Xiaomi Mi 5 With Physical Home Button Arriving by January? [Specs, Features & Rumors]

The much-awaited powerhouse smartphone known as the Xiaomi Mi 5 should have been out by now but no thanks to underlying factors, its debut may likely be pushed to January 2016 at the earliest.

Back in September, Electronics Industry analyst Pan Jiutan mentioned that the main reason for the delay of the Xiaomi Mi 5 was largely dependent on the release of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset, as per reports from Tech Grapple.

Recent leaks have come up, and if the images are authentic, folks who are eager to get their hands on the powerful handset could be in for something different aesthetically.

The snapshot from Weibo shows the front of the alleged Xiaomi Mi 5 with a physical button in the middle.

This could indicate that the usual capacitive touch screen buttons may be a thing of the past and that the button is somehow aligned with rumors stating that the said device will have a fingerprint scanner among its features, as pointed out by Android Authority.

Now do take note that while there is talk about the inclusion of a fingerprint scanner, it may not follow that this will be the new UltraSonic Fingerprint Scanner technology from Qualcomm.

The Qualcomm Sense ID was on hand at the last Mobile World Congress, something that could generate highly detailed 3D fingerprint maps with recognized patterns of sweat glands and ridges, as explained by NDTV. However, seeing that Sense ID is still in its infancy stage, reliability comes into question, hence the possible reason why it was passed up for now.

Instead, it may just be the traditional fingerprint scanner that is used on iPhones and Samsung Galaxy devices. Either way, the added security feature will surely come in handy.

As for the other features, the Xiaomi Mi 5 is rumored to be coming out with specs that include a 5.3-inch QHD (1440x2560) pixel resolution display, 4 GB of RAM, 16 GB or 64 GB of internal storage, a 16 MP main camera and a 3030 mAh battery.

If all goes according to plan, there is a strong possibility that the Xiaomi Mi 5 may finally come out next month (January 2016) and probably be made available in the market in February.

Like its predecessors, it is believed that the long-overdue Xiaomi Mi 5 will also encounter high demand from the consumer market. With the company already starting to stock up on units, hopefully, these will be enough to accommodate all buyers come February, 2016.