Xiaomi Mi 5c Launched: The First Smartphone To Use Surge S1 SoC

Xiaomi Mi 5c has been unveiled at MWC 2017 and while other companies are bagging the opportunity to launch some noteworthy smartphones, the Chinese Manufacturer has taken its brand to new height by launching Xiaomi Mi 5c with home-made Surge S1 SoC.

Xiaomi is now the fourth smartphone manufacturers to come up with its own processor after Apple’s A series, Samsung’s Exynos and Huawei’s Kirin, and Surge S1, like its counterparts, is based on the ARM design. Its smaller size, reduced complexity coupled with lower power consumption makes the processor suitable for performance oriented devices.
Xiaomi’s Surge S1 is an octa-core SoC that features four ARM A53 cores clocked at 2.2GHz and four other slower A53 cores clocked at 1.4GHz. The processor is backed by a Mali-T860 GPU along with a 32-bit digital signal processor for higher quality audio and video calls. That’s not it. Surge S1 also offers dual 14-bit image signal processor (ISP) for improved camera capabilities and noise reduction in images as well videos.

Coming back to Xiaomi Mi 5c, the budget smartphone is a stripped down version of Mi 5 and was highly anticipated after the latter’s success in the Rs 20000+ segment.

Specifications

Xiaomi Mi 5c will feature a 5.15-inch full-HD (1080×1920 pixels) with a curved glass display with 428 ppi, 3GB RAM, 64GB of internal storage and dual-SIM support. Xiaomi Mi 5c will sport a 12MP rear camera with large 1.25-micron pixels, an f/2.2 aperture coupled with LED flash. However, due to the slower aperture, pixel quality and stabilization might be not that good as seen in smartphones with f/2.5 or f/2.8 aperture, but Xiaomi has claimed that they have tweaked the camera and no compromise has been made after the introduction Surge S1, which also supports 4k video recording.

At the front, there is an 8MP camera with a nice f/2.0 aperture, and 27mm wide-angle lens. The fingerprint sensor has also been shifted to the front. The smartphone runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow coupled with MIUI 8, which the company is claiming to be upgradable 7.0 Nougat.

Thanks to the new home-made processor, the 2860mAh battery is actually more capable than it looks on paper and other features include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac dual-band, GPS, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 4.1, a 3.5mm audio jack, FM radio and 9V/2A fast charging.

Xiaomi Mi 5c will be available in Gold, Rose Gold and Black coloured variants in China from 3rd March with a price tag of 1,499 Yuan Rs 15,000 approx).

Xiaomi has been a segment leader in India but when it comes to the Chinese market, the company is facing stiff competition from manufacturers like Oppo, Vivo and Huawei, and since Surge S1 SoC will provide greater control over the hardware and build-in customizations into their smartphones, their profit share may see an India-like rise in its home country.

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