Introduction
Xiaomi Mi Mix is one of those rare jewels on the market that needs no introductions. An all-ceramic smartphone with an edge-to-edge screen is a device that draws all the attention. Its a high-tech dream come true and it sure looks like a Sci-Fi movie prop.
Initially, Xiaomi announced the Mix as a concept phone, a vision for the companys future. And then they surprised everyone by announcing its proper market launch as a widely-available product, which will go on sale in a matter of weeks. A clever marketing trick or a natural coincidence of the phones viral-like popularity?
The Xiaomi Mi Mix has probably surpassed any other smartphone in terms of positive interest this season due to its amazing edgeless design that seems like a device from the future. While others competed in camera and chipsets, Xiaomi went for the most visible innovation - design.
Its not like we havent seen phones with edgeless screens already as Sharp was the first to achieve this with its Aquos Crystal and Aquos Crystal 2. But the Aquos series were available in extremely limited numbers (and places!), and the truth is we never met one of those.
With the breath-taking design comes great specs expectations, and the company tried its best to live up to those. The Mi Mix is powered by the Snapdragon 821 chip with either 4 or 6 gigs of RAM. There is a 16MP main camera with EIS and an unusually positioned 5MP selfie shooter. Finally, a 4,400 mAh battery should provide you with enough power autonomy.
Key features
- 6.4" IPS LCD edge-to-edge display of 1080p 17:9 resolution; 362ppi;
- Snapdragon 821 chipset (2x 2.35 GHz and 2x 2.2 GHz cores), Adreno 530 GPU; 4/6GB RAM
- 128GB/256GB storage
- 16MP camera with phase-det ect AF, OV16880 1/3.06" sensor, 1.00 μm, f/2.0 aperture; dual-tone flash; 2160p video at 30fps; 1080p@30fps
- 5MP f/2.0 front-facing camera, 1080p video recording at 30fps
- Cat.12 4G LTE (600Mbps); Dual-SIM; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.2; NFC; GPS, GLONASS and Beidou;
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow with MIUI 8
- Fingerprint scanner
- 4,400 mAh non-removable battery, fast charging
Main shortcomings
- No microSD memory expansion
- Sealed battery
- The main camera specs arent flagship-worthy
- No FM radio, no stereo speakers
- No water-proofing
Nothing is perfect and the Mi Mix certainly doesnt tick all the boxes in terms of highest possible specs.
We are willing to give the sealed battery and the lack of expandable storage a pass but the small camera sensor and lack of OIS can potentially be a turn off - at least on paper. Camera person or not, you should be entitled to the best treatment on the market when paying top dollar for your smartphone.
Anyway, well address all those things later, but now, prepare yourself to be amazed. The beautiful Mi Mix is ready to pop out of that big black box, and we cant wait.
Special thanks to eudirect.shop for providing the review unit.
Unboxing the Xiaomi Mi Mix
Xiaomi is breaking the pattern with the Mi Mix retail box. Instead of their regular phone-sized package, Xiaomi went for a premium-looking foldable box made of black cardboard. Inside youll find the Mi Mix unit itself, a USB Type-C cable, a fast charging plug, and a very nice leather case designed exclusively for the Mi Mix.
The provided case is actually better than a lot of gen uine and aftermarket cases weve seen.
Xiaomi Mi Mix unboxed
But how about bundling a nice headset with your phones for a change, Xiaomi?
Xiaomi Mi Mix 360-degree spin
There is no easy way to put it - the Xiaomi Mi Mix is big and rather heavy. But regardless big it is, it doesnt feel bulky. The phablet spreads at 158.8 x 81.9 x 7.9 mm - pretty much the same as the Huawei Mate 9, which has a smaller 5.9-inch display!
The Mix weighs 209g, which is 19g more than the Mate 9, though.
Design and build quality
Xiaomi had quite a successful year - it all began with the Mi 5, continued with a plethora of Redmis, and just when we thought itd wrap up with the Mi 5s and 5s Plus, the Mi Mix happened.
Of course, the first thing to impress is the edge-to-edge display taking up about 85% of the front. The non-existing top bezel and those beautiful rounded edges are a joy to look at. As if hypnotized by the impossible looking screen, we found ourselves swiping down the notification drawer over and over again just to watch it materialize from the edge of the phone.
The Mix is made of ceramic, which is probably the most premium material you can get for a mainstream flagship. The entire rear plate is ceramic, the frame is ceramic, even the volume and power keys are made of ceramic. Thats how you do an all-something phone - there are no cheap-looking strips, bands, nothing whatsoever to disturb the seamless design.
Xiaomi Mi Mix
There are two ways the material used is important here. First, the ceramic finish is glossy, and it has a very nice mirror effect, but its also a giant fingerprint magnet. The Mi Mix will require regular cleaning, but even when its all smudged with prints, its still among the best-looking smartphones around.
Secondly, the phones body is slippery to the extent that sometimes its hard to even pick it up when its lying flat on a table. Thats equally due to the curved shape of the side frame but still, the slippery finish doesnt help much. If you have a case on it, you wont have an y problem.
Handling the Mi Mix
On a positive note, the finish of the ceramic surface feels incredibly smooth to touch, and its quite a difference from the usual glass and metal surfaces were used to handling day-to-day.
