Xiaomi Mi5 Specs Rumors Include Fingerprint Scanner After Company Files Patent

Xiaomi Inc.’s next edition of its Mi series mid-to-high-end phones could include an embedded fingerprint scanner, according to media reports in China that cite a patent filing by the country’s largest smartphone maker for the technology.

Such a smartphone, which the reports say is Mi5, the successor to the Mi4, would put Xiaomi in the league of Apple Inc., with its iPhone 6, and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., with the Galaxy S6, both of which have fingerprint sensors.

GizmoChina, reported the news in two separate posts, attributing the technology patent to the website of China’s state intellectual property office and other specifications of the phone to a Chinese blogger, without naming the person. Screenshots used by GizmoChina in both reports show the news appeared first on local tech news site mydrivers.com.

Details in the patent application suggest that Xiaomi might have the technology to include the scanner in a home button and cover it with a protective glass layer not dissimilar to Apple’s use of Sapphire glass in the iPhone 6.

The Xiaomi Mi5 will likely have a 5.2-inch screen, a Snapdragon 810 chip, 4GB RAM, 16MP camera with optical image stabilization, and a battery with “at least” 3000mAh capacity, according to the report.

Rumors of the Mi5 had ratcheted up around December, with reports of a launch in the CES in January, but instead, Xiaomi launched a new flagship called the Mi Note, with a larger screen.