Xiaomi Mi 5s will have a pressure-sensitive display and ultrasonic fingerprint sensor

Xiaomi is already preparing to release an updated Mi 5 flagship in the second half of the year called the Mi 5s. It will remain relatively true to its predecessor in terms of design and form factor but add some funky new features and updated specs. Two of the most eye-catching new features are a pressure-sensitive display and an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner from Qualcomm.

Did you know?: Xiaomi is working on its own Note Edge

There has been a lot of interest in – and justifiable rejections of – the relevance of using 3D Touch, Force Touch (or whatever you want to call it) for smartphones. Long-press and gesture-based actions have long provided similar functionality on Android, so the “newness” of pressure-sensitive displays have perhaps justifiably been characterized as an unnecessary gimmick.

On the other hand, Qualcomm’s Sense ID ultrasonic fingerprint sensor tech has been around for a while – getting announced back at MWC 2015 in Barcelona. But it didn’t appear in a smartphone until the unveiling of the LeTV (now LeEco) Le Max Pro back in January 2016.

Since then we’ve seen several other Snapdragon 820-equipped smartphones – the HTC 10, LG G5, Xperia X Performance, Moto Z, ZTE Axon 7 and so on – but none of them have used Qualcomm’s Sense ID scanner. According to the Weibo source of this story, the Xiaomi Mi 5s specs will again use a 5.15-inch Full HD display.

Xiaomi will apparently equip the Mi 5s with 6 GB of RAM and a dual-camera array on the back. But considering these specs – combined with an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, top of the line SoC and pressure-sensitive display – it seems odd that the display resolution wouldn’t be bumped to QHD.

Either way, the Xiaomi Mi 5s will continue to break cover in the lead up to its official announcement, so we won’t have to wait too long to see more specs leak. Based on what you’ve heard so far though, would you be interested in picking up a Mi 5s? Do you think pressure-sensitive displays are the next big thing or unnecessary?