The beautiful back • the mirror effect • eventually it gets smudgy
The earpiece and proximity sensor are completely hidden and had t o be reimagined. The Mix uses a piezoelectric ceramic driver for the earpiece and an ultrasonic proximity sensor, and both work through the display. The selfie camera had to go below the screen, but you can always rotate the phone if you dont like this angle for your selfies.
We are not sure why Xiaomi didnt use the Mi 5s Plus dual camera on the Mix, as its the best camera the company had to offer to date.
The Mix is pretty much as big as the iPhone 7 Plus with a moderately thick case, so we cant really call it bulky with a screen size of 6.4 inches. That said, operating it single-handedly may not be everyones cup of tea, but Xiaomi has tried to aid this use case with a few software tricks, which well get on the following pages.
Xiaomi Mi Mix next to the iPhone 7 Plus
Controls
Quite expectedly there is nothing above the Mi Mix 6.4" display. Below is the small 5MP selfie camera, a well-hidden ambient light sensor, and a very tiny notification LED.
The Mi Mix uses a piezoelectric ceramic driver for the earpiece and generates the sounds through the phone itself. You can hear your calls from both sides of the phone because of that and though we had some privacy concerns, we confirmed nobody around was actually able to hear the sound coming from the Mixs rear.
The ultrasonic proximity sensor is placed below the screen and uses ultrasound to detect your face or hand while you are in a call. You can use either side of the Mi Mix to talk, and the screen will automatically turn off on both occasions. Indeed, you can hear and talk through the back of the phone just like that.
A peek above and below the giant display
The dual nano-SIM slot is lonely at the left side of the Mi Mix. The ceramic volume and power keys are on the right.
The left side • the SIM bed • the right side • the ceramic controls
The top of the Mix has the audio jack flanked by two mics. The USB-C port is at the bottom, surrounded by two grilles - one for the primary mic, and one for the loudspeaker.
The top of the Mix • the audio jack • the bottom • the two grilles
Finally, the 16MP main camera is on the back, just above the similarly sized fingerprint scanner. There is also a dual-LED dual-tone flash ar ound.
The back is quite reflective, but its not a mirror-like surface like it was the case with the Sony Xperia Z5 Premium. The cool feature has its price, though, the ceramic piece is very prone to smudging.
The Mix back • its very reflective • and prone to fingerprints • the camera lens
Display
Welcome to whats probably going to turn out the most read page in this review. Without further ado, we introduce you the 6.4" edge-less screen of the Xiaomi Mi Mix. Take notice of the wording edge-less, which isnt necessary a synonym of bezel-less.
First things first though. The 6.4" IPS screen is custom-made by Sharp and offers 1080 x 2040 px resolution or 362ppi density. Thats the unusual 17:9 aspect ratio, but the extra pixels are mostly used by the navigation bar. We didnt have any layout issues with any of the popular apps we tried. They fill up the entire screen perfectly.
While the 362ppi doesnt sound flagship worthy, you cant really see the individual pixels with your bare eye. The choice of IPS RGB panel instead of PenTile AMOLED surely helps for better utilization of the 1080p resolution over the screen real estae.
Unfortunately, Xiaomi yet once again didnt mention any specific glass protection for t he screen. Our review unit acquired a few scratches on top of its display in the first three days even though we were extra carefil in handling it. Normally, wed suggest opting for a screen protector, but this might take away some of that edgeless screen. Just treat it carefully and hope for the best.
Turning on the display provides a guaranteed wow effect - especially if you see it for the first time. While the promo images surely have prepped us what to expect, we were still quite impressed. The edge-to-edge screen is certainly an attention-grabber, especially around the top part.
The edge-to-edge screen didnt turn out bezel-less, as there is still a thin 2mm bezel around the big thing, and Xiaomi was very careful with its wording. Technically, calling it an edge-to-edge screen is correct as the screen borders with three of the phones sides. The press images are a bit misleading in this respect - depicting the screen almost as an infinity pool.
The screen looks e ven more special due to its rounded corners. This allows the screen to follow the shape of the phones own rounded corners creating the stunning looks this phone is known for.
Xiaomi announced the phone with a claim of a previously unheard 91.3% screen-to-body ratio, and while the math didnt quite work out, it certainly stirred our readers community. We decided to measure the screen ourselves. We took a photo of the real-life Xiaomi Mi Mix head-on and we carefully selected the phone and the screen putting them on separate layers. We then used one of Photoshops tools to measure the surface area of all pixels. All that remained was a simple calculation (screen-to-body ratio = screen surface area / phone surface area), which yielded 84.72%. We repeated the calculations using a simple ruler and a calculator the old-fashioned way, and we still ended up with a ratio thats not much higher than 84%.
Since we published our article on the matter, Xiaomi has removed any ratio-relate d claims on their official specs page, so there is that, too. The screen didnt need any of those bold marketing claims to begin with - its amazing as it is.
Now that we cleared all the definitions, edges, bezels, and ratios, its time to deal with the important numbers - contrast, colors, and sunlight legibility.
Xiaomi claims the screen will provide up to 500 nits of max brightness. Our test results confirmed and even exceeded the claim for maximum brightness as we measured 590nits worth of luminance at the Standard Contrast setting.
The minimum display brightness is 6.5 nits, which means the screen should be suitable for late-night reading in a dark room.
