is worth noting that this is the same price that Xiaomi sold the 64GB Mi Note last year.
What’s even more interesting is that these initial units will be sold in stores by Thorus, meaning that they will be available in physical retail stores. It is not currently known if Xiaomi will also be selling it at mi.com.
Check out our first impressions from the global launch at MWC 2016 to find out more about Xiaomi’s impressive flagship.
