The Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S Review: Fantastic Overall Value
by Andrei Frumusanu on June 29, 2018 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Smartphones
- Xiaomi
- MI MIX 2S
Conclusion & End Remarks
The Xiaomi MI MIX 2S overall seems to be a very well rounded phone. Before we’re going to compare it against other devices, we have to keep in mind one thing: pricing. Xiaomi’s main advantage over the years has always been its ability to undercut the competition while still providing cutting edge hardware. This is more important than ever as the company is expanding its presence in the big European markets. Currently, the MIX 2S can be found for 525€ for 64GB and 576€ for 128GB variants on German Amazon, with Prime delivery.
It’s clear that the nearest competitor to the MIX 2S is the Galaxy S9+ - and in this review I’ve mostly compared it against the Snapdragon variant of the S9+ which isn’t available in Europe, and one has to keep in mind the Exynos version performs worse and has worse battery life.
Keeping that in mind, we can contextualize the MIX 2S’s performances better.
In terms of overall device performance, I think I was very clear – as there’s no competition. This is currently the fastest smartphone available, at least certainly among Android devices. Xiaomi integrated the Snapdragon 845 without a hitch, and silicon and software both work tremendously well together. This is an important consideration, especially in the European market as I still don’t see the Exynos S9’s as viable purchases at the current full price of 677€.
Battery life is very good – the toughest competition here is from Huawei as its newest phones present a significant advantage over the competition.
What is probably the Mi MIX 2S’s biggest weak point is the screen. I was subjectively quite annoyed with the pixel response time as it very much results in visible ghosting and smearing, especially in scrolling text. While display accuracy was good and the MIX 2S offers a very accurate sRGB mode, the off-axis viewing angles of the screen aren’t top-notch. This is one of the aspects where paying a premium will actually give you a better product.
Camera wise the MIX 2S was extremely competitive, and actually I was unusually happy with the capture experience as it’s one of the most consistent shooters I’ve tested. While picture quality in every scenario might not be the best, being edged out by the S9 in daylight details and the P20 Pro in low-light scenarios, in terms of overall rounded experience and quality, the MIX 2S is of outstanding value in the camera department.
Overall Xiaomi offers a great product, while not perfect in every aspect, it also doesn’t have any immediate deal breakers that I would say would put it out of consideration for buyers. The screen is one thing that’s subjective and if you have the chance, it’s best to be experienced and evaluated it in person. Oh, and it doesn’t have a headphone jack, so that’s also a thing. All in all, it’s definitely priced where it should be.
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Arbie - Friday, June 29, 2018 - link
No microSD, no sale. I want to easily load and swap sets of media files. The lack of a standard headphone jack hurts too.Lolimaster - Friday, June 29, 2018 - link
Seems phone makers don't get it. Why depende on internet, when you can have tiny sets of mSD's on your wallet, pocket, backpack with different kind of content (favorite music, cartoons, anime, manga, popcorn/hentai)Destoya - Friday, June 29, 2018 - link
Maybe I don't get it either. I admittedly have a S8 with a 128GB SD card in it but I would have no problem going to a phone with 256GB internal storage and no SD card. I have something like 2000 320kbps songs, a bunch of games/apps, and that still is only around half of my total storage. If I really wanted to I could fill the rest of the storage with something like 40 hours of high-quality 1080p rips. More likely if I watch something on my phone I just connect to my Plex server back home with its terabytes of content.SD card support on android has always been a mediocre experience; it certainly works but has always felt tacked on at best. OTG SD/flash drive readers cover most of the remaining use-cases anyways.
FunBunny2 - Friday, June 29, 2018 - link
"Seems phone makers don't get it."their all trying to emulate Jobs: tell the consumer what s/he needs irregardless. so far, he's about the only one to pull it off.
close - Saturday, June 30, 2018 - link
I'm willing to bet their surveys showed people will complain but still buy the phones because the SD slot isn't a real *must* have. I've heard too many people claim "128/256GB is not enough" only to fall flat when they realize how much music fits in there, how many pictures, videos, etc. And the argument "my 4K videos, my lossless audio, my RAW pictures" is about as realistic and compelling as "but my mouse, my Excel, my coding project" on the phone.If you consider how much of that data has to be with you at any time it really stops making sense to insist on memory cards. Especially since they don't excel at reliability so having your only copy on that SD would be a monument of ignorance euphemistically speaking.
Over the years I heard people screaming "no [whatever] no buy" 1000 times. Yet most of them now rock a phone with no replaceable battery, no physical keyboard, no SD slot, no headphone jack, no physical button, no week-long battery, notched screen, etc. They *ALL* pull it off ;).
serendip - Saturday, June 30, 2018 - link
64 GB internal flash with no MicroSD isn't enough for me, especially when the user-accessible space is more like 45 GB after subtracting system and data partitions.Holliday75 - Tuesday, July 3, 2018 - link
How many people do we know in real life that would even know their phone has a SD slot or not? I for one can only think of a couple of cousins and maybe on uncle who would know, and even then I doubt they care.I'm in IT professionally, but even I have no use for it. How big is the market for such items? Sounds great to have and I'm sure if you told people what it was and asked if they wanted it they would mostly say yes, but in the real world I see very little use of it.
ianmills - Friday, June 29, 2018 - link
Go cheaper and you can have what you desire. Xiaomi Redmi note 5 does all that for ~$200djayjp - Friday, June 29, 2018 - link
Apparently NAND performance doesn't matter........Pallmei - Friday, June 29, 2018 - link
400MB/s read, 160MB/s write on my Mi Mix 2. I am sure 2s is no worse and AFAIK they haven't upgraded the specs either