Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 review: Wonderful like Wonder Woman
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.
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.
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 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.
Should you buy it?
The Mix 2 is ultimate confluence of beauty and untamed power in a smartphone. It marries the looks and skills of Wonder Woman in a wonderful package and a reasonable price. It may not have the raw power of the OnePlus 5 or the subtle class of the Nokia 8 , but it makes up for this in assassin like gorgeous looks and amazonian warrior like fire power. Make no mistake, this wonderful phone isn't only Xiaomi's best phone to date, it is one of the best around. Period.