Xiaomi, which is often called the ‘Apple of the East’, has now released another top of the range smartphone. Xiaomi is also expanding and it has opened stores and authorized centers in Europe now. The company recently released a new flagship device, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S. It is characteristic of other Xiaomi phones and it has all the features that have made the Mi products successful all over the world. Should you buy the phone? Read on our Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S review to find out!
Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S Review
Hardware
The phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC. It is one of the best chipsets in the market right now. It is accompanied by the Adreno 540 GPU. The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S has 6 GB or 8 GB LPDDR4X of RAM. Two internal memory variants are available: 64 and 128 GB (UFS 2.1). The memory is not expandable. The 8GB Mi Mix 2S scored better than the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus in Geekbench 4, which is a benchmark that calculates the overall performance of the phones. Compared to S9’s score of 8,295, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S scored8,377. Even though the difference isn’t significant, more RAM means the Mi Mix 2S can run more apps at the same time without slowing down.
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Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S Review: Connectivity
Connectivity includes 64 and 128 GB (UFS 2.1), LTE of Cat. 12, NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, and GPS. The phone doesn’t have an FM radio. The sensors include gyroscope, magnetometer, accelerometer, and barometer. They are all excellent. Unfortunately, the phone isn’t water resistant. Even though the Mi Mix 2S has NFC, it doesn’t meet the Google Pay’s security standards, which makes processing transactions difficult.
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The fast and accurate fingerprint scanner is located in the center of the back of the Mi Mix 2S. There is a small notification LED on the front of the display. Although the phone doesn’t have a notch, the proximity and brightness sensors and the front camera are located on the lower frame of the handset.
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The telephone part of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is also compatible with most networks and well optimized. You will hardly ever face issues related to the telephone signal. The data exchange process via Bluetooth and WiFi is also smooth.
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Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S Review: Performance
The performance of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is excellent. The phone is really fast and responsive. There are hardly any problems. Problems such as lag, overheating, and indecision are very rare, almost non-existent. The device works well even under stressful conditions without losing its momentum. This guarantees a great user experience. The combination of Snapdragon 845 plus 8GB of RAM is the best one right now to power a smartphone. Apart from the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, only OnePlus 6 has this combination.
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Ergonomics And Design
It is one of the most elegant, beautiful, and smartest handsets on the market right now. The rear body of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is of ceramic. The edge of the phone is of aluminum. Some elements have a golden finish. The front of the smartphone is covered by the Gorilla Glass almost entirely. It has very slim frames on 3 sides. The design of the Mi Mix 2S is iconic. It is one of the few new smartphones that do not have a notch. The materials used in the phone are of top quality and the design is also great, but the ergonomics of the phone could have been better. The dimensions of the phone are 150.9 x 74.9 x 8.1 mm. It weighs 191 grams so it is kind of difficult to use with one hand.
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Display
We must also tell you about the display in our Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S review. The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S has a 5.99 inches IPS LCD display with a FullHD resolution and an aspect ratio of 18: 9. Even though the display is not comparable to the OLED seen on a lot of new smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus, OnePlus 6, and Huawei P20 Pro, it is still very beautiful.
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The colors of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S are well calibrated. In fact, they seem almost printed on the display. The peak brightness is not very high. However, it is comparable to that of premium smartphones of the market. The display is readable and satisfactory.
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Speaker
The mono speaker is situated on the lower edge of the phone and a capsule is also there for high frequencies. The stereo sound of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is good. However, when it comes to the body of the sound, it is not really convincing. Unfortunately, the phone doesn’t have a 3.5 mm audio jack.
