New reports claim the Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Inc. is now preparing to unveil its Xiaomi Mi 5 handset this coming July 16. Slash Gear reports that a new image has been posted by the Chinese company on its official Weibo page, and appears to show a July 16 launch event.

This date apparently coincides with the launch of the Xiaomi Mi 5's predecessor, the Xiaomi Mi 4, in August last year.

The image doesn't show much except for the letters "P" and "K" in the middle of a dark background with the date and Xiaomi Mi logo below. The image also shows what appears to be a thin body of a new device in the center along the vertical line of the letter K, but it's unclear whether this is truly Xiaomi's Mi 5.

Recently before, images along with specifications of the Xiaomi Mi 5 handset and the Xiaomi Mi 5 Plus variant have been leaked via the same website.

The Xiaomi Mi 5 is expected to sport a 5.2 inch Quad HD LCD display screen with a 1440 x 2560 pixel resolution and protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4. It is expected to come with a sharp 16 mega pixel camera on the back and a 6 mega pixel camera on the front.

Under the hood, it is expected to pack a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, a 4 GB RAM and up to 64 GB internal memory. It will run on the new Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system and will be powered by a large 3000 mAh battery.

On the other hand, the Xiaomi Mi 5 Plus variant is expected to come with a larger 5.7 Quad HD display screen, a whopping 3500 mAh battery, a more powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and either a 3 or 4 GB RAM. Earlier rumors suggested the Xiaomi Mi 5 Plus will come with a 23 mega pixel rear camera and a 12 mega pixel camera on the front.