Xiaomi Mi 5s Network Support

[drej]

Hello!

So I was all set to buy the Xiaomi Mi 5s - great processor and camera for the price.  Then I thought, maybe check the network bands/frequencies for my home area of Montreal.  

From what I can tell I would only be able to get 3G on it, not 4G/LTE.  Can an expert confirm?  🙂 Below are the phone's details.  It doesn't have the recommended B4 (1700/2100) band, but it does have B7 (2600) which is apparently used in some areas...how could I find out if it's used in Montreal?

Xiaomi Mi 5s Bands (Frequencies)

3G bands	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
	CDMA2000 1xEV-DO
4G bands	LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500)

Public Mobile Bands (Frequencies)

4G LTE Bands in Use:

BAND 4 (AWS-1) -- Nationwide, This is their PRIMARY LTE Band across Canada
BAND 5 (CLR) -- They have begun using this band for LTE in BC/AB and Maybe QC
BAND 2 (PCS) -- They have also started using this band for LTE across Canada
BAND 12/17 (MBS) -- This has also been deployed Nationwide, mainly in Manitoba at the moment

Phone Info

http://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi_5s-7260.php

About CAN $450 here:

http://nis-store.com/xiaomi-smartphones/xiaomi-mi-5s-3gb64gb-dual-sim-silver/

Suggestions for other phones are welcome.  My main feature is I want a really good camera with good low light pictures.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Andrej

[Swordth]

Redmi Note 3 Pro has an international edition that supports band 4. It's still a great price for great hardware, and has a great battery. 

[echf]

Just a reminder, it is a common misconception that is you can bring your waterproof phone to shower. As you might remember from high school, gas and liquid are two different state of matter!

Water vapor DOES NOT equals water, therefore even your IP67 phone are not designed to 100% prevent water vapor gas get into your phone. So you shouldn't text while you are showing! LOL

[SD08]

---

@drej wrote:

Soo, ever try dunk it in some water? 🙂

---

The S7's IP68 rating means that it's water resistant at depths of up to 1.5m for up to 30 mins.  Note that the rating was developed under laboratory conditions.  Variables like water pressure at point of contact can make a difference, e.g. directing a water hose at the speaker holes would not be a good idea.  Rather than intentionally dunking it or using it underwater, I believe the waterproofing was meant to protect against accidental contact or immersion such as dropping it into a sink or spilling coffee on it.  Basically, for me, it simply provides peace of mind protection that an accident won't brick my phone.  I would not intentionally push it beyond that.  YMMV.

Here's a blog post explaining the IP67 & IP68 water ratings:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/what-is-ip68-ip-ratings-explained

[srlawren]

@drej in theory it should be fine, but do so at your own risk!  🙂  I don't own an S7 so can't personally vouch for it but it's speced for water resistance.  That's about the only thing I wish my OnePlus 3 had that it doesn't, is water resistance.  That, and the 5.1" screen size from your S7!

[drej]

@srlawren so far so good with the S7!  Getting it on Kijiji worked out for me but I did a lot of researching about how to spot a fake S7.  The main thing was to run something like Antutu benchmark to make sure the phone is getting a score similar to the published one and then sticking in my own SIM card to make sure I can make calls, get text and LTE data.

As for all the extra Samsung software that comes on it, yeah, I'm not going to sign up for the Samsung ID, just another service to get some juicy information from us 😉  But like any new phone, just moving stuff around so the screens have my primary needs a quick touch away, like my butler service (I wish!).

Soo, ever try dunk it in some water? 🙂

Cheers,

drej

[srlawren]

@drej the S7 really is a nice phone, it's pretty much the perfect size for my smallish hands and it's packed with features and has good battery life and performance.  It's about the best of the "smaller" Android phones you can get today, even so long after it's introduction!  There are only two drawbacks that I can see--the first being Samsung's flavour of Android and all the apps that come along with it.  Some people are fine with this and even like it, though I don't fall into this camp.  The other drawback being the pricing (excluding any contractual discounts you might get at other carriers), but buying second hand probably helps with that a lot.  Enjoy your new phone!

[drej]

@echf Thanks for the info!  I did look into those, but their dimenions are larger than what I wanted.  In the end I got a Samsung Galaxy S7 off Kijiji and happy so far.  Now I have to not be a dufus and drop it before my case arrives 😛  I'm super paranoid because right after I finished buying my new phone I dropped my old phone and cracked up the screen pretty badly!  /facepalm

[echf]

I personal think Mi Note 2 & Mi MIX are the best Xiaomi phones to date. The design is so elegant!

Plus Note 2 Global edition will support all PM frequency.

Mi Note 2 Global edition band:
FDD-LTE: B1 / B2 / B3 / B4 / B5 / B7 / B8 / B12 / B13
/ B17 / B18 / B19 / B20 / B25 / B26 / B28 / B29 / B30
TDD-LTE: B38 / B39 / B40 / B41
TD-SCDMA: B34 / B39
WCDMA: B1 / B2 / B4 / B5 / B8
GSM: B2 / B3 / B5 / B8
CDMA: BC0 / B1 / B10 / B15

And of course, there are a lot of good alternatives other than Xiaomi. 

[domenicocortez]

its not official, its too soon, we have to wait until 19...

