From the pioneers of the bezel-less display design, comes another hit. Xiaomi’s original Mi Mix was a good entrant in the smartphone space at a time when all manufacturers thought there wasn’t much else for a smartphone to do. Now armed with a sequel, the Mix 2 will be looking to redefine its initial approach, and here are five ways that will make it a tempting buy.
Display
The display on this phone cannot be ignored. It is the singular reason why most consumers would opt for this phone over other flagships. The display this time around is a 6-inch screen in a slim 18:9 aspect ratio – the same as the LG G6. While the phone’s profile is still slimmer than its predecessor’s. It comes with a resolution of 2160×1080 pixels. Bezel-less display are now a common-place in the smartphone market but compared to the competition, the display still dominates the front almost entirely, with the exception being just a small lip below. In the hand, this phone will be a treat to view on, that looks seamless.
Build
This time around, Xiaomi is offering the smartphone in two different builds – a standard build with the metallic frame and metal unibody and the more expensive ceramic unibody. People would want to opt for the latter, and the company claims that the body has extremely low yield, making it one of the toughest smartphone bodies today. The ceramic construction involves pressing ceramic powder into a mould and forcing down 240 tons of force and baked up to 1,400-degrees Celcius for seven days. In the end, the body is polished using diamond dust to make it rigid. The entire process takes 10 days, and will add to the price, but the end result is unique and well-worth the extra monies.
Hardware
Just as on the outside, the smartphone impresses on the inside as well. Buyers will get up to 256GB of internal storage, depending on the variant they choose, along with 6GB of RAM. The ceramic finish variant will feature 8GB of RAM. Coupled with the Snapdragon 835 on-board, the phone will fly on Android Nougat 7.1.1. Everything will be powered by the 3,400mAh battery unit compatible with Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0.
Camera
Xiaomi has strayed from the trend this time around in the camera department. The Mix 2 features a single primary sensor made of a 12MP Sony IMX386 with 4-axis optical stabilization with an aperture of f/2.0. It will be able to shoot 4K and 1080p video at 30 frames per second and can also record slow motion video at 720p. The front camera is located at the bottom of the display and is a 5MP unit. The images are better than the original Mix and compared to the current crop of competition, brings a sense of familiarity for users who are more used to the simplicity of a single-camera smartphone.
Connectivity
Xiaomi will not restrict the sale of the Mix 2 to China alone, like it did with the first iteration of the device. Xiaomi has enabled the smartphone to support 43 more bands, including WCDMA ones as well, making the phone work anywhere in the world and more compatible in the US, where its line was never made available before. While the phone does not feature a headphone jack or wireless charging capabilities, Users will be happy enough, using the USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer. On the first Mix, Xiaomi had replaced the traditional earpiece with a piezoelectric actuator-based hidden earpiece. This time, it has stuck to the traditional, louder earpiece. There is still the return of the ultra-sonic proximity sensor instead of the black dot next to the earpiece.
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