Xiaomi unveiled the highly anticipated Mi MIX 2 smartphone alongside the Mi Note 3 in an event held in China today. Last year’s Xiaomi Mi MIX was an experimental concept phone that inspired other smartphone OEMs to launch full screen design smartphone this year. Considering the design, specs and pricing of the Mi MIX 2, it appears to be a very different device from its predecessor.
Design, Display and Cameras
The original Mi MIX measured 158.8 x 81.9 mm whereas the dimensions of the successor are 151.8 x 75.5 mm. This shows that the Mi MIX is a taller and wider device than the Mi MIX 2. Like the predecessor, the Mi MIX 2 comes with a four-sided curved ceramic body that is flanked with a 7000-series aluminum alloy frame. Xiaomi claims that it has trimmed the bottom bezel by 12 percent.
There is no headphone on the phablet. Instead of piezoelectric ceramic driver that was used as earpiece on Mi MIX, the successor phone has an actual speaker placed on the top edge of the screen.
The Mi MIX 2 has a 5.99-inch IPS LCD display that supports a resolution of 2,160 x 1,080 pixels. It delivers a screen-to-body ratio of 80.8 percent and offers an aspect ratio of 18:9. The original phablet featured a 6.4-inch IPS LCD screen that produced a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Xiaomi has fitted the Mi MIX 2 with the same f/2.0 aperture 12-megapixel Sony IMX386 sensor that is available on the Mi 6. It is coupled with features like dual-LED flash and 4-axis OIS. The 5-megapixel selfie camera is placed on the left corner of the bottom bezel.
Performance, Variants and Pricing
The Snapdragon 835 chipset is present under the hood of the Mi MIX 2. The original Mi MIX featured a mammoth battery of 4,400mAh. However, the Mi MIX 2 comes with 3,400mAh battery that is enabled with Quick Charge 3.0. It is running on MIUI 9 flavored Android Nougat OS. Other features include rear-mounted fingerprint reader, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0 and USB Type-C port. It also carries support for 43 global LTE networks.
The 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB storage models of the phone are packed with 6GB of RAM. These models are listed with respective price tags of 3,299 Yuan (~Rs. 32,310), 3,599 Yuan (~Rs. 35,255) and 3,999 Yuan (~Rs. 39,165). These variants will be available only in Black color for purchase by the end of this month in China. Xiaomi also confirmed that the Mi Mix 2 will launch in India, probably in the upcoming months.
There is a special edition of the Mi MIX 2 that features a ceramic unibody chassis. It comes in black and white color options. It includes 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage and carries a pricing of 4,699 Yuan (~Rs. 46,020). It will be available for buying in China from the next month. Xiaomi is yet to reveal information on the global availability of the Mi MIX 2.
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Xiaomi Mi Note 3
Xiaomi Mi Note 3 too appears to be a different phone compared to its predecessor, the Mi Note 2. It does not feature a flagship chipset nor a dual edge curved display like the last year’s model and comes with a smaller battery. Xiaomi claims it is a larger version of the Mi 6 flagship that was launched earlier this year.
Design, Display and Cameras
The Mi Note 3 has a glass unibody chassis that is curved on all four sides and is fitted with 7000 series aluminum alloy frame. The Mi Note 2 measures 156.2 x 77.3 x 7.6 mm, but the successor phone is smaller and narrower as its dimensions are 152.6 x 74 x 7.6mm. The Mi Note 3 does not feature a 3.5mm audio jack. The Mi Note 3 comes with a smaller 5.5-inch IPS LCD screen that supports full HD resolution.
The Mi Note 3 features the same 12-megapixel dual rear camera system that is available on the Mi 6. It includes a f/1.8 aperture 12-megapixel wide-angle lens and a f/2.6 aperture telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom support. The dual camera system is coupled with dual-LED flash, PDAF, and 4-axis OIS. The rear-mounted cameras have been optimized with software to snap improved bokeh effect shots in comparison to the Mi 6. It has a selfie snapper of 16-megapixel that is equipped with Adaptable AI Beauty for enhancing selfie shots differently for men and women.
Performance, Variants and Pricing
Xiaomi Mi Note 3 is the first smartphone from the company to include the Snapdragon 660 chipset. The 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB storage variants of the Mi Note 3 feature 6 GB of RAM. The Mi Note 2 is packed with a 4,070mAh battery, but the Mi Note 3 has arrived with a smaller battery of 3,500mAh capacity. It supports Quick Charge 3.0. Other features include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0 and USB Type-C port. It is also loaded with MIUI 9 skinned Android Nougat OS.
The 64 GB and 128 GB models of the Xiaomi MI Note 3 will be available in Black color and they will be hitting China with respective pricing of 2,499 Yuan (~Rs. 24,475) and 2,899 Yuan (~Rs. 28,890). The 256 GB Xiaomi MI Note 3 will be coming in Blue color and it will be priced at 2,999 Yuan (~Rs. 29,370). There is no information available on whether Xiaomi has any plans on releasing the Mi Note 3 outside their home country.
