Introduction
Until web content can be beamed directly into our brains, we'll need screens - the bigger, the better. The 6.39" screen of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 is certainly pretty big, almost as big as the original. But size isn't the only thing that makes it "good".
Bezels are just dead space, so efficient design demands that they be covered with screen. The original Mix got 3/4 of the way there, now the fourth model in the series slimmed down the one remaining bezel - the bottom one. The engineers managed to shave 4.46mm off the recent Mi Mix 2S model.
Xiaomi Mi Mix 3
Xiaomi is forging its own path with this one, not following Apple's lead towards notched designs nor adopting Oppo/vivos pop-up mechanisms. This is a manual slider and, besides solving the question of where to put the selfie camera, it enables a tactile interaction with the phone that just feels so satisfying.
The end result is 93.4% screen to body ratio (that's the official number), a hard won improvement over the 91.3% of the original (we had issues with that number, but the new phone seems to be right on the money).
Beside excelling in the screen department, the Mi Mix 3 has a flagship camera as well. It has dual cameras on its front and back and Xiaomi claims its one of the best mobile cameras on the market (with numbers to back it up).
Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 specs
- Body: Slider, 7000-series aluminum, ceramic back
- Screen: 6.39" Super AMOLED, 1,080 x 2,340px (403ppi), 19.5:9 aspect ratio, HDR
- Chipset: Snapdragon 845: octa-core Kryo 385 CPU (4x2.8GHz + 4x1.7GHz); Adreno 630 GPU
- Memory: 6/8GB of RAM (LPDDR4X), 128/256GB storage (UFS 2.1); 10/256GB special edition
- OS: Android 9.0 Pie; MIUI 10
- Camera: 12MP f/1.8 (1.4µm) + 12MP f/2.4 (1.0µm); 4K video capture at 60fps; 1080p at 240fps and 960fps
- Camera features: 2x telephoto, Dual Pixel AF, 4-axis OIS
- Selfie cam: 24MP (0.9µm) + 2MP depth sensor
- Battery: 3,200mAh; 18W QuickCharge 4.0+ supported; 10W wireless charging (charger included in box)
- Security: fingerprint reader on the back; face recognition
- Connectivity: Dual SIM, dual VoLTE; 2x2 MIMO Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX HD, dual band GPS/Galileo, also single-band GLONASS/Beidou; 5G model coming next year
Xiaomi has established itself as a leader in the value market, but it can also build some of the best flagships - the Mi Mix 3 has no peers.
By the way, you may have seen Xiaomi's teasers for 10GB RAM and 5G networking. Those will be available next year and only on the Palace Museum Edition. The focus today is on the regular Mix, which has plenty going for it as well.
Note: we're holding a pre-release unit, so some things don't quite work yet (in particular, we'll be skipping over the benchmarks for now).
Hardware
We've missed sliders - smoothly sliding them open to answer a call and then sliding them shut with a satisfying click to hang up. The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 brings back that tactile joy along with other neat tricks.
This is great, the slider isn't just a way to move the selfie camera off the front bezel and avoid the scar of a notch. The added functionality will see a lot more use than "squeezable" phones like HTC and Google make (have you ever used Edge Sense).
The way that Xiaomi pulled it off is pretty innovative. It uses neodymium magnets to lock the phone in the open and closed positions and also to provide the "springy" feel in between. This is a more durable solution than actual springs, Xiaomi says the Mix has been tested through 300,000 open/close cycles and you can use it as a fidget toy.
Still, pressing down on the top edge of the phone, we can feel the top half of the slider bend a bit. Drop tests with the Mix 3 will be interesting.
Open or closed, the 6.39" screen is always visible. It's a Samsung-made AMOLED with 19.5:9 aspect ratio - and unlike most 19.5:9 phones, you get to use all of the screen, no awkward notches here.
The 6.39" Super AMOLED screen has the front all to itself • Always On Display
It has 1,080 x 2,340px resolution, same as Xiaomi's other flagship models. It tops out at 600 nits maximum brightness with an additional sunlight mode. 430 nits is the typical brightness. Anyway, the display supports HDR and 103.4% coverage of the NTSC color gamut.
Always On Display mode is available as well (we'll see how it affects battery life when we do the full review).
Note that the earpiece lives in the lover half of the slider. You can talk with the slider closed, though.
The earpiece and dual selfie camera are on the bottom half of the slider
The frame of the phone is made out of 7000-series aluminum, which has a higher tensile strength than 6000-series. The back is made of ceramic, which explains the shine (and slippery-ness) that Xiaomi was able to achieve. The glass front offers slightly more grip. The sturdy build and all that ceramic do add to the weight, however, and we didn't like how slippery the phone is - this is a phone you'd better put in a case.
That will make it easier to handle and protect the back in case you do drop it. Speaking of the back, all three color versions are just so reflective, almost like a mirror. Here's a look. It's not quite this reflective in real life, but if that's not a look you like, it's another point for cases.
