Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 camera samples, photo gallery and first hands-on impressions

The design is the main talking point of Xiaomi Mix 2. It comes with a stunning ceramic unibody making it super glossy to hold in hands. The phone measures 7.7mm in thickness which is good, however, it feels heavier than expected at 185g. It misses onto a 3.5mm audio jack, unlike its predecessor which I don’t appreciate. But these days there’s this kind of trend on all the flagship smartphones that they are expected without a headphone jack out of the box. So, there’s nothing you can do about it. Up top consists of a secondary microphone at the bottom, there’s a primary microphone, USB Type-C port, and speaker output. On the Right side of Mi Mix 2, there’s a volume controller and a power button whereas, on the left, there’s SIM card tray. Moving on the back, there’s no Mi branding this time around. Instead, it says “Mix designed by Xiaomi.” It carries a fingerprint scanner on the back which I put to test. It was snappy and accurate and worked every time I gave it a try. The back is a fingerprint magnet, which is why I had to keep cleaning it all the time.

The Mi Mix 2 features a ceramic body with 18K gold plated camera ringXiaomi Mi Mix 2 Display

The display has to be the second most important aspects of Xiaomi Mi Mix 2. Size of the display has been reduced from a 6.4-inch to a 5.9-inch, featuring 1,920 x 1,080 pixels resolution (18:9 ratio) and 80.8% screen-to-body ratio. The display is further protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4 resulting in 401 PPI pixel density. If you watch closely, you’ll understand that the front is entirely taken up by the screen, leaving space for no bezels at all. However, it has made some room for extra real estate on both the top as well as the bottom, so that users can consume more content on the screen. The display feels premium and appears to have a smudge-resistant oleophobic coating since it doesn’t easily attract smudges and fingerprints.

The Mi Mix 2 flaunts an edge-to-edge displayXiaomi Mi Mix 2 Main Camera

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 houses a 12-megapixel shooter with phase detection autofocus, optical image stabilisation and dual-tone LED flash. It can also record 4K videos at 30 frames per second (fps). During my initial experience with the device, I found focusing to be faster thanks to OIS. It fared well in outdoor photography since photos taken under natural light turned out to be impressive. See the camera samples below. Focusing at the time of taking indoor shots took a bit longer, but overall photos seemed decent. I’d like to reserve my opinions about the primary camera until I put it to a thorough test.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 Selfie Camera

Things get really weird when it comes to taking selfies on Mi Mix 2. The reason is the placement of a secondary camera on the front. It’s located at the bottom right corner unlike all other phones available out there. So, when I first held the device straight and switched to selfie camera, I could only see my neck and it feels as if you’ve held the device a bit down while clicking selfies. Although selfies were good, it’ll sure take some time for me to get accustomed to this awkward selfie experience on Mi Mix 2.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 Camera Samples

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 Software

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS with MIUI Global 8.5 running on top. Software experience on Mi Mix 2 appears to have gone through some drastic changes in terms of overall user experience. The lock screen now offers “Slide to unlock” similar to what we’ve seen already on Apple iPhone. Icons have also changed and now look different. Similarly, notification center has undergone drastic changes as well. So, if you’ve been a regular Xiaomi/MIUI user, you are likely to find all this entirely new.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 UI layoutXiaomi Mi Mix 2 Verdict

During a limited amount of time I spent with Mi Mix 2, I was impressed with its overall design and build quality. It undoubtedly feels premium and glossy thanks to its ceramic body while holding it in the hands. But I’d to reserve my opinions with regards to display, camera, performance, software and batter until I get a chance to properly review it on Techook.

Xiaomi Mi Mix Photo Gallery