I first tested the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S in New York City in late March. But because the phone was running unfinished software, I wasn’t able to write anything more than a hands-on at the time. The final software version actually dropped about a month ago, when I was in the middle of a trip, and then one thing led to another and here we are, two months later.
Despite the updates, much of what I wrote back in March still holds true. More often than not, when tech companies require journalists to hold off reviewing pre-final software, it’s more extreme precaution than an actual necessity. The Mi Mix 2S ran perfectly fine for me before the final software update, and I haven’t noticed much difference since updating.
That’s a good thing, because the Mi Mix 2S impressed me a lot. The 6-inch 1080p panel is bright, crisp, and unlike every other phone released in 2018, isn’t interrupted by a notch. Xiaomi was the first to release a mainstream bezel-less phone in late 2016, and while the jaw-drop factor is gone, the Mi Mix 2S is still a very refined piece of gadgetry. The ceramic finish of the back adds a firmer feel to the handset than glass-backed devices.
Pixel perfect
But the biggest improvement to this iterative update is its camera, and it’s legit. As I wrote previously, I had never been a big fan of the cameras on Xiaomi devices, but the Mi Mix 2S’s combination of using a larger sensor (1.4 microns) and improved image processing software and sensors (Sony IMX 363s) really boosted the Mi Mix 2S’s imaging capabilities.
The most noticeable level up can be seen in low light photography and bokeh shots. The combination of the main lens with a telephoto lens—both 12-megapixels—focus fast, can zoom 2X with near lossless quality, and is generally easy to use thanks to Xiamoi’s intuitive camera software. I used the below sample in my hands-on, but it’s so good I have to use it again here:
Notice how well the Mi Mix 2S was able to identify the gentleman’s hair and produced a fake depth-of-field effect around it accordingly. Below is another tricky bokeh sample, with not one but two objects for the camera to focus on.
Notice the coffee and the water are on slightly different planes, yet the Mi Mix 2S again produced a mostly realistic blur, with only a slight loss of details at the tip of the straw. Now, look at the same shot attempted by the Samsung Galaxy S9+.
The S9+ totally fudges the water bottle in the shot, not to mention there’s a tad of overexposure too. The Mi Mix 2S, like many dual-camera phones, can manage 2x lossless zoom.
At night the Mi Mix 2S’ camera does an above-average job of finding the balance between generating light while keeping noise down.
The Mi Mix 2S, like many phones released in 2018, also has A.I. scene recognition. I find Xiaomi’s software A.I. to be better than the supposed A.I. powers of Vivo and Oppo, but not quite as intelligent or fast at recognizing scenes as Huawei’s Mate 10 or P20 phones.
If you’re familiar with the Mix phones you know that, in sacrificing the top bezel, the phone has its front-facing camera on the bottom chin, which means users have to flip the phone upside down to take selfies. This hasn’t bugged me much, because I very rarely take selfies. From what I’ve read elsewhere, most people seem to find the setup inconvenient. It’s a necessary sacrifice for now unless the phone implements a notch or use a pop-up style camera. Selfie quality is solid though.
Looks and longevity
I used this phone heavily as my main phone for three weeks, and then as a secondary gaming phone the rest of the time, and it hasn’t slowed down at all. Snapdragon 845 plus 8GB of RAM is the greatest combination possible right now to power a phone, and only the Mi Mix 2S and the OnePlus 6 offer that right now.
The phone, as per usual with Xiaomi devices, run a heavily skinned version of Android named MIUI, and it’s one of those skins that you either love or hate. It’s full of pastel colors and iOS-like square-ish icons, and no app tray.
I generally find the software aesthetically pleasing and I respect the attention to detail that went into MIUI. There are customizations galore, little MIUI specific animation touches, and there’s a new swiping navigation system that maximizes screen space more than what Google has planned for Android 9.0.
Still, after a week I installed Nova Launcher.
Battery life is superb on the Mi Mix 2S, but partly because MIUI is very aggressive at killing background apps, to the point that it breaks push notifications. I wrote a guide on how to undo the aggressive battery management two years ago and the method still works. Even after turning off the aggressive battery optimization, the Mi Mix 2S’ 3,400 mAh cell still offers five-plus hours screen-on time easily.
Bargain hunt
There are lots of small refinements and improvements across the board that won’t be noticed right away: the Mi Mix 2S supports wireless charging (the first Xiaomi device to do so); and it has stereo speakers, with sound coming out of the devices’ bottom-firing grille and earpiece.
The “it” phone of the moment in phone review circles is the OnePlus 6 (my review will come in a week), with many hailing it as the best value smartphone. Truth be told, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, which starts at 3599 yuan (roughly $560) is a slightly better value. It’s got the same Snapdragon 845, same 8GB of RAM, but it’s got wireless charging, superior speakers, and a comparable camera.
The reason OnePlus gets all the love–and the “best value” title–is because it’s available officially around the world, and it has a clean Android software designed to cater to westerners. The Mi Mix 2S, has an Android skin and had previously been mostly sold in Asia. But that’s about to change. Ahead of its potential record-setting IPO, the company has begun opening its Mi Home stores in France and Italy.
