Xiaomi's Redmi range of smartphones has become a de-facto option for most of the users in India. At the start of the year, Xiaomi said that they would launch Mi smartphones in India, along with the Redmi series. And here comes the first Mi smartphone- the Mi Max 2, which is the successor to last year's Mi Max.
The Mi Max 2 comes with a 6.44-inch display; one might wonder who's going to buy a 6.44-inch smartphone, which doesn't have any bezel-less display. But note this point, Xiaomi has sold over 3 million units of Mi Max since its launch last year, which is the only reason for the company to launch its successor.
Furthermore, Xiaomi also said that the Mi Max became the best selling smartphone in the 6-inch or bigger display smartphone category. That said, the Mi Max was considered as a larger variant of the Redmi Note 3 because it used the same hardware, camera setup and had a bigger display and battery.
However, the Mi Max 2 is not a bigger variant of this year's Redmi Note 4. Even though the Mi Max 2 uses the same chipset, the amount of RAM & storage and the device has some unique features of its own. I spent a day with the Xiaomi's latest phablet, the Mi Max 2. Here's my account of the same.
Design and Display
One unique feature of the Mi Max 2 is its design. Xiaomi has changed the entire design language of the Mi Max 2 from the Redmi 4 series. The antenna bands are now present at the top and bottom of the device, same as the Apple iPhone 7 and Oppo R11. Also, the Chinese company launched only the matte black colour option in India, which is a good move because consumers in India went crazy about the matte black versions of the Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 4.
The design is distinct and one thing which I noticed immediately after taking the device into my hands how sleek it is. The Mi Max 2 have a larger battery, but that didn't keep the Xiaomi engineers away from building a slimmer handset. The Mi Max 2 measures just 7.6mm in thickness and weighs 211grams, but the weight is evenly distributed, and you won't feel like holding a smartphone of above 200grams.
The Mi Max 2 uses the same 6.44-inch Full HD display as the Mi Max, but the brightness levels have increased by a significant margin. This time around, Xiaomi has announced that the display is protected by the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 technology. The screen looked decent in the short time I spent with the device.
Hardware
As said earlier, the hardware of the Mi Max 2 is similar to the Redmi Note 4. The device uses the 2.0GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The storage is expandable up to 256GB with the help of a microSD card.
The device performed well and was quick in opening the system apps. However, the Snapdragon 625 might struggle with intensive use and the app load time is something the chipset disappointed users in the past. We will test the performance of the phone in coming days and will come out with a full verdict in the review.
Camera
Another aspect where the Mi Max 2 excels is the camera. Xiaomi has used the 12MP Sony IMX386 sensor, same as the Xiaomi Mi 6's primary sensor. The sensor has an aperture of f/2.2, dual LED flash, and can record 4K videos as well. Here are a few camera samples shot with the Mi Max 2.
The disappointing note, however, is that the phone still has a 5MP front-facing camera, which is a bummer.
Battery
Coming to the battery, the Mi Max 2 has a 5300mAh unit with support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 and Parallel Charge technology. Xiaomi claims a complete day battery life with an hour charge or to be precise 68 percent charge with an hour charge.
Also, the Mi Max 2 beats the Nokia 3310 in the standby time segment because it is claimed to offer astounding 57 hours of standby time.
Conclusion
Almost every brand in India is going after the selfie trend, but Xiaomi is just looking for price-to-specs ratio, and the Mi Max 2 follows the same motto. The 6.44-inch phablet doesn't offer a groundbreaking selfie camera, high-end hardware, nor a top-notch display, but it offers insane hardware for the asking price of Rs. 16,999.
We will come up with over full review of the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 in coming days. Let us know if you want to cover us any specific segment in the device by commenting below.