The screens contrast ratio is excellent as well at 1309:1 in Standard or even better at 1:1489 in Auto Contrast mode, once again exceeding the promised contrast ratio of 1300:1.
The blacks are deep enough for a joyful experience, no matter which contrast mode you will settle for.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0.45 | 589 | 1309 | |
| 0.37 | 551 | 1489 | |
| 0.51 | 628 | 1227 | |
| 0.51 | 660 | 1294 | |
| 0.44 | 637 | 1448 | |
| 0.41 | 665 | 1622 | |
| 0.00 | 400 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 392 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 610 | ∞ | |
| 0.43 | 475 | 1097 | |
| 0.59 | 628 | 1064 | |
| 0.41 | 573 | 1398 | |
| 0.50 | 681 | 1362 | |
| 0 | 432 | ∞ | |
When it comes to colo r rendering, the Xiaomi Mi Mix has a very good color accuracy with an average DeltaE of 5.3 and a maximum deviation of 10.7 in the blue color. Note that we did our color test in Standard screen mode. If you opt for the Auto mode, you will get a bit punchier colors, especially the blue one, at the expense of color calibration.
Unfortunately, the screen of the Xiaomi Mi Mix performed only average in our sunlight legibility test.
Sunlight contrast ratio
- Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
4.439 - OnePlus 3
4.424 - Samsung Galaxy S7
4.376 - HTC One A9
4.274 - Samsung Galaxy Note7
4.247 - Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241 - Google Pixel XL
4.164 - ZTE Axon 7
4.154 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09 - Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019 - OnePlus X
3.983 - Vivo Xplay5 Elite
3.983 - Apple iPhone 7
3.964 - Oppo R7s
3.964 - Huawei P9 Plus
3.956 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
3.918 - Samsung Galaxy C5
3.911 - Samsung Galaxy C7
3.896 - Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895 - Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879 - Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873 - Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859 - Microsoft Lumia 950XL
3.837 - Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
3.817 - Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
3.802 - Xiaomi Redmi Pro
3.798 - LG V20 Max auto
3.798 - Sony Xperia XZ
3.795 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
3.789 - Apple iPhone 6s
3.783 - Meizu Pro 5
3.781 - Microsoft Lumia 650
3.772 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
3.756 - Oppo F1 Plus
3.709 - Vivo X5Pro
3.706 - Sony Xperia X Compact
3.694 - Apple iPhone SE
3.681 - Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679 - Meizu PRO 6
3.659 - BlackBerry Priv
3.645 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3.588 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
3.523 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
3.523 - Acer Jade Primo
3.521 - Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512 - Oppo R7 Plus
3.499 - nubia Z11
3.466 - Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422 - Meizu MX5
3.416 - LG V20
3.402 - Oppo R9s
3.352 - Oppo R7
3.32 - Xiaomi Mi 5s
3.276 - Xiaomi Mi 5
3.24 - Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235 - Sony Xperia X Performance
3.234 - Motorola Moto X Play
3.222 - Huawei P9
3.195 - Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113 - Motorola Moto X Force
3.105 - LG Nexus 5X
3.092 - Huawei Mate S
3.073 - Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065 - Sony Xperia X
2.989 - Huawei Mate 8
2.949 - Xiaomi Redmi 3S
2.913 - Sony Xperia XA Ultra
2.906 - LG G5
2.905 - HTC One S
2.901 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2.884 - Sony Xperia Z5
2.876 - Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851 - Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
2.803 - Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784 - Meizu MX6
2.751 - LG V10
2.744 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735 - Sony Xperia M5
2.69 - Huawei P9 Lite
2.679 - Vivo V3Max
2.659 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
2.658 - Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641 - Sony Xperia XA
2.609 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus
2.582 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
2.582 - Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574 - LeEco Le Max 2
2.567 - Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563 - Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
2.563 - Lenovo Moto G4
2.544 - Oppo F1
2.528 - Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525 - Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
2.506 - Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503 - Oppo F1s
2.481 - Motorola Moto G
2.477 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
2.473 - Huawei G8
2.471 - Huawei nova
2.467 - Sony Xperia Z
2.462 - Lenovo Vibe K5
2.459 - Huawei Honor 7
2.406 - Sony Xperia E5
2.386 - ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
2.382 - HTC 10
2.378 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
2.378 - Huawei nova plus
2.329 - HTC One E9+
2.305 - Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272 - Apple iPhone 4S
2.269 - Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
2.254 - Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
2.253 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
2.249 - Sony Xperia C4 Dual
2.235 - Xiaomi Mi Note
2.234 - Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233 - LG Nexus 5
2.228 - Huawei P8
2.196 - Huawei Honor 6
2.169 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
2.166 - OnePlus Two
2.165 - HTC One X
2.158 - LG Aka
2.145 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
2.145 - Archos 50 Diamond
2.134 - Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119 - Acer Liquid X2
2.084 - Huawei P8lite
2.078 - Moto G 3rd gen max manual
2.026 - Xiaomi Mi Max
1.996 - Sony Xperia E4g
1.972 - OnePlus One
1.961 - Meizu m3 note
1.923 - Meizu m2 note
1.892 - BlackBerry Leap
1.892 - ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
1.759 - Sony Xperia U
1.758 - Asus Zenfone Selfie
1.68 - Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
1.675 - < span class="label">ZTE Nubia Z9
1.659 - Jolla Jolla
1.605 - Motorola Moto E
1.545 - Sony Xperia M
1.473 - Xiaomi Redmi 2
1.311 - HTC Desire C
1.3 - Sony Xperia C
1.283 - Meizu MX
1.221 - Sony Xperia E
1.215
Battery life
The Xiaomi Mi Mix is powered by a beefy 4,400m Ah battery, which seems enough for a phablet of this size. We ran our battery test, and the Xiaomi Mi Mix scored a 97h rating, which means you can count on the battery to last four days if you do an hour each of calling, web browsing and video playback a day.
