The much-rumored Mi 5c is expected to be the first Xiaomi device to run on a Pinecone chipset.
Back in 2014, Xiaomi partnered with Leadcore, eventually forming Beijing Songguo Electronics, of which Xiaomi owns 51 percent and the rest 49 percent is owned by Leadcore. Also, if you can recall Xiaomi Redmi 2A was powered by a Leadcore chipset. However, that’s all we heard of the partnership till now. Xiaomi and Leadcore collaboration is reportedly bearing a fruit called Pinecone.
Pinecone is the name of Xiaomi’s first in-house chipset. Although this isn’t really the first time we are hearing about Pinecone, but what’s made the news is that Pinecone has recently been spotted on Chinese social media platform Weibo, with its own official page. The logo on the Pinecone, is not so surprisingly, a pinecone, and that’s basically all that is comprehensible from the page, right now.
A report in Anzhuo states that initially, Pinecone will be rolled out in two models — Pinecone 1 and Pinecone 2. Now, according to rumors, the Pinecone 1 chipset will feature an octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU, while the Pinecone 2 chipset will be a bit more powerful with four A73 cores and four A53 cores. The report mentions nothing about the accompanying graphics processor, however it does mention that the chip will be made on 10nm process.
Also, the much-rumored Xiaomi Mi 5c will reportedly be the first device to feature the Pinecone chipset. In line with the rumors of the device being launched sometime this month, the sudden appearance of the Pinecone Weibo page, hints that may actually be true. ALSO READ: Xiaomi Mi 5c with in-house Pinecone chipset leaks again
The Xiaomi Mi 5c is expected to launch ahead of the upcoming Mi 6 flagship smartphone, which is speculated to arrive around March or April. As mentioned, the device is tipped to launch with Xiaomi’s own Pinecone processor, which was once spotted on AnTuTu benchmarking website showing similar score to the Snapdragon 625. Rumors have also hinted the Mi 5c with 3GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Also, the device will run on MIUI 8 based on Android Marshmallow.
Recent leaks revealed the expected pricing of the Mi 5c which is RMB 999 (Rs 9,900 approximately). The pricing fits the rumor of the Mi 5c being an entry-level smartphone. This however contradicts previous rumors about the Mi 5c’s price of RMB 1,499 which roughly translates to Rs 14,800 approximately. There has been a change on the launch date of the Mi 5c as well. ALSO READ: Xiaomi Mi 5c leak reveals Snapdragon 625 SoC onboard, premium design: Specifications and features
Few months ago, there was another Mi 5C leak, which showed the front and back of the smartphone and the “About Phone” section. The alleged Mi 5c was seen sporting a black color with what is assumed to be a 2.5D glass display. The rear camera lens of the Mi 5c was located on the top left corner of the smartphone with the Mi logo below.