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
Battery Life
The Mi MIX 2S comes with a 3400mAh battery – a relatively average size given that now we’re starting to see competitor devices with similar form-factors employ 4000mAh units, such as the Huawei P20 Pro. The larger concern for me was how the increased performance characteristics of the Snapdragon 845 as well as the JDI panel will fare in terms of overall device efficiency.
In the web browsing battery life test, the Mi MIX 2S lands with an average 9.86h runtime. This is slightly lower than the Galaxy S9+ - although the MIX 2S also shows slightly better performance. It’s interesting to see that although the MIS 2S only has a 1080p screen, it actually doesn’t really pull in any advantage in efficiency. I’m wondering if it’s in part due to the fact that this is a video-mode screen, or as I’ve simply strongly suspected over the last couple of years – the difference in screen resolution makes for very little difference in battery life, especially if you’re comparing it to a higher resolution OLED screen which doesn’t suffer from decreased light transmissivity at higher resolutions like LCDs do.
In the PCMark battery test we see a more interactive workload with varying picture levels and workload types. Here the MIX 2S also lands square in the middle of current devices; beating the Galaxy S9+ by a few minutes.
Overall the MIX 2S has very good battery life. It doesn’t quite compete with Huawei’s recent devices which are in a league of their own right now, but it more than matches anything else in the market. The only negative thing I’d say is that it’s a pity that it doesn’t really seem to distance itself from the Galaxy S9+ ; both devices have similar form-factors, the same SoC, and almost equal battery capacities. Yet the Mi MIX 2S’s has a lower resolution LCD screen, but that doesn’t really help it in terms of battery life. I’m sure that Xiaomi could have optimised the battery life through a better selection of display panel, as it seems that it’s one of the MIX 2S’s weak points.
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Retycint - Friday, June 29, 2018 - link
Xiaomi's update policy is actually one of the best amongst Android manufacturers, contrary to popular belief. This is especially true for their flagships.For instance, the 2013 flagship, the Mi 3, is still receiving rom/feature updates despite being almost 5 years old
fm13 - Saturday, June 30, 2018 - link
but these are just interface updates, without new OS versions underneathserendip - Sunday, July 1, 2018 - link
Interface and security updates but the underlying Android version remains the same. MIUI decouples the OS and Android versions so it's possible to have the latest MIUI release with a Lollipop base.My Mi Max launched with 6.0 with an official 7.1 update later but 8.0/8.1 third party ROMs are available, if a little flaky. I blame both Xiaomi and Qualcomm for not updating and releasing board support drivers for new Android releases.
ppi - Saturday, June 30, 2018 - link
Is there Android One option?lilmoe - Saturday, June 30, 2018 - link
"vendors need to pay a lot more attention to it, as in the grand scale of things, the cost of writing good software just seems minuscule compared to the vast investments needed to design and manufacture faster silicon chips and to brute-force the issue"This fact is so underrated it's not even funny. Great review Andrei.
Holliday75 - Tuesday, July 3, 2018 - link
I've always wondered if most manufacturers just don't realize how important this is nor do they have any real ability to know if they are getting their money's worth out of their coders.AndrewBCraig - Saturday, June 30, 2018 - link
niceBoloMKXXVIII - Saturday, June 30, 2018 - link
For those complaining about the placement of the selfie camera, just rotate the phone 180 degrees! Now it is in the "correct" location.Andrei Frumusanu - Sunday, July 1, 2018 - link
There's still issues with some apps in terms of flipped rotation, so while that's a valid argument and workaround, it not always guaranteed to work.ionutt - Sunday, July 1, 2018 - link
felicitari pentru review...