Xiaomi Mi Mix 2

amazon Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 reviews

Design

Mi Mix 2 has the following fundamental changes in design: the compact, elongated (5.99 inch 18: 9 vs. 6.4 inch the 17: 9) and the dorsal aspect Most smartphones today are not as square as the old. These changes make the product more user-friendly, easier to handle but also no longer looks personality like the previous generation.

In the popular version, Mi Mix 2 has a metal frame and ceramic back. Both of these materials on the black version are interwoven with Xiaomi, which are polished and matched with the yellow details on the back camera and the backdrop on the back should look luxurious.

It also gives the feel of grip a hand (185g), firmness and feel the weight is allocated evenly. The chassis and back are good, smooth and the details are cut very neat. However, on the product we use to write reviews, the coupling between the metal frame and ceramic back is still a small gap, enough to insert a money paper. Fortunately the machine is black so the loophole is not exposed.

Another point to note is that the chassis and back is quite smooth, easy to fall when holding or when the surface is not flat. Perhaps the manufacturer understands this should have attached a product of a thin plastic bumpers, grip. On the back, the rear camera clusters slightly convex and the edge of the camera continues to be gilded 18k like the old generation. In the monolithic ceramic body, the surface of the fingerprint sensor is gold plated, but the normal is not usually plated.

On the front, the Mi Mix 2 has a slim speaker, not to use loudspeaker technology as the elder generation. This speaker is designed very thin, the sound hole is placed on the frame so it does not make the upper edge of the screen thicker. Because the upper border is too thin, the front camera clusters continue to be brought down the lower bezel, while the selfie still needs to be upside down. The screen protector Gorilla Glass 4 promises good scratch resistance.

Screen

On the physical side, the screen has a mix of 3 changes, a smaller size, a 18: 9 aspect ratio, and a more rounded display angle. These changes make the product look softer, smoother. In the long run, better content than the 17: 9 ratio of the older generation, as the 18: 9 ratio is almost as good. This is the standard on the thin edge smartphone now.

This screen is still full-HD + resolution with a pixel density of 403 PPI, quite detailed. IPS LCD technology is similar to the old generation. Three different display modes (Warm, Standard and Cool) and different contrast (standard, auto contrast and contrast) are familiar on the Xiaomi machines. These display differences in color, brightness and contrast.

In the default mode (standard color and auto contrast), the maximum brightness of the screen is quite high, the high contrast, the deep black display and the color temperature is reasonable. Color accuracy is also quite standard, only two grams of red and blue are significantly deviated. If you want to display more standard color, you should switch to standard color mode in color and contrast. Maximum brightness of the screen will increase significantly when switching to “increase contrast” mode.

For normal use outdoors Mi Mix 2 displays quite well, unless the environment is too bright. Screen viewing angle is a bit narrow when compared to other high-end smartphones, color and brightness change significantly when viewed at an angle of about 30 degrees.

Software

The original Mi Mix 2 version runs the custom firmware MIUI 9.2 based on Android 7.1.1. On top of that, the best thing about MIUI is that it’s a great theme, a lot of free themes for users to change everything on the interface. MIUI also removes the application tray that brings the entire application to the main screen like the iPhone and many other Android Chinese machines.

In terms of features, the Xiaomi machines from low to high price all have the same software features. MIUI is considered as a customizable software version that has many features for users to experience in daily use. Some noteworthy features on today’s Xiaomi phones include the dual-application feature that can run two game accounts, two Facebook accounts or a parallel messenger; the second spatial feature to create a new partition used in parallel for multiple purposes; Encrypting applications should ensure privacy on the machine through the fingerprint lock feature or image password.

Apps that do not support the 18: 9 ratio will default to 16: 9. However, Xiaomi also gives you the option of forcing these apps to display at 18: 9 full-screen ratios by enlarging the image, so there may be pieces of information on the app being cut off. In addition, with Mi Mix and Mi Mix 2, you can show or hide the basic navigation (multitasking, home and back) so that content is displayed overflowing the screen.

Performance

Mi Mix 2 is equipped with an 8-core Snapdragon 835 processor, 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal memory (no external memory card slot). This is the most advanced configuration on the smartphone at the moment. Meanwhile, the resolution of the machine is quite light, just Full-HD should experience very fast and smooth. On performance measurement apps, this phone also scores similarities with high-end Android smartphones, just below Apple’s latest generation of iPhones.

