An alleged render of the Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone has been leaked online. The leaked image shows us the front side of Xiaomi’s upcoming flagship, which reveals a physical home button sitting right below the display of the phone, if the render is indeed accurate.

Having a physical home button is of significance, especially since it would make the Mi 5 the first Xiaomi device to move away from the standard 3 capacitive buttons arrangement. We do agree that having a physical home button nicely aligns with rumours of the Mi 5 carrying a fingerprint scanner, which in this case can be easily integrated into the home button itself.

According to reputed Chinese analyst Pan Jiutang, the Mi 5 will not make use of Qualcomm’s new UltraSonic Fingerprint Scanner technology, which the analyst says isn’t ready for action yet. Thus, we can expect a traditional fingerprint scanner, just like the ones in latest the Apple iPhones, Samsung Galaxy handsets, etc.

Late in November, we published a story talking about the expected release date of the Xiaomi Mi 5. According to Jiutang, the Mi 5 will be unveiled to the world in January 2016. The Chinese phone maker is said to be stocking up on Mi 5 handsets, expecting a huge demand for the handset after its release in February next year.

The Mi 5 is rumoured to run on MIUI v7, powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 chipset and paired with a Quad HD display, 4GB RAM, a 16MP rear camera, and 3000mAh battery. There’s also a rumour that the Mi 5 will come with a Force Touch equipped screen. Nothing can be confirmed as of yet.