Xiaomi Mi 5 front panel photos, specs emerge ahead of Jan. 21 release date

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun recently said the upcoming flagship Mi 5 will be worth the long wait. Following this, a slew of purported images surfaced showing the exterior of the device. Now, a bunch of photos of the front panel of the Mi 5 from China have popped up.

The leaked images of the Xiaomi Mi 5 show a physical “Home” button in the form of a cut-out. This button is believed to house a fingerprint scanner. Apart from the new button, the capacitive keys are also part of the front panel.

Speaking of design, the edges of the handset are well-rounded and the innards of the front panel show a slew of connectors. The device is expected to flaunt a full-metal construction. From the umpteenth leaked images collated thus far, it’s easy to note the upcoming device will look sleek and refined. Freshly leaked Xiaomi Mi 5 photos can be seen at Gizmo China.

As far as the Xiaomi Mi 5 specs go, the handset will reportedly feature either a 5.0-inch or 5.2-inch display, bundled with 1080p screen resolution. Under the hood, Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 820 SoC will power the device and this configuration will be backed by a killer 4 GB of RAM.

When it comes to camera specifications, a cool 16 MP rear-facing sensor along with a generous 8 MP selfie snapper has been tipped. Similar to many high-end devices, the Mi 5 will apparently flaunt a USB Type-C port.

On the software front, the flagship is believed to run Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS, straight out of the box, along with Xiaomi's new version of the custom MIUI. The Chinese tech giant will apparently release the handset in three colours: silver, gold and rose gold. Lastly, the Xiaomi Mi 5 release date has reportedly been set for Jan. 21, 2016.

Contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au or let us know what you think below.