The phone outed consistently good scores across all battery tests, including standby.
The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case youre interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones weve tested will compare under your own typical use.
Connectivity
The Xiaomi Mi Mix supports 11 LTE bands, quad-band GSM and quad-band 3G connectivity with HSPA support. You can tap to an LTE network on either SIM, but once you do, the second one will be limited to 3G or GSM connectivity. You c an even have both registered on 3G networks, when 4G is not available.
The rest of the connectivity features include single-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac support and Wi-Fi Direct. There is also support for Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, GPS with GLONASS and Beidou.
There is no FM radio support. There is also no IR blaster on the Mix.
Xiaomi Mi Mix comes with USB Type-C port. Media transfer mode is supported for accessing the phones built-in memory over a USB connection. The port also supports USB On-the-go for connecting USB peripherals such as pen drives, keyboards or USB hard drives, but youll need to buy a proper adapter for that.
Wireless screen mirroring is available via the Miracast protocol.
MIUI 8 powered by a Marshmallow engine
The Xiaomi Mi Mix comes with Android Marshmallow and MIUI 8.0. MIUI is one of the most extensive customizations of Android to date. It has a big following in China where Google services are not accessible so Xiaomi refocused the ecosystem away from Mountain Views services. For those living elsewhere, the official and not-so-official importers are providing various international (global) ROMs, which come stripped from the Chinese services, in favor of Googles.
MIUI 8 starts off with a recent overhaul on the visuals but the new icons, color scheme, and animations are more of a refinement rather than a departure. But the looks are just a minor part of the way MIUI is different from stock Android.
MIUI 8
The highlights of the MIUI8 features are Dual Apps and dual spaces. Dual Apps means you can have two instances of the same app on your device, so you can, for example, have two WhatsApp accounts on the same phone, one for each SIM, something you couldnt do before.
Any app can become a dual-app - you just need to enable it from settings. The second instance has a yellow indication on its app icon, so youll always know which instance you are opening.
Dual spaces lets you have two different workspaces on your device, each with its own set of apps, customizations, and image gallery, and you can enter a custom passcode or a different fingerprint to enter either of the space.
Dual apps settings • Space 1 • Space 1 • Space 2 • Space 2
Configuring a second space is very easy and straightforward. After setting a different PIN and/or fingerprint, you can import and share photos, files, and apps between the two spaces, or choose to keep those entirely separated. You can also opt to view notifications from the other space, so you wont miss anything.
The new Quick Ball option with quick navigation controls takes a major role in the Mix because of its huge screen. There is a dedicated Quick Ball shortcut on the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen. By the way, Xiaomi allows you to use swipe up and d own on the nav bar if you want to hide it, too.
Quick Ball
Those were the highlights of the MIUI 8. Everything else is the usual Android business. The lockscreen is fairly standard (time, notifications, a couple of shortcuts), but once you set up the fingerprint reader, youll rarely see it anyway.
The always-on fingerprint sensor proved capable, but its not as accurate as the one weve used on the Mi 5s Plus. It recognized our registered finger correctly only 6 out of 10 times, which is about average.
The lockscreen
MIUI has a simple philosophy - every shortcut, plus widgets of your choosing, are dropped on the homescreen. You get a docked menu for the most commonly used apps, of course. The homescreen also supports wallpaper carousel, you can enjoy different beautiful wallpapers all the time.
The Homescreen
The notification drawer has a consolidated list of quick toggles, notifications, and a weather panel at the top that changes color and animation according to the weather.
The app switcher feels like it came out of iOS - apps are either represented by their icons, in a single horizontal row, or by appropriate thumbnails in the same manner.
The notification drawer • toggles • task switcher
Finally, themes are fully supported and several are available out of the box. You can d ownload more - they change wallpapers, lockscreen style, system icons and font, sounds too.
Theme store • downloading a theme • a new theme
Performance
The Xiaomi Mi Mix runs on the latest Snapdragon 821 chipset with 4GB of RAM. There is a more powerful Mi Mix model with 6GB RAM and double the storage, too.
The Snapdragon 821 SoC improves on its predecessor with better power efficiency and higher performance. You cant have both at the same time though - the manufacturers can either opt for the slightly higher processor and GPU frequency for about 10% performance bump (as is the case with the Mi Mix), or for keeping the original Snapdragon 820 clocks in order to gain better battery life.
So, Xiaomi chose speed for the Mi Mix - it offers a more powerful quad-core Kryo processor with two cores ticking at 2.34GHz and two running at 2.19GHz. The Adreno 530 GPU is also clocked higher at the 652MHz frequency, about 5% higher than the same GPU inside the Snapdragon 820 chip.
In the single-core test the Kryo cores inside Qualcomms top-of-the-line SoC make up for it, nearly matching the Mate 9s A73s. The iPhone 7s Fusion cores are in a league of their own in single-core computation powers, though.
