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Xiaomi Mi5 Camera Review, Photo Samples and Video

As we know the latest flagship from Xiaomi, the Mi 5 has entered the Indian market and there have been a lot of talks in the town about it. One of the major selling points of the Mi 5 is its camera as claimed by the company. Hugo Barra had leaked some test images from the camera of Mi 5 ahead of the launch, which created a lot of buzz about its camera.

Xiaomi Mi5 (2)

We have been using the Mi 5 soon after its launch and we have tested every aspect of its camera as well. In this camera review, we’ll be confirming if Mi 5 really has what we anticipated from its cameras or not.

Xiaomi Mi 5 Coverage

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Xiaomi Mi 5 FAQ,Pros, Cons, User Queries And Answers

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Xiaomi Mi 5 Camera Hardware

Xiaomi Mi5 (4)

The Xiaomi Mi 5 packs a 16-megapixel primary camera, along with a 4-megapixel secondary camera. The primary camera has a lot of amazing features like PDAF, OIS and DIS, Deep Trenching Isolation technology. The sensor Xiaomi used is the new Sony IMX 298 sensor and its new DTI Pixel to Pixel insulation allows a sharp isolation between different colours.

It also has a special 4 axis OIS which results in eliminating accidental shakes and blurs even better.

Camera Hardware Table

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Both the primary and the secondary camera come equipped with an f/2.0 aperture, which is decent for mobile phone photography. The primary camera is capable of recording a 4K video at a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels. The secondary camera, on the other hand, can record 1920 x 1080 pixels, full-HD video.

Xiaomi Mi 5 Camera Software

The camera software on the Mi 5 is something that impressed me. It pretty neat and easy to use but 25% of the viewfinder is covered by the shutter button and other toggles which leaves less space for you to have a view on the object. If you’ll hold the phone in landscape mode, the shutter button will be on your right thumb with the video recorder toggle and gallery shortcut. You can swipe right to reach different mode options and settings, swipe on your left to open different filters and you can swipe down or up to switch between front and rear camera.

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Camera Modes

There are many camera modes in-built in the app, which include Slow Motion, Audio focus, Time-lapse for video and Panorama, Manual, Beautify, HHT, Tilt-shift, Fish eye and more for still photos.

HDR Sample

Mi 5 cam sampleHDR

Fish Eye Sample

Mi 5 cam sample (11)

Panorama Sample

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Xiaomi Mi 5 Camera Samples

We shot many photos in different scenarios where the Mi 5 managed to impress us most of the time. You can find the samples below and find out how the camera performs.

Front Camera Samples

Front camera on Mi 5 is an impressive performer in terms of colours and details. The front camera produces nice punchy colours, natural and clear details and it is very fast. We have seen a similar kind of camera in the HTC One A9 and it can be considered good for selfies and video calling.

Rear Camera Samples

The rear camera of the device is a 16-megapixel shooter, with an aperture of f/2.0. Here, we tested the phone in various lighting conditions to get a good idea about the camera. We divided the shots that we took into artificial lighting, natural lighting and low lighting conditions.

Artificial Light

In artificial lighting, it managed to capture good colours and proper details in well-lit areas but the autofocus was had to struggle a bit in the dim areas. The camera module is good for the price; it will not disappoint the photography enthusiasts. Still we cannot say that it is the best camera that we have seen under 30K price segment.

Natural Light

In natural lighting condition, the camera performs great. Capturing great shots in natural lighting was easy; the automatic mode does a great job in and captures rich details. Colour production is very close to natural and the image processing speed is very quick.

Low Light

In low lighting condition, the camera performs decent. We were able to capture the object in almost dead lighting and the sensors do a fair job in capturing light even in darker conditions. The low light performance is about average considering the price and competition.

Xiaomi Mi 5 Camera Verdict

No doubt the camera on Mi 5 is a charmer in most of the cases. Looking at the overall offering and the price, both the cameras on this phone do their part pretty decently. The pictures in natural light and good lighting conditions look stunning and the front camera is also worth the admiration. It is a good camera overall, but not as good as we expected it to be after looking at the claims made by the company.

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Abhishek Bhatnagar

Abhishek Bhatnagar, a known technology blogger & YouTuber from India. A Software Engineer by qualification, now he works as the editor-In-Chief, Webmaster, & Managing Director at Gadgets To Use. He runs a number of other technology websites as well.