Xiaomi’s flagship spec’d offerings have always been a crowd-pleaser. Not only do they perform well, they are also pocket-friendly. The compromises that the phone sustains are meagre, and doesn’t steal away the glory of a budget-phone that can go toe-to-toe with even the new Samsung Galaxy S8. The new Xiaomi Mi 6 is finally here. And here are five reasons for buyers to get excited about.
1) Power
The phone is so powerful, if each of the components were cut in half, the two halves could each make an individual phone. Under the hood, is a dual-channel (that’s right, there are two streams of memory flow at DDR4X 64-bit) 6GB of RAM that will remain as a standard affair across all the variants of the Mi 6. Storage options will come in the form of either a 64GB or 128GB of internal storage. The phone is also the latest in the league of Snapdragon 835 chipset holders, officially being one of the most powerful phones out there right now.
2) Battery
At just 3,350mAh, the battery may not seem like such a high capacity. But it gets a special mention here, because the company has taken extra steps in order to provide battery-saving features such as freezing background data, closing those troublesome apps which start spontaneously as well as spreading out the battery power across the phone efficiently enough, to last about a day. If other manufacturers came with this battery, their battery-life would probably fall short just at about the 14-hour mark. Even if does run out of charge, it will be back to life in no time thanks to its USB Type-C Quick Charge enabled port.
3) Display
The Xiaomi Mi 6’s display is quite adaptive. Its brightness levels can range anywhere between 0 nits to 600 nits. There are 4096 levels of brightness compared to regular phones which might have close to 256. The display also has sRGB output for those who prefer more accurate colour rendering. The 5.15-inch IPS LCD panel has a resolution of 1080p.
4) Camera
One of the USPs of the Xiaomi Mi 6, the camera on the rear of the phone is a dual-sensor setup, offering two 12MP sensors, with one having a wide-angled lens while the other has double the focal length. For iPhone users, this will be a familiar pairing on the rear-end. Each of the cameras are used for specific purposes but both can be used simultaneously to create better bokeh effects in pictures. The primary rear camera features PDAF for better autofocus as well as a 4-axis optical image stabilization module that allows for better handling of the phone while video recording or taking low-light photography. The main camera will sport an f/1.8 lens while the secondary one at the rear will feature an f/2.6 zoom lens. The front of the phone offers a capable 8MP sensor for selfies.
5) Design
The design of the phone oozes premium. It features a curved back and a metal frame. The fingerprint sensor on the front is also embedded under glass, while there is a uniformity in the alignment of all the ports, speakers and other knick-knacks found externally. The beautiful body is not just good on the eyes, but is also splash resistant. The high-end model of the phone will also feature a ceramic back for a more premium finish.
The phone’s starting price will come in at $360 for 64GB of storage, while 128GB will cost $420. The most expensive variant will be the ceramic-back Mi 6 that will sell for $435. While this may sound like an exciting phone on the outset, Xiaomi have taken the road less travelled and have decided to remove the headphone jack. Interestingly enough, there is now an IR LED blaster on the top of the device. The screen is not the best out there, but it should do its job just fine. Xiaomi’s flagship series have constantly been compared to the like of OnePlus’s offerings. Whether they will be able to be the new flagship killers is subject to when OnePlus releases the OnePlus 5 to the world. Until then, the Mi 6 will have very little time to enjoy its time in the sun.