GeekBench 4 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3473 - Huawei Mate 9
1898 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
1815 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
1815 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
1696 - LG V20
1590 - Google Pixel XL
1507
The four Kryo cores combined do great, as usual, but they cant compete with the combined power of the eight cores inside the Mate 9 (4xA53 + 4xA73) or the dual-core A10 Fusion CPU inside the iPhone 7 Plus.
GeekBench 4 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Huawei Mate 9
6112 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
5664 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
4333 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
4288 - Google Pixel XL
4152 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
4128 - LG V20
3890
Moving on to Basemark OS II 2.0 to look at some numbers representing overall performance. Here the Mi Mix does great and is among the best Android performers out there, but trails behind the iPhone 7 Plus.
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3796 - Huawei Mate 9
2637 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2434 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
2364 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
2352 - Google Pixel XL
2281 - Huawei P9 Plus
2099 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
2050
The same goes for the other compound test - AnTuTu. The Xiaomi Mi Mix did better than most of the flagship droids out there, but once again trails behind the iPhone 7 Plus.
AnTuTu 6
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus
173110 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
155185 - Google Pixel XL
141186 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
133242 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
132849 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
129229 - Huawei Mate 9
122826 - LG V20
101167 - Huawei P9 Plus
97392
On the graphics front, the Mi Mix does an excellent job with Basemark X scores, beating all smartphones weve put through it so far, while almost coming on par with the Huawei Mate 9. The Adreno 530 is indeed a mighty performer.
Basemark X
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi Mix
37346 - Huawei Mate 9
36519 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
36062 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
32160 - Google Pixel XL
30861 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
28480 - Huawei P9 Plus
15058
The GFX offscreen tests conclude that the Mix raw performance is on par with the rest of the Android flagship gang, as expected. It can be bested only by Apples A10 GPU.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7 P lus
39 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
32 - Google Pixel XL
32 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
30 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
29 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
28 - Huawei Mate 9
22 - Huawei P9 Plus
10
GFX 3.1 Car scene (offscreen)
Higher is better
- Google Pixel XL
19 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
18 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
18 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
18 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
15 - Huawei Mate 9
13 - Huawei P9 Plus
6.2
The Mi Mix has an advantage over some of its competitors such as the Galaxy S7 edge and the Pixel XL, because of its lower screen resolution. The Adreno 530 is a monster when displaying 1080p resolution, though still not monster enough to beat the iPhone 7 Plus (also 1080p).
Weve also ran these tests on the full 1080 x 2040 resolution by hiding the navigation bar, and those scores are below as well.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus
42 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
32 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
27 - Xiaomi Mi Mix (full-res)
26 - Huawei Mate 9
23 - Google Pixel XL
17 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
16 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
15 - Huawei P9 Plus
11
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
19 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
17 - Xiaomi Mi Mix (full-res)
16 - Huawei Mate 9
14 - Google Pixel XL
11 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
10 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
7.8 - Huawei P9 Plus
6.8
We like that this phablet successfully keeps the ceramic body cool while under load, which means Xiaomi did a good job with the heat distribution, while Qualcomm did a good job keeping the temps down.
Xiaomis Mi Mix delivers flagship-worthy performance and scores great across all tests and games we ran, and it manages to stay cool whil e doing so. Its safe to say it aced the performance section of this review.
Telephony
The dialer and the phonebook share a single app although there are two shortcuts, bringing you straight to the tab you need. The app has pleasant flat looks. It uses a tabbed interface - a Recents list with a dialer on the first tab and the Contact list on the second tab.
Call recording is available - the files can be saved either on your device or on your MiCloud.
The Phonebook
The dialer may look r ather familiar, but its quite capable. Unfortunately, most of the new smart features are only available in a few markets such as China and India.
It can recognize automatically business numbers, as well as scam contacts thanks to the Xiaomis Caller ID database. You can also search in both Hindi and English from the T9 numpad, which is helpful. And if you live in those countries, you can use the integrated Yellow Pages integration.
The Dialer
The Xiaomi Mi Mix speaker scored a Very Good mark on our loudness test. Its speaker produces rich and crisp sound; the bass is good as are the high notes.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing | Overall score | |
| 65.8 | 65.1 | 64.6 | Below Average | |
| 67.1 | 66.2 | 68.1 | Average | |
| 65.0 | 68.2 | 70.8 | Average | |
| 70.0 | 69.1 | 71.8 | Good | |
| 68.3 | 72.2 | 72.9 | Good | |
| 68.2 | 68.6 | 80.9 | Good | |
| 64.2 | 70.0 | 84.9 | Very Good | |
| 64.2 | 72.8 | 86.0 | Very Good | |
| 83.1 | 74.5 | 85.0 | Excellent |
Other apps
The Xiaomi Mi Mix offers an excellent file managing app called Explorer, which lets you browse the files in its internal storage and groups them by type.
Explorer
The MIUI v8 also offers a Security app. It can scan your phone for malware, manage your blacklist, manage or restrict your data usage, configure battery behavior, clean some RAM; it can also m anage the permissions of your installed apps.
The Security app has a new feature now - it allows you to define the battery behavior of selected apps and apply restrictions only to the apps you choose.
Security app • Data management • Battery management • Managing a single app • Battery Saver
The custom and now flat Calendar looks good, syncs with your accounts including Google, and offers Day and Month views.
