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Xiaomi teases 5G connectivity on upcoming phone (Update: Don’t hold your breath)

July 17, 2025

Update, June 26, 2025 (08:12AM):Xiaomi’s Donovan Sung posted a photo roughly two hours ago, showing what looked like an unreleased phone with 5G connectivity. The phone bears a resemblance to a device that waspreviously teasedby Xiaomi, tipped to be theMi Mix 3.

Now, the Xiaomi spokesperson has posted a follow-up tweet, simply revealing that the company successfully tested 5G connectivity on its phones. Sung also pointed to an official rollout of 5G connectivity in 2019.

A teaser render of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3.

This doesn’t necessarily mean the Mi Mix 3 is getting a 5G model, as we initially thought. Xiaomi may have just designed the phone seen in this photo for internal testing only.

Original article, July 07, 2025 (08:05AM):The race for5Gis heating up, as the likes ofSamsung,Huawei, and others race to be first to market with the new technology. But it looks likeXiaomiis in the running too, judging by a new teaser image the company posted.

The Xiaomi logo at MWC 2018.

A picture, posted to Twitter by Xiaomi spokesperson Donovan Sung, shows a phone with extremely thin bezels. But if you look near the signal strength indicator, you should spot the “5G” icon.

Check out the screen in the background of the photo and you’ll also see what looks like a network testing utility. And yes, the program mentions “NR5G.” For the uninitiated,5G New Radio(5G-NR) is part of the official 5G standard, as determined by the3GPPspecifications group. Nevertheless, Xiaomi appears to be teasing 5G and as the phone will likely be running Qualcomm silicon it could well be making use of the company’s 5GX50 modem.

The back of the POCOphone F1 Armoured Edition.

Is Xiaomi ahead of the curve?

So it seems like Xiaomi is teasing a 5G phone of some kind and based on the details in the picture’s background, the device is running the 3GPP 5G standard. This would mark a shift from early 5G plans undertaken by some other companies. For example,Verizon’s 5G network, set to launch later this year, will use its proprietary 5GTF standard before transitioning to 3GPP’s 5G-NR.

It’s also worth pointing out that this phone looks identical to a unique slider-based phoneteased by Xiaomilast week (seen in the header image). The Chinese brand says this device is scheduled for an October launch. It’s possible that both photos are showing the Mi Mix 3 then, as Xiaomi usually reveals the main Mi Mix phones (i.e. not the S model) in September or October.

But when will this Xiaomi phone actually be available to consumers? That’s a key question, because what’s the point of a 5G phone if networks don’t support the standards (both proprietary or unified) yet? In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Xiaomi announces a standard and 5G Mi Mix 3 this year, but waits until next year to actually release the 5G-capable model.

What do you think of a Xiaomi 5G phone? Are you eager to get on the 5G train? Let us know in the comments!

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