In practical use with heavy gaming applications, the Mi Mix 2 easily reaches the 60 fps frame rate, which is the maximum rating for games that Biareview is used to evaluate such as Dead Trigger 2 and Warhammer 40K: Freeblade. Full HD screen resolution is a big advantage for smoother gaming, as the graphics chip will reduce the processing burden a lot compared to the high-end of the others equipped with Quad HD screens, ie more than about 50% of the pixels.

Battery time

Mi Mix 2 has a 3400 mAh battery, supports Quick Charge 3.0. BiaReview’s familiar battery reviews show that the Mi Mix 2’s battery life is quite good, slightly better than many other high-end smartphones and is equivalent to the battery life of the Apple iPhone 7 Plus.

In practical use, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 usually consumes about 1.5 days at moderate usage. According to AccuBattery, the average power consumption is about 11-12% of the battery per hour onscreen, equivalent to about 8-9 hours onscreen. In the overnight standby with Wi-Fi turned on, the machine lost about 2% after 6 hours, which is quite good results.

Mi Mix 2 comes with a Quick Charge 3.0 charger and a Type C charger. The total charging time is 90 minutes. However, 90% of the original battery has a very fast charging time. Specifically, the first 30 minutes, the machine charged about 50% of battery and 1 hour up to 90%. The remaining 10% slow down the charging process and take up to 30 minutes.

where can you get a Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 online

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 64GB Black, Dual Sim, 5.99″, 6GB RAM, GSM Unlocked Global Model, No Warranty: Buy it now

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 (64GB, 6GB RAM) Global 4G LTE GSM Android Dual Sim Unlocked Phone, No Warranty (Black): Buy it now

Camera

High-end smartphones now have better cameras. At this point, the Mi Mix 2 has improved compared to the first generation but not comparable to other high-end Android smartphones from other manufacturers. The back camera of the 12MP camera supports optical image stabilization using the Sony IMX386 sensor, which is similar to the rear camera on the Xiaomi Mi 6 and Mi Max 2. The rear camera of the Mi Mix 2 has a f / 2.0, slightly larger than the f / 2.2 on the Mi Max 2, but narrower than the f / 1.8 on the MI 6. This has a negative effect on the low-light shooting capability of Mi Mix 2.

The rear camera of the Mi Mix 2 does not have the same telephoto as the Mi 6 and Mi A1, which is probably the way the manufacturer reduces costs when it comes to this powerful configuration. About the software, the camera application on Mi Mix 2 now changes very much to the camera interface on the iPhone: on the right are the basic shooting modes and the left side is custom flash, HDR, effects. Camera application also has manual mode for custom white balance, focus, exposure time up to 32 seconds and ISO.

In daylight conditions, the picture of the machine can not show the high detail. Looking at the small size, the image is still sharp enough, but when zoomed up can see the details in the image is not sharp. The color of the picture, if taken automatically, no interference, sometimes slightly faded, if attention and adjustment on the white balance or brightness will be more impressive.

In return, the image has a wide range of light, so the detail in the light and dark areas remain the same. HDR mode also works well in the back and forth situations but the speed in this mode is much slower than other high-end smartphone, although the configuration of Mi Mix 2 is very strong.

For evening shots, the ISO level processing machine is fine, even if it reaches ISO 1600, the picture is not disturbed. However, the speed of the shot, shooting the evening is a bit slow so it is only suitable when shooting the scene, if the movement is easy to blur.

The front camera of the Mi Mix 2 has a resolution of 5 megapixels with a f / 2.0 lens similar to the rear camera and supports full-HD video recording. Camera application supports beauty mode with 3 basic levels (low, medium, high) or advanced (for chin, white or smooth skin) with 9 different effects. Face Detection and Fast Detection, detailed selfie images and beauty effects are quite natural. The effects of the server are mostly color filters, while more interesting effects like stickers need to be installed outside.

Summary

Mi Mix 2 has made changes to the design more realistic, easier to handle and follow the trend of thin border 18: 9 is the current flow. However, that change must also be traded, causing the product to lose personality and visual impression as the first generation, although the quality is still very good.

In addition to the design, this phone also scores in smooth performance, sensitive fingerprint sensor, loudspeaker and clear and with enough battery life to spend the day at high intensity. However, the other two basic elements are that the screen and camera of the Mi Mix 2 is still far away when compared to the high-end products of other manufacturers. The screen display is quite standard color, the view is okay but the viewing angle is not impressive. Meanwhile, the camera has the details, color and brightness range, but slow HDR shooting speed and slow shooting, easy to interrupt.

In general, Mi Mix 2 is not comprehensive enough compared to other high-end smartphones from other manufacturers. But when it comes to price, much cheaper than premium products, this is still a worth considering product, especially for users who care about design, the smoothness of performance and battery life.