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
GPU Performance
On the GPU performance side, I’m expecting again very good results as we’ve investigated the performance of the Snapdragon 845 and the Adreno 630 GPU in depth in our Galaxy S9 review. The Mi MIX 2S should not differ too much from the S9 – apart from maybe slight differences in thermal dissipation capabilities or maybe different thermal throttling configurations.
In Futuremark’s Sling Shot 3.1 Extreme Unlimited Physics test (I’m hoping for shorter benchmark names in the future), the Mi MIX 2S actually performed quite a bit less than the Galaxy S9+. This test is mostly CPU bound, and the only explanation I have here for the results is that Xiaomi must have had made changes to the thermal balance between CPU and GPU and limited the CPU performance more in 3D workloads.
In the graphics score results of the test, the MIX 2S performed a lot closer to the Galaxy S9, posting identical peak performance figures while having only slightly slower sustained performance. Unfortunately we’ve verified both with a second Galaxy S9+ as well as now with the Mi MIX 2S that the sustained performance degradation of the Snapdragon 845 was not an isolated case. This makes sense given that the increased peak performance of the Adreno 630 seems to have come from increased power draw, exceeding the 5W figure in ALU heavy workloads. As naturally phone thermal envelopes can only sustain 3-3.5W SoC TDPs, performance has to go down over time to keep temperatures in check.
Manhattan 3.1 Off-screen performs again nearly identically to the Galaxy S9+, topping the benchmark scores.
T-Rex also matches the Galaxy S9+. The performance of the S845 devices here seems to be lower as the benchmark is running at high fps figures and demanding a lot of memory bandwidth – it’s possible that the increased memory latency on the S845 chips is hindering the performance and efficiency of the chip compared to the S835 in this case.
Overall, in terms of 3D performance the Mi MIX 2S leaves little complain about. While the increased peak power is of a concern, I’ve only found few games and real scenarios where the higher GPU frequencies are actually currently needed. Over the coming months I’m also planning to expand the GPU testing methodology and among other things try to introduce a “real game” battery or power draw test that doesn’t actually require peak performance, but rather maximum efficiency for a given workload. We’ll also hoping to introduce Vulkan GPU tests from Kishonti as well as evaluating the recently announced Basemark GPU.
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onisad - Friday, June 29, 2018 - link
"It’s clear that the nearest competitor to the MIX 2S is the Galaxy S9+"It's a good review but I think it would have benefited from direct comparisons to the OnePlus 6, as they seem more direct competitors to me, particularly in Europe as you mention: prices and hardware offering between the 2 devices are close, both phones are available to buy online rather than through carriers (afaik), etc.
Always nice to see the Anandtech methodologies applied to phone reviews though, thanks!
Andrei Frumusanu - Friday, June 29, 2018 - link
I'll be receiving the OnePlus 6 next week so I avoided making any comparisons to it without having had the phone in my hands. Obviously it's a valid contender.beersy - Friday, June 29, 2018 - link
I'm sure I'm a minority here, but isn't the screen of a phone the most important part? Frankly I don't game on my phone all the time, but I am always using the display. I would rather have a slightly lessor processor and/or RAM and those funds be diverted to the most important part of a Smartphone. This is clearly a situation where specs were more important than user experience IMHO. And the placement of the front facing camera is just ridiculous.StormyParis - Friday, June 29, 2018 - link
Agreed on the screen (not only latency, but reflections and black levels are also pet peeves for me) The front facing camera is an issue only if you make a lot of video calls. For shooting selfies, having to hold the phone upside down is not an issue.jospoortvliet - Saturday, June 30, 2018 - link
Agreed, I am hoping the next version will have a good AMOLED screen...Fergy - Sunday, July 1, 2018 - link
How often do you use the front camera? It is only meant for selfies and short video calls right? I prefer this solution to a notch.Holliday75 - Tuesday, July 3, 2018 - link
For me it would be a non-issue. I've used the front facing camera on my Pixel 2 maybe 2 or 3 times. I'm sure some users it would be much bigger problem.StormyParis - Friday, June 29, 2018 - link
Nice review thank you. Most compare it to the OnePlus 6 and the Honor 10 (or is it View 10 ?), with mixed results. Also, Samsung is being increasingly aggressive with promos on their current and older-gen devices. The 500€ space is very crowded.I myself buy one step down, Redmi line and Mi Max not Mix. $200 buys you a whole lot of phone these days, I feel reviews skew way too much to the high end.
GreenReaper - Saturday, June 30, 2018 - link
Still rocking my Redmi 2 2GB, but the discontinuation of battery replacements is an issue (and OS - LineageOS worked great, until it didn't). I found an off-brand replacement batter, but as I suspected it doesn't last as long as the original when new, and appears to have issues delivering peak current when below 50%. It'd be nice if they lasted for stockpiling!serendip - Saturday, June 30, 2018 - link
I'm happy with Xiaomi making devices likea this as long as it keeps the Redmi and Mi Max lines. I'm willing to stick with a fast midrange SoC like the 650, 660 or 636 and still get MicroSD storage, a robust metal body, IR blaster and a headphone jack. The Mi Max 2 is the best value when it comes to large and cheap phones with almost-premium parts.