Xiaomi launches its first 5G ready smartphone Mi Mix 3 5G with Snapdragon 855 SoC at MWC 2019

Xiaomi unveiled its first 5G ready smartphone at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019 in Barcelona, Spain on Sunday, February. The device will go on sale from May this year. The phone comes at a very affordable price of just £520.

As the name suggests, the Mi Mix 3 5G is the successor to the existing Mi Mix 3, which adds the 5G technology and Snapdragon 855 SoC processor coupled with Snapdragon X50 modem. 

According to Xiaomi, it has been working on 5G solutions since May 2016, and had established a team for research. It had also developed a strategic 5G partnerships with service providers like 3, Sunrise, TIM, Vodafone and others. 

Specifications and features:

Xiaomi claims that it has developed a "highly advanced" hybrid cooling system for Mi Mix 3 5G. This would support applications that require high levels of device performance during extended time periods of use like multiplayer gaming and live-streaming. 

For this, there is a thermal material provided in the device that quickly captures the heat generated inside it under demanding scenarios and delays temperature increase. A passive heat pipe composed of six layers of graphite then disperses heat at a speed three times faster than a "typical dual graphic sheet". 

The camera department in the 5G model includes the same 12MP dual AI camera from Mi Mix 3. The front portion has a pop-up selfie camera setup of 24MP+2MP. It also has the same magnetic slider as that in Mi Mix 3, which can be customized to perform different functions like answering a call or starting the camera app. 

The magnetic slider feature allows the notch-less screen to have very thin bezels resulting in a high screen-to-body ratio. The screen features a 6.39 inches FHD+ (1080x2340 pixels) AMOLED display from Samsung having an aspect ratio of 19.5:9.

Price and availability:

"5G is here right now in 2019. 2019 is the year of 5G", proclaimed by Xiaomi on MWC stage. "This transition will be faster than the 4G transition. We have a mature smartphone user base and educated users. So we expect to see a much faster transition. Xiaomi is very well positioned to capitalize on this opportunity."

The Mi Mix 3 5G will be made available from May this year. It has a starting price of £520 (€599) and will come in two colour options of Onyx black and sapphire blue.