The ceramic back has a high gloss finish
Sliding the phone open and closed really underscores how slippery the back is (the metal sides too). So, you need to grip the phone tightly to push the slider up and down.
Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 retail box
There's a case included in the box, which was designed to work with the slider form factor. It covers both halves of the slider and somehow doesn't add any friction. It's better than most bundled cases we've seen, Xiaomi is offering a pretty rich retail box. No headphones, though, you just get a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter.
The bundled case
Since the phone launches with MIUI 10, it comes with the Xiao AI assistant. Like its peers, it has a dedicated hardware button on the side of the phone to summon it.
Dedicated Xiao AI assistant button • Power button and volume rocker
The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 has a 3,200mAh battery, not quite the capacity we were hoping for. Still, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that Xiaomi is bundling a 10W wireless charger into the box. Wireless charging is no longer an optional extra.
Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 retail box • The 10W wireless charger
If you need to charge faster, QuickCharge 4.0+ is supported, though a QC 3.0 charger is provided in the box. Both standards provide 18W maximum, though a 4.0 charger has a higher average speed of charge.
USB-C port for charging (no 3.5mm jack) • Top side of the phone
There's a fingerprint scanner on the back of the phone. It's pretty fast, but the one on our pre-release unit experienced some hiccups, which will be fixed for the release version.
We're not sure if this is caused by the slider design or not, but the vibration of the Mi Mix 3 feels weak and hollow.
The slider
We already covered how the slider works, now it's time to focus on what it does. The basic function is to bring out the dual front-facing camera so you can snap a selfie (the camera launches automatically).
Or, if your phone is ringing, you can slide it to answer and close it to hang up. The third thing the slider can do is open a customizable menu with your most-used apps.
There will be an option that lets you switch between launching the selfie camera and the menu, but it will be delivered as a day-one OTA update.
Anyway, the phone plays sound effects as you open and close the phone. Those will be customizable thanks to that same update.
The camera
The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 has two dual cameras, so let's look at them one at a time.
The rear camera brings the same hardware. The main module has a 12MP Sony IMX363 image sensor with large 1.4µm pixels and Dual Pixel autofocus. The lens has an f/1.8 aperture and 4-axis Optical Image Stabilization. The other module has a 2x telephoto lens and uses a 12MP sensor with 1.0µm pixels.
An impressive 12+12MP dual camera
Xiaomi did achieve higher image quality out of the same setup thanks to improved processing. By the time the event in Beijing ended, the sun was already setting, which gave us the opportunity to try out the night mode. So, here are some photos taken at dusk.
The night mode works pretty fast and does manage to bring out more detail.
Mi Mix 3 camera samples: Night mode
We also tried the HDR mode, even though this wasn't the best light for it. Still, you can see it rescue some of the highlights.
Mi Mix 3 photos: HDR on • HDR off • Night mode
Mi Mix 3 photos: HDR on • HDR off • Night mode
Mi Mix 3 photos: HDR on • HDR off • Night mode
Mi Mix 3 photos: HDR on • HDR off • Night mode
Mi Mix 3 photos: HDR on • HDR off • Night mode
A big addition to the video department is the support for higher frame rates. It can do 1080p at 240fps continuously and at 960fps for short clips. Real time videos at 2160p resolution gained a 60fps mode too.
The selfie camera is a significant improvement over the 2S. The Mi Mix 3 now has a dual camera and the main module is much more impressive with its 24MP resolution. It has 0.9µm pixels, with support for 4-in-1 pixel binning. There's also a 2MP depth sensor for bokehs.
Dual selfie camera
The special edition and 5G model
Xiaomi's teaser campaign made a big fuss about 10GB of RAM and 5G connectivity. Those two things together are indeed coming, just not on the vanilla Mi Mix 3. These will be featured on the Forbidden City Edition. It's a different kind of blue, based on the one used for ceramic vases by one of the ruling dynasties of China. It features a gold inlay of a mythical creature on its back (inspired by the statues at said museum). In fact, you will get a statuette in the box alongside this special edition of the Mi Mix 3 and it's has 24K gold plating. This version of the phone is coming out by the end of November (Xiaomi is yet to make up its mind if it will be available outside of China or not).
If you want just the 5G connectivity, there will be another version of the Mi Mix 3 that will have a 5G modem but not 10GB of RAM. How much RAM it will have will be revealed later on. This one will arrive in Europe in Q1 next year.
If you can't wait, the regular Mi Mix 3 models are on pre-sale now and will be available from November 1.
Final thoughts
Sliders and flip phones were highly popular once, but the all touchscreen phone killed them off. The slider form factor is back and better than ever. Will the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 start a trend the same way that the original did (which was among the first tall aspect ratio smartphones)?
While we think that the sliding action is quite cool, useful even, it adds a lot of complexity to the phone. That in turn brings the cost up and will limit this kind of design to flagships only. It also creates other issues, like limiting battery capacity and precluding waterproofing (which may be possible, but with even more complexity).
So, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 is one of a kind, Apple, Samsung, Huawei, Oppo and all the others have nothing quite like this.
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