Xiaomi Mi 5X review: Popularity contest

Benchmark tests

The Snapdragon 625 chipset powers yet another Xiaomi - this time it's the Mi 5X, also available as the Mi A1. This particular piece of silicon is somewhat a favorite for the midrange class because of its power-efficiency and balanced performance. The S625 offers an octa-core Cortex-A53 processor clocked at 2.0GHz and Adreno 506 GPU. There are 4 gigs of RAM, more than enough for the class.

We always start with Geekbench and the Mi 5X processor did great, beaten only by the A72 core inside the Helio X20 chip.

GeekBench 4 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
  1546
• Xiaomi Mi 5X
  846
• Lenovo P2
  840
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  832
• Sony Xperia XA1
  800
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  799
• Moto G5 Plus
  799
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  799
• Oppo F3
  737
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  693
• LG Q6
  508

The multi-core performance is great for the midrange class and the Mi 5X will hardly disappoint anybody.

GeekBench 4 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
  4456
• Xiaomi Mi 5X
  4106
• Moto G5 Plus
  3789
• Sony Xperia XA1
  3554
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  3388
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  3011
• Lenovo P2
  2965
• Oppo F3
  2685
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  2353
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  2353
• LG Q6
  1898

Moving on to graphics - the Mi 5X's Adreno 506 GPU is perfectly capable of handling every Full HD move or intensive 3D game. The Adreno 510 of the Snapdragon 650 series was somewhat dropped by the makers, as the whole chip lineup in fact, so while we would have liked it better, the 506 will serve you fine as well.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia XA1
  15
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
  9.4
• Xiaomi Mi Max
  9.4
• Lenovo P2
  6.7
• Moto G5 Plus
  6.4
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  6.4
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  6.4
• Xiaomi Mi 5X
  6.3
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  6.2
• Oppo F3
  4.5
• LG Q6
  3.5
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  3.3

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia XA1
  7.9
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
  5.4
• Xiaomi Mi Max
  5.4
• Lenovo P2
  3.7
• Moto G5 Plus
  3.5
• Xiaomi Mi 5X
  3.5
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  3.5
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  3.5
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  3.4
• Oppo F3
  2.4
• LG Q6
  1.9
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  1.9

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi Max
  15487
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
  13666
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  10482
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  10482
• Lenovo P2
  10472
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  10446
• Moto G5 Plus
  10406
• Xiaomi Mi 5X
  10403
• Sony Xperia XA1
  9714
• LG Q6
  6179
• Oppo F3
  6148
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  5489

Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
  287
• Xiaomi Mi Max
  238
• Sony Xperia XA1
  191
• Xiaomi Mi 5X
  138
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  138
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  138
• Moto G5 Plus
  137
• Lenovo P2
  137
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  93
• LG Q6
  82

The compound tests AnTuTu and BaseMark confirm the Mi 5X is perfectly capable of handling any task thanks to its balanced hardware design and output performance.

AnTuTu 6

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
  85162
• Xiaomi Mi Max
  74488
• Xiaomi Mi 5X
  63548
• Lenovo P2
  63493
• Moto G5 Plus
  63390
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  61616
• Sony Xperia XA1
  60707
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  57902
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  57902
• Oppo F3
  53008
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  46822
• LG Q6
  37276

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
  1728
• Xiaomi Mi Max
  1362
• Sony Xperia XA1
  1351
• Xiaomi Mi 5X
  1246
• Lenovo P2
  1235
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  1107
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  1107
• Moto G5 Plus
  1089
• Oppo F3
  1085
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  1050
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  349
• LG Q6
  275

The Xiaomi Mi 5X is well equipped to handle Android and its apps, and while the Snapdragon 625 may not be the most powerful midrange chipset, it was chosen for a reason. The performance is balanced, the processor is lightweight on the battery thanks to the high-end 14nm manufacturing process, and everything runs very cool even under peak load. MIUI runs smooth and lag-free, and the games we tried were handled pretty well, too. That's enough by our book.