Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 Review

Overview

Xiaomi has been the first to successfully establish the full-screen design category in the smartphone market with the first Mi MIX smartphone. The MIX series has always been a field of experiments and innovation. In an attempt to avoid any possible notch design solutions while further reducing the bezels and offer maximum screen estate, Xiaomi has come up with a neodymium magnet sliding mechanism on the Mi MIX 3 which it has patented. Thus, it managed to reduce the bottom bezel by good 4.46 mm, placed two front-facing cameras in their traditional places, increased the screen-to-body ratio by 3% (approx.) and offered a tactile interaction with the phone that's a direct reference to the design concept of the very first Mi MIX conceived by French designer Philippe Starck - "Less material, more humanity". If the Mi MIX series from the second generation offered only upgrades, the Mi MIX 3 is here to offer a whole new way of interacting with a smartphone and enjoy unhindered by notches (or sort of) display and content.

Specifications

Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 is equipped with a 6.39-inch AMOLED display from Samsung with an FHD+ resolution (1080 x 2340 pixels), 430 nits typical brightness, and 600 nits peak brightness at 10% APL. The whole front is protected by a 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass of unspecified generation. The display is placed on the front part, which is adjoined to the rear part of the device via a permanent magnet mechanism patented by Xiaomi. When the front slides down, it unveils the two front cameras. The main one packs a 24.8MP Sony IMX576 Exmor RS sensor and an f/2.2 lens, while the auxiliary snapper features a 2MP OmniVision OV02A10 sensor. The rear part of the device houses a dual camera module, identical to the one on the Mi MIX 2S - a 12MP Sony IMX363 sensor for the main camera plus an f/1.8 lens and a 12MP Samsung S5K3M3+ sensor for the telephoto camera with an f/2.4 lens. The main shooter is aided by a 4-axis optical image stabilization and Dual Pixel phase detection AF. The two cameras are adjoined by a Fingerprint cards/Goodix fingerprint sensor on the back. The model is powered by a 3200 mAh battery - the smallest one on a Mi MIX device. It is paired with a 5V/3A~9V/2A~12V/1.5A Quick Charge 3.0 fast charger. The battery supports 10W Qi wireless charging and Quick Charge 4+. The Mi MIX 3 is based on a Snapdragon 845 mobile platform that houses an octa-core Kryo 385 CPU with four 2.8GHz cores and four 1.8GHz cores. The graphics department is managed by a 710MHz Adreno 630 GPU. These are complemented by a dual-14 bit Spectra 280 ISP with support for 4K video recording at 60fps, a Hexagon 685 DSP, and a Snapdragon X20 LTE modem. There are 6GB/8GB of LPDDR4X RAM clocked at 1866MHz paired with 128GB/256GB of UFS 2.1 storage. There's a special edition with 10GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The connectivity options of Mi MIX 3 are quite extensive and include support for Bluetooth 5 with aptX HD, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display, dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac with 2x2 MU-MiMO, NFC with Android Beam and fingerprint authorized payments, LTE Cat. 18 with 4x4 MIMO for Band 41, and dual-card VoLTE. There is a USB Type-C 2.0 with OTG support. The Mi MIX 3 runs on MIUI 10 based on Android 9 Pie.

Complete Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 specifications.

What's in the box

The Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 is placed inside a flat, almost square black box with a stylish minimalist design and inscriptions in gold colour. The MI logo is in the centre of the lid. Inside, there's a card with a message and autograph from Xiaomi's founder and CEO Mr Lei Jun. The card covers the device, which is placed in the left compartment and has all the standard packaging protection. To its right, there are two separate compartments for the charger and USB data cable. Below the smartphone, a black envelope contains a number of items, the most noteworthy of which is the case. It is very stylish and fits the device like a glove. Having in mind, the back is made of ceramics, using the case is highly recommended. Below the handset, you will also see Xiaomi Wireless Charger - it is included in the package if you buy the 8GB+256GB version. The full package includes:

• Xiaomi Wireless Charger
• 5V/3A--9V/2A--12V/1.5A fast charger (US plug)
• USB Type-C data cable
• Headphone adapter
• Hard protective case for the back
• SIM tray pin
• Quick start guide
• Warranty