Xiaomi Air 12 review

The Air 2 laptop is a very decent first effort from Xiaomi but unfortunately the competition is absolutely cutthroat even at this price range. It has a great MacBook-inspired design, decent performance and battery life, but suffers from a couple of flaws that dampen its appeal.

We liked

There's a lot to love about the Xiaomi Air 2, like the all-metal chassis with a keyboard featuring large keys, and a charger that integrates the plug. Xiaomi's decision to offer an extra expansion slot and to allow for easy access is also laudable.

We disliked

The absence of a card reader puzzles us (although on the other hand, docking stations can be used to remedy the situation) and the use of edge-to-edge glass, while aesthetically pleasing, is likely to lose its appeal within a few weeks.

Final verdict

The Xiaomi Air 2 is a great little laptop that's let down by some design and hardware choices – for example, a beefier processor could have been chosen for the same outlay and a DisplayPort connector would have been nice.

Then there's the fact that there are other alternative devices that are either cheaper (Lenovo Yoga 700) with more flexibility, more system memory, and better connectivity. Most importantly, they are all available for sale in the UK which makes aftersales support far, far easier.

• Check out our round-up of the 15 best laptops you can buy in 2016