Calendar
There is also the standard sound recorder, flashlight, clock, and weather apps, among others, that are a given in any self-respecting Android package nowadays.
Voice recorder • Alarms • Clock • Weather
We liked the Compass app. It has a very nice and clean interface, it shows the magnetic directions and doubles as a level meter. If you lift the phone up, then youll get a nice augmented reality view with real-time East/West/North/South overlay.
Compass • level • VR directions
The Calculator app has been updated - it now supports advanced calculations and conversions.
Finally, there is a brand-new Notes app. It has been given new templates, new look, support for checklists, among other things.
Notes • Notes • Calculator • Conversions Menu • Conversions
The gallery
The Xiaomi Mi Mix and MIUI 8 come with a redesigned Gallery app, now showing more photos on the screen than ever. It defaults to your camera roll, but it also supports different albums.
Gallery
T he new integrated editor powered by Camera 360 offers various filters, crop options, enhancements (sharpen, contrast, brightness, saturation, vignette), and doodles. Oddly, this image editing app is less capable than the one supplied with the MIUI v7.
Editing an image
Xiaomi Mi Mix may or may not come with a standalone video app depending on your ROM. Either way, youll get a rather basic app or section in the Gallery, where you can browse and play all of your videos. The video interface is very basic; subtitles and pop-up play are not su pported.
If you live in China, you will definitely get a proper Video app and it comes with paid streaming services on top of its basic functionality for offline playback.
Browsing and playing videos
There is also a new video editor with MIUI 8. It supports trimming, filters, and adding text, and audio tracks.
Video editing within the gallery
Music player
The MIUI music player is a custom app with a well laid out, easy to navigate interface. The player has cool effects, transitions, and transparent elements, especially on the expandable Now Playing section. Lyrics are supported, too.
In some markets a streaming service similar to Google Play and Apple Music comes as part of the Music app, too.
Music Player • Albums • Songs • Now Playing screen • Options
Xiaomi Mi Mix offers customizable equalizers within the phones Settings menu - there are a few default presets already available for use. You can also try Xiaomis MiSound enhancer, which comes into play when you use headphones, and especially, a Xiaomi-branded headset.
Audio enhancements and equalizers
Audio clairty is very good, loudness is excellent
The Xiaomi Mi Mix passed the active external amplifier test with flying colors, matching perfectly clear output with very high loudness.
Headphones did cause a moderate hike in stereo crosstalk and added a tiny bit of intermodulation distortion but the output remained mostly good. And since the loudness didn’t take a hit either it was a very good showing indeed.
And now here go the results so you can make your comparison.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| +0.01, -0.02 | -94.6 | 94.6 | 0.0014 | 0.0063 | -94.3 | |
| +0.08, -0.26 | -94.3 | 94.2 | 0.020 | 0.263 | -57.6 | |
| +0.03, -0.01 | -92.2 | 93.0 | 0.0026 | 0.0093 | -93.3 | |
| +0.06, -0.05 | -91.1 | 91.8 | 0.016 | 0.056 | -63.5 | |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -94.0 | 94.0 | 0.0033 | 0.0066 | -92.9 | |
| +0.17, -0.04 | -92.0 | 92.7 | 0.0067 | 0.125 | -62.0 | |
| +0.06, -0.02 | -83.9 | 83.0 | 0.0033 | 0.047 | -84.9 | |
| +0.95, -0.10 | -82.0 | 83.3 | 0.245 | 0.564 | -48.0 | |
| +0.10, -0.04 | -93.1 | 93.1 | 0.0015 | 0.0098 | -80.5 | |
| +0.10, -0.03 | -93.1 | 93.0 | 0.0013 | 0.015 | -76.8 | |
| LG V20 | +0.01, -0.03 | -93.0 | 93.1 | 0.0036 | 0.0075 | -93. 7 |
| LG V20 (headphones attached) | +0.04, -0.09 | -92.4 | 92.4 | 0.051 | 0.105 | -57.5 |
Xiaomi Mi Mix frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
A 16MP main camera with a dual-tone flash
The Xiaomi Mi Mix comes with a 16MP camera that features phase detection autofocus, f/2.0 lens and sports a dual-LED, dual-tone flash. On the front is a 5MP selfie cam with f/2.0 lens.
Xiaomi used Omnivisions OV16880 1/3.06" sensor for the main camera with 1.00$micro;m pixel size, f/2.0 aperture, and phase-detection autofocus. The specs arent on par with the flagship crop today, but we are yet to s ee how the company did with the processing, so there is room for surprises.
The sensor doesnt come with optical stabilization, but there is a gyro-based EIS for the videos, so not all falls into the averageness.
The MIUI 8 camera interface is fairly simple and features toggles for the HDR mode, the flash, and the video camera. The available advanced modes are Panorama, Timer, Audio, Manual (with shutter speed up to 1/4s), Straighten, Beautify, GroupShot, Square, HHT, and Tilt Shift, as well as the camera settings. Seventeen live filters are at your disposal, too.
Camera UI and settings
Still image quality
First, the good news. The Xiaomi Mi Mix resolves enough detail and the white balance is mostly accurate, especially in our winter fairytale here. The colors are accurate and lively and we like the results. There are no visible defects such as oversharpening or fringing. The dynamic range is way above average, too, and you will rarely need the HDR option.
