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Interface and reliability
- Cleaner Android overlay
- Number of pre-installed apps is unnecessary
Xiaomi has cleaned up its Android skin MIUI greatly over the past year or so, which doesn't mean it is anywhere close to stock but that you get a neater on-screen experience. But the missing app drawer definitely makes it look cluttered. You either need to rearrange the apps in folders or you can install a third party app drawer to get apps in place. So if you need to look for a particular app, most other UIs allow you to search for them using the search bar, but in this case you have to depend upon the Google search widget to reach an app.
Under MIUI 8 (MIUI 9 coming soon), there's Android 7 Nougat and Xiaomi claims the phone will get Android Oreo upgrade soon.
I personally prefer near stock Android experience but we cannot ignore the fact that MIUI is one of the finest Android skins presently. How can we forget MIUI is what Xiaomi started its success with. Like always the UI comes with quite a few features out of the box. While some of them feel unnecessary, there are few like the Quick Ball, which made me realise there’s no need to get down to the navigation keys, dual app lets users to use two instances of a single app like WhatsApp, Facebook or few more.
Although the UI feels smooth, it still requires some touch up. I noticed a few occasional bugs like freezing display and missing notifications but looking at how frequently Xiaomi rolls out bug fixes, it should be gone in next two updates. Apart from this, there’s still no support for 18:9 aspect ratio in apps like YouTube, neither can you tap and stretch the video to corners like on the Samsung Galaxy S8. Lastly, the camera app prompts the user to turn the phone upside down to click selfies, but when it comes to apps like Instagram and Snapchat, there’s no such option. Even when you are making video calls via WhatsApp, you cannot rotate the camera to fix the position.
We just hope Xiaomi rolls out fixes for these issues by the time Mi Mix 2 lands in India. I’ll update the software part once I receive the stable version of MIUI 9 on my Mix 2.
Music, movies and gaming
- Videos look stunning
- Gaming is smooth
- Mediocre audio experience
With tons of processing power, stereo speakers and a full HD edge to edge display, the Mi Mix 2 is a good choice for multimedia aficionados.
If you like watching video content on your phone, then the Mi Mix will surely going to spoil you with its immersive display focused design. The panel with minimal bezels pops out while streaming high resolution video content.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 is getting rave reviews when it comes to handling games. The flagship chipset along with 6GB RAM ensure impressive gaming capabilities, it literally handles anything you throw at it. Holding the phone in landscape while gaming may block loudspeaker or result in accidental touches here and there due to thin bezels, but users should get use to the correct holding position over the time.
The front-facing stereo speaker is an advantage which fires audio directly to your direction even when the main loudspeaker is blocked.
Those speakers also come in useful when you listen to music or watching a video without any audio accessory. The sound output is pretty loud, clear and crisp. But unlike the recently launched Mi A1, there's no extras when you switch to headphones or earphones. So expect a usual audio, which is good until and unless a greedy audiophile soul rests inside you.
The sad part is that there's no 3.5mm jack but the good part is that Xiaomi bundles an USB Type-C to 3.5mm converter.
Performance
- Fast, fluid operation with no lag
- Apps open quickly and multi-tasking is smooth
As I've already mentioned above, the Snapdragon 835 chipset along with 6GB RAM is a great combination to take on almost every task you will ask a smartphone to do in 2017.
The only issues are with the software which are expected to get fixed soon, and will further smoothen the performance of the device.
Apps load swiftly, Android runs smoothly, and the Mi Mix 2 will run multiple apps at the same time, it will keep your minimized tasks saved for long and let you jump between them without a hitch.
