A day before the grand iPhone 8 reveal, Xiaomi – which used to be dubbed Apple’s China at one point – pulled the veil off the Mi MIX 2.
The successor of last year’s stunning Mi MIX, the new phablet comes with an improved design and top-of-the-line specs. While the bezel-less look has been adopted by other companies in 2017 (see Samsung and LG), Xioami has managed to take things to the next level by slimming down the bottom bezel (12% reduced “chin” size, as Xiaomi calls it) which still houses the frontal camera.
Nevertheless, Xiaomi took note of this year’s existing trends and designed a phablet with an 18:9 aspect ratio, instead of the 17:9 of the previous model. Another notable change is that the company shrunk the Mi MIX 2 which comes with a 5.99-inch panel with 2160 x 1080 pixels, down from last year’s 6.4-inch one. On top of that, the experimental piezoelectric speaker which got a lot of people excited last year got replaced by an earpiece above the screen. The phone takes advantage of an aluminum alloy frame, as well as a ceramic back and boasts a sleeker 7.7mm frame (the original Mi MIX was 7.9mm thin).
When it comes to raw specs, the flagship is pretty solid, as it takes advantage of a Snapdragon 835 coupled with 6GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB or 256GB of internal storage. Xiaomi also announced a Special Edition of the Mi MIX 2 which is made of a single piece of ceramic and includes upgraded specs in the form of 8GB of RAM and 128GB storage. This version boasts a 18K coating around the camera and the fingerprint sensor rim (located on the back).
In the photography department, the Mi MIX 2 goes against the grain by including a singular 12-megapixel main camera (the sensor is similar to the one found in the Mi 6) with 1.25μm pixels, 4-axis optical stabilization, and f/2.0 aperture. It can record 4K video at 30fps and 720p at 120fps. As for the selfie camera, we have a 5-megapixel shooter like last year’s model.
The phablet houses a disappointingly small 3,400 mAh battery (the Mi MIX included a 4,400 mAh one) and runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box with MIUI 9 on top. Will it get Android 8.0 Oreo? Hopefully…
At launch, Xiaomi revealed the Mi MIX 2 will be compatible with a total of 43 wireless bands, most importantly WCDMA ones. This means the device should work properly on US LTE networks. However, keep in mind that Xiaomi doesn’t officially sell products in the States yet, so you’ll probably have to get it from third-party resellers if you want it.
How much for a new and shiny Xiaomi Mi MIX 2? It depends on the model you’ll be getting:
- 6GB of RAM/64GB storage – approx. $500
- 6GB of RAM/128GB storage – approx. $550
- 6GB of RAM/256GB storage – approx. $610
- 8GB of RAM/128GB storage – approx. $720
The standard versions will be available in Black, while the Special Edition variant will be up for grabs in either Black or White.