The resolved detail could have been better, but we guess thats the maximum Xiaomi was able to get from the tiny sensor, so we can only applaud the effort to squeeze the maximum from the OmniVision sensor.
Finally, the noise levels are high, even in bright sunlight, which is not OK. The noi se sometimes smears fine detail and while it would never ruin a picture, its not what wed expect from a fine smartphone like the Mi Mix. But then again, from the things which could have gotten south, the high noise is probably the least one to worry about.
Overall, the processing is mature and Xiaomi has put a big effort to utilize the OmniVision sensor to its maximum and in the end most of the pictures turned out quite nice. And thats worth something, too.
Xiaomi Mi Mix 16MP camera samples
HDR quality
The HDR mode is conservative enough and rescues both the highlights and shadows without making a flat contrastless mess out of the image. But youll rarely need the HDR because of the high dynamic range. Sometimes the HDR effect may oversaturate the colors, so you should have that in mind, too.
HDR off • HDR on • HDR off • HDR on
Low light samples
Unfortunately, the Mi Mix fails miserably at low-light photography. The small sensor and pixels take their toll and the night shots are almost unusable no matter which shooting mode you are using.
Low-light shot - normal • Low-light shot - HHT
Panorama
Panorama shots are available too. You can capture both landscape and portrait panoramic photos with a 180-degree field of view. Shoo ting is easy, but the resolution is not a flagship-grade. The result is very good though - the resolution is about 9000x1856px, there is enough detail, no awful stitches and accurate colors. The dynamic range is as the same as on the still images, which is great.
Xiaomi Mi Mix panoramic sample
Selfie quality
The Mi Mix is equipped with a 5MP f/2.2 front-facing camera - nothing overly fancy. It does a decent job with the colors, but the resolved detail is low and image sharpness gets progressively worse as the natural light gets lower.
Since the camera is placed at the bottom of the phone, youll have to rotate it first so the interface can rotate too, and then you can shoot in portrait or landscape mode. But the rotation is mandatory otherwise you will either obstruct the sen sor or you wont get an option to shoot in landscape. We guess thats the price to pay for the edge-to-edge screen.
A 5 MP selfie • Selfie with Beauty mode • Indoors selfie • Indoors low-light selfie
Picture compare tool
You should also check out our Photo compare tool to see how the Mi Mix stacks up against the competition. It often does better or is on par with the Mi 5, but fails to match the LG V20. Its low-light capabilities are quite poor, though.
Xiaomi Mi Mix vs. Xiaomi Mi 5 vs LG V20 in our Photo quality comparison tool
Video camera
Video mode gives you a choice of 2160p @ 30fps and 1080p @ 30fps for common shooting with a 720p @ 120fps option if you want some slow-motion effects. Theres no 1080p @ 60fps mode, though, which would make a big difference in fast-paced scenes. Also, changing resolution involves going to Modes and then in the advanced settings, which isnt all that convenient.
Anyway, the 2160p videos are captured at 42Mbps bitrate and have rock solid 30fps. The audio is stereo captured at 96KBps bitrate.
The video quality is very good - the resolved detail is more than enough a lbeit not the best in business. The dynamic range is as high as on the still pictures, the foliage gets smudged though either because of the small sensor, or because of noise reduction. The framerate is smooth and steady, while the colors are accurate.
The audio quality is OK, there are no traces of compression, but youll notice it goes towards poor on more demanding scenes (concerts, loud crowds, cars honking, etc.).
The 1080p videos are shot at 20Mbps bitrate and the same audio. The video quality turned out the same as on the 4K samples and shares the same ups and downs - high dynamic range, enough levels and mature processing, but visible noise even in broad daylight and smudged detail by the noise reduction.
You can also download the 4K@30fps (11s, 52MB), and the 1080p@30fps (10s, 25MB) samples taken straight off the Xiaomi Mi Mix.
The OmniVision OV16880 sensor is capable of EIS and its your only option for the videos since there is no optical stabilization. It works on both 1080p and 2160p videos and doesnt reduce the field of view. The results are a mixed-bag though. There are some rare occasions we can clearly see the reduced shake, but most of the time its like the EIS isnt working at all.
Finally, you can use our Video Compare Tool to see how the Mi Mix stacks against the competition when it comes to video capturing in both 2160p and 1080p modes. You can clearly notice how sharp the 1080p videos are.
The Mix videos are the sharpest as the resolution chart, but the Mi 5 resolves a bit more detail at the good light setup. The low-light scenes are often with wrong white balance and rather unpleasant.
Xiaomi Mi Mix vs. Xiaomi Mi 5 vs. Apple iPhone 7 Plus in our 2160p Video quality comparison tool
Xiaomi Mi Mix vs. Xiaomi Mi 5 vs. Apple iPhone 7 Plus in our 1080p Video quality comparison tool
Final words
Xiaomi was brave enough to go for something rather new, instead of pushing the limits of performance, screen resolution, camera skills, or battery endurance. Design is where Xiaomi desired to make a difference and an edge-to-edge screen is a game-c hanger in this department.
The best part of all is not that Xiaomi succeeded into making this screen a big thing, but also wrapping it into the most beautiful shell on the market. The ceramic is a very sturdy material and incredibly resistant to scratches compare to the regular metal and glass used elsewhere.