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Camera
The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S review is incomplete without a discussion on its camera which is a very interesting part of the phone. There is a Sony IMX 363 12 MP camera with a stabilized 21 mm lens and an aperture of F / 1.8. The second sensor is 12 MP with an aperture of F / 2.4 and 2X optical zoom. However, it is not optically stabilized. The front camera is 5 MP with an aperture of F / 2.0. Xiaomi devices aren’t usually known for their cameras but that could change with the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S. The combination of a larger 1.4 microns sensor, Sony IMX 363s sensor, and the upgraded image processing software have really impacted the imaging capabilities of the Mi Mix 2S.
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The pictures are really good, particularly during the daytime when the accuracy of focus (Dual Pixel), colors and HDR management, are parallel with the level of the best high-end smartphones. The results are very convincing. Unfortunately, the quality of the camera isn’t good and that’s why it loses out when compared to other smartphones in the market with the same camera setup. The camera also does a great job of finding the right light balance and keeping the noise down.
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The performance of the camera degrades a little ar night. However, compared to the Mi Mix 2, it has greatly improved. For instance, the Mi Mix 2 creates an irritating noise when pictures are taken at a really low ambient brightness. However, the quality of the pictures is great when the picture is taken in a well-lit area.
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For a 5 MP camera, the quality of selfies has also greatly improved, thanks to the latest software updates. The videos are all great and you can choose between codec h264 and h265. However, somehow the frame rate can’t be changed. The resolution goes up to 4K. Overall, the recording parameters are fine.
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Battery
Another thing worth mentioning in the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S review is the phone’s battery. The battery of the smartphone is 3400 mAh. It lasts the whole day without any problems. The active display time is around 4 and a half hours. The results are good even on days when you use your phone a lot. The global variant of the software somehow works a lot better than the Chines version in terms of energy savings. The great battery life of the Mi Mix 2S can be attributed in part to the MIUI which ends background apps really aggressively. In fact, it even breaks the push notifications. You can undo this aggressive battery optimization. Even after you turn off the battery management, the phone offers more than 5 hours of active display time. The Mi Mix 2S ad its wireless charger work on the Qi standard, which is also used on new iPhones. You do not necessarily have to use the Xiaomi Qi pad to charge your phone. A lot of stock pads on the market are faster than Xiaomi’s and charge the phone faster.
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Software
The international version of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S runs Android 8.0 Oreo with the international 9.5 version of MIUI. The OS has been customized a lot but attention has been paid to even the smallest of the details. MIUI is reminiscent of iOS for the refinement of graphics, for the fullness and the fluidity of the animations, and intuitiveness of the main operations. A lot of advanced settings have been provided for the management of energy savings and privacy. The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S also comes with a lot of proprietary applications that are great to use for a lot of common functions.
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The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S review is also incomplete without mentioning one of its most important features: the second space. It creates a protected and separate division with the phone. You can clone apps and use them from multiple accounts. There are also a lot of options for customizing shortcuts, gesture and interface for many different operations. There is also a display calibration tool and reading mode. The notification pane; has also been enriched. Quick answers are available now and different messages are grouped together, as it is done on Android stock.
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We hoped you found this Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 review helpful. The smartphone is very concrete and it has a refined design. The phone doesn’t have a notch and in essence, it is the true successor of the Mi Mix. However, compared to other high-end smartphones, there are such shortcomings. For instance, the quality of the pictures taken in low light conditions could have been better. However, this has been resolved to a large extent bu the software update and the technical data sheets. The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is retailing for 499 Euros currently.
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Like a lot of other Xiaomi phones, the Mi Mix 2S is technically unavailable in the United States. However even though most Xiaomi handsets do not support Western carriers, the Mi Mix 2S is a global smartphone and it supports all GSM networks. It even offers support for T-Mobile and AT&T in the United States. However, even though the US customers can technically use the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, it is very unlikely that they will actually import the device as it is not only a hassle but will also cost more.
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We conclude our Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S review by saying that it is indeed a great phone. Its hardware and software are great. The materials used for construction are also impeccable. The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S also offers a great user experience. The phone scores well in most departments.
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Did you like the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S review? Will you consider buying it? Let us know in the comments below!
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