In the age of bezel-less mobiles, one mobile stands out tall and sharp among the maddening crowd. It all started exactly a year ago when Xiaomi announced the Mi Mix. While most of the consumers wanted to get their hands on it, it was a limited edition. But this limited edition paved way for a much larger wave that would hit us all a year later.
The dawn of bezel-less mobiles.
In the beginning, it was a less know mobile called the Sharp Aquos. But then people started taking it seriously when Xiaomi announced the Mi Mix. It was a gorgeous piece of technology. Google amended its app design guidelines to cater to mobile display with 18:9 aspect ratio, based on Mi Mix’s design. Then came the LG G6 and then finally the iPhone X, until the rest of the world wanted to get immersed in these kinds of immersive displays. But none of these were perfect. They all had their design flaws and usability issues. Xiaomi was quietly observing the world’s reaction to this technology and understanding the challenges. The result of this observation has been implemented and perfected in Mi Mix 2.
A class apart
In the age of bezel-less mobiles, every other mobile that is coming out calls it’s an edge-edge bezel-less mobile. But Xiaomi’s Mi Mix 2 is the true bezel-less mobiles due to its ultra-thin bezels on all 4 side. It is a technological feat to have designed this piece of art. Mi Mix 2 is a perfect blend of art and technology. It has a shiny ceramic body. Hardened ceramic is very tough and virtually scratch proof. It is a fingerprint magnet but can be wiped off easily and it is not slippery. The metal rim around the mobile gives it a layer of protection.
As the bezels are ultra-thin, the front camera has been moved to the thin bottom design. It has been given a tint of black, to make it blend with the design and yet give it a clear lens to click photos. The proximity sensor is ultra-sonic and it is placed under the display. The ear-piece has been engineered to have a funnel-like structure thinning out of the top of the display and occupying minimal space. This eliminates the need for an ugly notch, unlike iPhone X. The only problem I had with this design is the awkward placement of the front camera. But after getting used to it, I see that it is very convenient for clicking selfies. However, Xiaomi has to enable the software to rotate the orientation in other video chat apps as well. Display is bright and vivid. Mi Mix 2 is all about its display and the screen quality compliments the mobile in every possible way.
A flagship performance
Mi Mix 2 runs on Snapdragon 835 with Adreno 540 GPU. It has 6 GB RAM and 128 GB internal memory. The performance of this mobile is blazingly fast. It handles even resource heavy apps or games with ease. I faced no issues while playing Shadow Fight 3, Lego Jurassic, PES 2018 and Asphalt Extreme. The mobile did heat up after 30 min of continuous gaming, but that is normal. Audio out of this mobile is stereo. The second speaker is front facing under the earpiece. It is weaker than the main speaker, but when that is blocked, the second speaker is still audible. The fingerprint is ultra fast and highly accurate. I faced no network issues while using this mobile with Airtel and Jio networks. This mobile has 3400 mAh battery and the battery gives very good performance. I once left to an office with 25% of battery and I still had about 2% when I returned home 8 hours later. It supports fast charging and gets charged from 0 to 100% in less than 1:30 hours. The mobile is running on Android Noughat with MIUI 9 skineed on top. The UI is fast and shows no signs of lag.
Camera could have been better
The Mi Mix 2 does not have any dual camera, which I feel is a marketing gimmick unless implemented properly. It has a 12 MP camera with OIS support and dual LED flash. The camera can click sharp and detailed images under bright light conditions. But as the light drops, the image quality suffers. The same is the case with videos as well. The front 5 MP camera can click sharp selfies if you hold the mobile upside down. Clicking the shutter with the volume button, holding the mobile topsy-turvy is very convenient. The camera UI is very minimal and has only the features that you would be regularly using. Check out the camera samples below. It is impressive, but considering Xiaomi’s track record and imaging standards, it could have been better.
Verdict
It is priced at Rs 35999 and at this price you could buy a Oneplus 5T, Honor 8 Pro or LG G6 or any other flagship device with a better camera. But the Mi Mix 2 is for a connoisseur of art and technology. It is a special piece of tech that will make heads turn and eyebrows raise when you pick it out of your pocket. If you intend to make a strong style statement with the mobile you own, you will have to buy the Mi Mix 2.
