Xiaomi Mi Mix 2: The screen that isn't that big at all
18.12.2017
Translation: machine translated
Video: Stephanie Tresch
The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 boasts a gigantic screen. After taking a look at the phone, I have to do the maths. Is the screen really gigantic? And the calculation raises a whole slew of questions.
Samsung boasts that "we have small bezels at the top and bottom". None on the sides, a little at the top and bottom.
"Hah! We can do better," thinks Xiaomi and shows with the Mi Mix 2 that bezels are totally stupid. Because the Mi Mix looks extremely stylish. If you want an eye-catcher in your trouser pocket, then take a look at the Mi Mix.
I have done this and find that Xiaomi's marketing promises things that it can only deliver to a limited extent. Although these exaggerations are not necessary.
Power behind the screen, with one concern
The 5.99-inch diagonal screen is not enough for Xiaomi. The Mi Mix 2 packs quite a punch behind it. The Chinese phone, which digitec imports for you, joins the ranks of 6 GB RAM phones. Add to this a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 and the phone can easily keep up with the flagships of the major manufacturers.
Only the battery worries me, without really having any test data. It is therefore quite possible that this paragraph in an article that is explicitly not intended to be a review will turn out to be wrong. Of course, the Snapdragon platform is not only powerful, but also pretty well power-optimised. In other words: high performance, low battery consumption. That's how it should be.
If only it weren't for the screen.
The battery measures 3400 mAh, which is pretty decent. I wouldn't worry about that with an OLED display. The LG V30 gets through the day easily for a power user with a 3300 mAh battery. I rarely have less than 40% battery when I go to sleep. However, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 has an LCD screen, which can consume more power under certain circumstances.
A few words about the power consumption of display technologies, because otherwise the First Look would be extremely short and you wouldn't have read anything clever.
LCD does not necessarily consume more power than an OLED screen. However, the amount of power consumed by LCD is defined by how brightly the screen has to shine. Although LCD produces a brighter picture, at least in theory, it also consumes more power. OLED, on the other hand, requires less power if the screen has to display darker images. In other words, the darker the screen, the more energy-efficient it is. That was oversimplified, but it gets the basics right.
So does the screen break the phone's proverbial neck? I do some research. In the list of phone tests and their testers, I notice that we have tested many OLED phones in the recent past. Fortunately, however, Luca Fontana can report on a phone that not only has an LCD screen, but an even smaller battery. The Nokia 8 with 6 GB RAM, affectionately named by the editorial team after actor Vin Diesel, has a 3030 mAh battery but a smaller screen. "I still had about 50% battery when I went out to the office," Luca remembers. After that, his consumption became irregular, but it rarely fell below the 30 per cent brand.
So I have to correct myself. The Mi Mix 2 holds up easily. Because even without a benchmark and only with anecdotal reports and a rough estimate, the Mi Mix can't fail in everyday use. Well done, Xiaomi.
And we can conclude: A phone is not automatically a waste just because it doesn't have an OLED screen.
In the hand
I hold the Mi Mix in my hand. At 185 grams, it's a little heavy. But it feels good. The back is likely to become a fingerprint magnet because, in keeping with this year's trend, it is made of mirrored black ceramic. I like ceramic, but the material is impossible to keep clean. However, the golden accents on the camera and the golden lettering are nice. It just looks a bit classier than white lettering.
But hardly anyone will look at this text because of the back. The highlight should be the front. The display is borderless on three sides. The excitement rises. But when you switch it on, disillusionment sets in. The non-existent edges are very noticeable. Really. I felt as if the bezels on the Mi Mix - the first one I tested for about two weeks a year ago - had been smaller.
Am I being fooled by the marketing or my memory of the marketing for the first Mi Mix? Time for some maths
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A little maths about the Mi Mix
- The first Mi Mix is 158.8 mm long, 81.9 mm wide and 7.9 mm high.
- This results in a surface area of 130.05 cm2
- The screen takes up 108.7 cm2 of this
- This means that the screen takes up 83.57% of the surface area, rounded to two digits
A little calculation about the Mi Mix 2
- The new Mi Mix is 151.8 mm long, 75.5 mm wide and 7.7 mm high
- This results in a surface area of 114.6 cm2
- The screen takes up 92.6 cm2 of this
- This means that the screen takes up 80.80% of the surface area, rounded to two digits
Now I have to marvel. The figure above 80 per cent used to be high. But I was aware that other phones with similarly high figures have come onto the market this season. A quick comparison shows that the Samsung Galaxy S8+ is still quite a bit ahead at 84 per cent.
The mistake in Marketing
The Mi Mix 2 can't help it if the Marketing Department at Xiaomi wants to rest on the laurels and reputation of last year's phone. In a competitive and dynamic market such as the smartphone market, a company can hardly afford to do this and the Mi Mix 2 is a prime example of this. The hymns of praise for the Mi Mix 2 on the official Xiaomi website begin with a lengthy litany across the screen. Then compliments that the predecessor has received
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Finally then, interesting stuff about minimalist design from Philippe Starck, the phone's designer. This is where the thing gets interesting, simply because I have accepted smartphones as "rectangles with rounded corners". A designer's thoughts can therefore make for impressive marketing.
The Mi MIX 2 looks like an evolution but it's a revolution. In the age of dematerialisation, nothing can be more intelligent and more powerful, and at the same time nothing can be less than the Mi MIX 2. This is the ultimate less. Tomorrow will be less.
In short, the marketing does the Xiaomi Mi Mix an injustice. Because it forces questioners to fire up their calculators - and once one argument is made, all others are called into question and mercilessly picked apart. Hence the battery story above and the percentage calculations.
Aside from the Marketing
Despite the massive marketing fail, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is worth a look. Because behind the not-so-large screen, the Chinese manufacturer has installed parts that can compete with any flagship. Current-generation Snapdragon, decent RAM, standard amount of memory, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 can keep up.
What remains? A good phone with marketing that leaves a lot to be desired. <p
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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