[drej]

---

@domenicocortez wrote:

Me too, it's hard to resist, mi5s seems a really good choice, after redmi note 3 pro and redmi 3s (full band + lte), i must wait for a new xiaomi phone, 5'5 inch, maybe redmi note 4x with band 4 lte...

---

From what I've seen the Redmi Note 4X doesn't have Band 4, so outta luck on that one too 😕

http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_606834.html?wid=21

Network:
2G: GSM B2/3/5/8 CDMA 2000: BC0
3G: WCDMA B1/B2/B5/B8 TD-SCDMA B34/B39
4G: FDD-LTE B1/B3/B5/B7/B8 TD-LTE B38/B39/B40/B41

[domenicocortez]

Me too, it's hard to resist, mi5s seems a really good choice, after redmi note 3 pro and redmi 3s (full band + lte), i must wait for a new xiaomi phone, 5'5 inch, maybe redmi note 4x with band 4 lte...

[drej]

Thanks for the info!  I was looking at the ASUS Zenfone 3 and it looks pretty decent.  The other phone I was considering was the OnePlus 3T which is at $600.  Much better phone overall than the Zenfone, but $170 more...ah decisions 😉

The other option is getting a used Samsung Galaxy S7 on Kijiji, but you have to watch out for fake versions!

BTW, for anyone who wants to compare camera captures apples to apples, gsmarena has a nice picture compare tool. They take the same image with all their phones and you can select up to 3 phones to compare.  You can pan all 3 picture comparisons at once.  Here is an example of comparing the Zenfone 3 with Galaxy S7:

http://www.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=5&idPhone1=8106&idPhone2=7821

[domenicocortez]

If you really want to have LTE and a good photophone (because 3G speed is ok for me), go for zenfone 3 (429$) or honor 8 (520$), unlocked and full band on newegg, maybe the best you can have under 600$ for decent camera

[SD08]

---

@will13am wrote:

The Steve Nikkel site is really good.  There used to be another site that I used for cell sites, I think it was called cell mapper.  That site gave tower direction as well which is quite important.  If you are near a particular tower but if it is pointed unfavorably, you will never connect to it. 

---

Found it:

https://www.cellmapper.net/map

This one has a lot more filters.

[will13am]

---

@SDO8 wrote:

You could try this site for more compatibility info:

http://willmyphonework.net/

Or

http://forum.telus.com/t5/Mobility/Will-my-phone-work-on-the-TELUS-network/ta-p/53882

(PM uses Telus network)

Edit to add:

Additionally, you can check the cell towers in your area on this map:

https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html

Bell and Telus share infrastructure, so PM has access to any of their towers.  Click on any blue or green tower and it will show you the bands supported by that tower.

---

The Steve Nikkel site is really good.  There used to be another site that I used for cell sites, I think it was called cell mapper.  That site gave tower direction as well which is quite important.  If you are near a particular tower but if it is pointed unfavorably, you will never connect to it. 

[drej]

I checked out the newegg.ca site and they have them for $720, but it's the international version with no US warranty, which I infer to mean no Canadian warranty either.

Too bad I missed the Costco deal. $600 is about the max of my budget and would have picked it up at that price!

Cheers,
Andrej

[SD08]

---

@drej wrote:

Suggestions for other phones are welcome.  My main feature is I want a really good camera with good low light pictures.

---

Don't know about other phones, but I've a Galaxy S7 and they do indeed take good low light pics.  Prices for new S7s are dropping with the upcoming release of S8.  Just to give you an idea:  Newegg.ca has them for as low as $720 new, with free shipping.  I saw one at a cell shop in Toronto 2 months ago for as low as $650 new.  Costco had a boxing week special on it for $600.

[drej]

Also found this site which provides a map with coverage maps of the different providers and you can individually select 2G/3G/4G-LTE.

http://maps.mobileworldlive.com/

[drej]

 @SD08, @will13am 

Those are good resources.  For http://willmyphonework.net/ it says:

    4G LTE Network: Device is compatible with some of the network carriers frequencies. It may work.

And this is because of the phones B7 (2600) frequency which has limited coverage by Bell/Telus.

Checking https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html for the Montreal area looks like I'm out of luck.  The Bell & Telus frequences are 700MHz, 850MHz, 1900MHz, 2100MHz so I'd be limited to 3G

Man, that sucks. Gotta talk to the CEO of Xiaomi to update the hardware to better market to North America 🙂  Well after all that I might just go for the OnePlus 3T or get a used Samsung Galaxy S7 as both have very good cameras.

Thanks for the info!

[will13am]

From what I can tell, band 7 has limited application in the GTA.  A friend has a Xiaomi Note 3 Pro (same band support as the Mi 5s) and he has virtually no LTE support out here.  Likely the situation is similar in the Montreal area.  To keep expectations in check, I would make any decisions on using a phone not designed specifically for the North American market on the assumption of no LTE capability.  Lack of LTE support is one of the road blocks to widespread adoption of these well featured and well priced devices in North America. 

[SD08 · Accepted solution]

You could try this site for more compatibility info:

http://willmyphonework.net/

Or

http://forum.telus.com/t5/Mobility/Will-my-phone-work-on-the-TELUS-network/ta-p/53882

(PM uses Telus network)

Edit to add:

Additionally, you can check the cell towers in your area on this map:

https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html

Bell and Telus share infrastructure, so PM has access to any of their towers.  Click on any blue or green tower and it will show you the bands supported by that tower.