The Mix has a few shortcomings - the lack of proper screen protection and the mediocre sensor used on the main camera, but they can always fade in the shadow of the jaw-dropping screen and design.
But many have tried different innovations throughout the years and most of those ended up thrown in the concept cemetery to fade into obscurity. Remember the Galaxy Round? The G Flex? Even Sharp wasnt able to make the edge-less design trendy with the Aquos Crystal series, either because of poor marketing and availability.
Xiaomi has figured out things bet ter than Sharp and seems on the right track to pull it off, so lets do a quick summary of our Mix findings.
Xiaomi Mi Mix key test findings
- Exceptional build quality and best seamless design. The ceramic is a fingerprint magnet but stunning nevertheless. The screen glass is prone to scratches, though.
- The piezoelectric earpiece and the ultrasonic proximity sensor work as advertised, no iffy behavior or learning curve.
- The edge-to-edge display isnt bezel-less, but still among the best innovations lately. Its contrast (1490:1), brightness (590nits) and color renditions are top-notch, the sunlight legibility is average. The resolution could have been better, but 362ppi is enough not to see pixels.
- Battery life is excellent with an endurance rating of 97h, and great battery performance across all individual tests.
- MIUI 8 is a clean and light sh ell on top of Android Marshmallow and offers rich customization options. The new Dual Spaces and Dual apps options are great additions.
- The Snapdragon 821 chipset offers stellar performance and the Mi Mix scores excellent marks on benchmarks. It also runs cool, and there is no apparent overheating or throttling.
- Audio output quality is very good with excellent loudness. The speaker loudness is very good.
- The main camera outs pleasant 16MP shots with lots of resolved detail, high dynamic range, excellent contrast and accurate colors. The shots came noisy though and often the noise reduction hurts the fine detail. All low-light shots but the closeups with the flash are no-go.
- Uninspiring and often blurry 5MP selfies with low detail, device needs to be rotated twice to shoot properly.
- The image quality aspects of the 4K and 1080p videos are very good across the board - detail, noise, dynamic range, contrast. The samples are just as noisy as the s till images. The captured audio with low bitrate may come through sounding poorly in noisier environments.
The flagship kind is strong this year and the Mi Mix, despite its edge-to-edge display, isnt without competition out there. With the holiday season upon us and the scarce Mix availability, many shoppers will be jumping on various competing offers.
The Huawei Mate 9 ticks more boxes than the Mix. Sure, it cant match the display and design, but nobody really can. The Mate 9 will make up with exceptional second-gen Leica camera, a better selfie shooter, stereo speakers, a microSD slot, Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, and much wider availability and support. There are also the Mate 9 Pro and Porsche Design flavors to offer curved 1440p AMOLED screens and better looking designs.
Huawei Mate 9 • Huawei Mate 9 Pro • Huawei Mate 9 Porsche Design
The Apple iPhone 7 Plus, just like the Mate 9 trio, also revolves around photography but instead a monochrome shooter, it gives you a telephoto sensor and plays nice tricks with zoom and bokeh. The 7 Plus may use the same design for a third time, but no droid can match its A10 processor and graphics, which is telling enough. Finally, the iPhone is the only force-press-enabled device to actually utilize the tech in a smart enough way to make you want to use it.
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
Googles premium Pixel XL is another device in millions wishlists. It matches the Mix performance, has superior camera department, but trails behind in design. Just like with Apple, lots of fans began to value the genuine Android experience via the Pixel lineup, and its rich VR capabilities.
Google Pixel XL
The LG V20 is getting hotter with each day and there is a reason - it has an overwhelmingly rich feature set in the expense of an all-metal, but rather mediocre design. There is higher-res screen, but also a secondary always-on strip on top of it; a dual-camera setup with regular and super wide sensors, military-grade shock resistance, high-quality audio department with B&O sound and headphones, professional-grade mics, and more. Its a pro-tool in every way - performance, camera, sound, so its the one many will be choosing over Mixs looks.
LG V20
The Note7 would have been here, but its replaced by the Galaxy S7 edge in the wake of the battery fiasco. The S7 edge was heavily promoted by Samsung after the Note7 recall - the company outed new colors, promotions, even price cuts, and it actually worked - the S7 edge would probably grab the smartphone of the year award by being the best-selling device in 2016. Its curved design and screen inspired quite a few competing models out there, the water-proof body and camera quality are still something others are looking to live up to.
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
Finally, the Mi fans has the Mi 5, Mi 5s, and the Mi 5s Plus in case they cant or wont get the Mix for one reason or another. The Mi 5 bets on a glass design and an OIS camera, while the Mi 5s comes with a metal shell and the same Sony sensor for its main camera used on the Pixel XL. The Mi 5s Plus gives the Mi fa ns the best camera in the series - a dual-setup with a monochrome and a color sensor, just like on the Mate 9 and P9.
Xiaomi Mi 5 • Xiaomi Mi 5s • Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
We listed quite a few competitors, but do you know what all those dont have? An edge-to-edge display and a beautiful ceramic body. When used right, these two are potentially enough to push the sales, and we expect the Mix to sell in handsome numbers given the chance. It seems everybody likes the Mi Mix, so its up to Xiaomi to ride on the wave of its popularity or leave it to fall into the oblivion.
Special thanks to eudirect.shop for providing the review unit.
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