Last year when Xiaomi launched the Mi Mix, it was dubbed a concept phone because
of its insane bezel-less screen. It was concept that has gone mainstream in
2017 with the likes of Samsung, Essential, LG and even Apple announcing phones
which are almost all screen. Xiaomi's phone last year was even bold in terms of
industrial design it had a ceramic back, something which Essential further
implemented in its device. A couple of weeks ago, one day before the launch of
the iPhone X,Xiaomi launched the Mi Mix 2 . It has graduated from being a
concept to a mainstream phone. The confluence of this gorgeous industrial
design and the latest power packed features found on modern Android phones make
it wondrous. Almost so wondrous that it can be dubbed a Wonder Woman hidden in
the shell of a smartphone shell.
The
Good
There's no doubt that the Mi Mix 2 is
quite the diva in the looks department. It is a gorgeous smartphone with its
stunning all screen fascia and ceramic back. It kind of reminds me of the
stunning Gal Gadot in DC Comic's Wonder Woman from earlier this year. At
5.99-inches of screen and a full HD+ resolution in the 18:9 aspect ratio, it
provides the quintessential immersion required of a modern flagship phone. This
kind of adds to the wonder of this phone. It has good viewing angles,
brightness levels are also very good and the screen is sharp enough.
Like Wonder Woman, this one is so utterly powerful. It has all the bells and whistles that one expects of a modern Android flagship. It has Qualcomm's latest flagship processor replete with 6GB RAM, 128GB storage and even dual SIM functionality supporting 43 bands around the world -- the most for a smartphone in the world.
Like Wonder Woman, this one is so utterly powerful. It has all the bells and whistles that one expects of a modern Android flagship. It has Qualcomm's latest flagship processor replete with 6GB RAM, 128GB storage and even dual SIM functionality supporting 43 bands around the world -- the most for a smartphone in the world.
It is an immovable object like the
Amazonian goddess. You can have multiple apps open and stress test the hell out
of it or even play high resolution games like Dead Trigger 2 and it would
operate without breaking sweat. It doesn't get heated up, and none of the
nastiness about high performance phones plagues this.
The ceramic back is also interesting because it makes the phone resistant to scratches. The steel frame now curves and wraps around subtly which eliminates the rectangular nature of the phone and makes it ergonomic to hold.
With a capacious 3,450mAh battery Xiaomi also ensures that this phone isn't just powerful and gorgeous, but it has legs to run circles around some of its competition. On a given day with medium to heavy usage the phone can last more than a single day on a single charge. It can be refilled also rapidly with its USB Type C port using fast charge.
The ceramic back is also interesting because it makes the phone resistant to scratches. The steel frame now curves and wraps around subtly which eliminates the rectangular nature of the phone and makes it ergonomic to hold.
With a capacious 3,450mAh battery Xiaomi also ensures that this phone isn't just powerful and gorgeous, but it has legs to run circles around some of its competition. On a given day with medium to heavy usage the phone can last more than a single day on a single charge. It can be refilled also rapidly with its USB Type C port using fast charge.
Xiaomi has fixed the biggest weakness of
the Mi Mix. Its camera. The Mi Mix 2 has a new 12-megapixel camera with an
optical stabilised lens. It is the same one as the Mi 6, Xiaomi claims and it
is wonderful. Despite not being a dual camera system, its performance in its
segment is the best one. It is right up there with the dual camera system on
the Nokia 8, while it steamrolls the OnePlus 5 generally in image quality in
both low and daylight. It is the best camera Xiaomi has made till date and for
most people it is going to be a very reliable camera that would work in any
situation. The 4 axis stabilisation also makes the video quality of the phone
to be surprisingly smooth which is coupled with good audio capture
facilities.
The audio output of the Mix 2 is
superb.Despite having a mono speaker, it packs a powerful amplifier and DAC
which delivers loud and clear audio. Xiaomi has also managed to outfit a proper
microphone which wasn't present in the previous phone which means the call
quality is back to normal.
The Bad
The Bad
The Mix 2 is gorgeous and powerful, but
not perfect. The biggest trade off is the front selfie camera which is placed
on the bottom half of the phone. It is far from perfect. The good news is that
when you fill the phone, the interface for the app auto rotates and saves
photos in the right orientation. But it a trade off.
In order to miniaturise the design of the original Mix, Xiaomi aggressively moved to make some more changes which included removing the 3.5mm jack like the iPhone. Xiaomi claims that the 3.5mm jack is a large component and output through a type C connector has potential for better headphones in the future. Right now, one needs to deal with irritating dongles which are easy to lose.
Similarly, to have a better camera Xiaomi has added a bit of a camera bump on the back of the phone. Unlike most new high-end phones it doesn't even have a dual camera system for a portrait mode like feature. Now that's a bummer as the OnePlus 5 and even the Mi 6 have that feature.
The battery size has been drastically reduced from the original Mix. From 4,400mAh battery the Mix 2 has a 3,450mAh battery which obviously means the battery life isn't as good as its predecessor. That being said, in tandem with software optimisations in Mi UI 9, the effect isn't very exaggerated. Battery life remains good on this phone.
Ceramic on the back of the phone isn't only a massive fingerprint magnet, but also makes the phone more susceptible to damage as ceramic is more brittle than glass. If you drop the phone with substantial impact, the ceramic will crack which will cause severe damage to the phone.
In order to miniaturise the design of the original Mix, Xiaomi aggressively moved to make some more changes which included removing the 3.5mm jack like the iPhone. Xiaomi claims that the 3.5mm jack is a large component and output through a type C connector has potential for better headphones in the future. Right now, one needs to deal with irritating dongles which are easy to lose.
Similarly, to have a better camera Xiaomi has added a bit of a camera bump on the back of the phone. Unlike most new high-end phones it doesn't even have a dual camera system for a portrait mode like feature. Now that's a bummer as the OnePlus 5 and even the Mi 6 have that feature.
The battery size has been drastically reduced from the original Mix. From 4,400mAh battery the Mix 2 has a 3,450mAh battery which obviously means the battery life isn't as good as its predecessor. That being said, in tandem with software optimisations in Mi UI 9, the effect isn't very exaggerated. Battery life remains good on this phone.
Ceramic on the back of the phone isn't only a massive fingerprint magnet, but also makes the phone more susceptible to damage as ceramic is more brittle than glass. If you drop the phone with substantial impact, the ceramic will crack which will cause severe damage to the phone.
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