Last year Xiaomi released the Mi Max and while it was definitely a niche product, it became very popular since the phone offered a lot of value for the price. This year, Xiaomi released the upgraded Mi Max 2 that has a humongous 6.44” display, metal body and a lot more. Learn more in our full Xiaomi Mi Max 2 review.
Thanks to Gearbest for sending the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 for a review.
VIDEO REVIEW
UNBOXING
The phone ships with all the usual stuff, no extras included.
DESIGN and DISPLAY
Last year Xiaomi released the Mi Max and while it was definitely a niche product due to its large display, it became very popular since the phone offered a lot of value for the price.
Same as last year, the Mi Max 2 is definitely not for everyone since it is ridiculously huge due to it’s 6.44” 1080p display, which is really sharp and vibrant, and the sunlight legibility is decent. Some sources claim that the display is covered with the Gorilla Glass 4. I’m not 100% sure about that but I’m yet to scratch it.
The build quality is excellent as the phone is made entirely of metal, the antennas’ design looks better than on some older Xiaomi phones, the buttons do not rattle and in general, the Mi Max 2 looks and feels like a flagship phone.
We have a notification LED light, which is, however, not customizable like before.
The capacitive keys sport the same layout as usual and they are nicely backlit.
The fingerprint scanner is one of the best in class. It is fast, accurate and it allows you to unlock the phone straight from the standby mode.
HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE
The Mi Max 2 may look like a downgrade from the original Mi Max in terms of the processing power since it uses a slightly less powerful Snapdragon 625 chip, which is coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage. You can also opt in for a 128GB model if you need a lot of local storage.
I have to tell you that you don’t need to worry about phone’s gaming performance. The Mi Max 2 handles each game I played on the highest graphics setting very well, with just a few skipped frames. Also, I didn’t notice any overheating issues even after 30 mins of gaming.
BENCHMARKS
USER INTERFACE
My Xiaomi Mi Max 2 runs on the MIUI Global ROM 8.5 that is based on Android 7.1. As usual, we have quite a few features, tweaks and customization options Xiaomi phones have been famous for.
Just to name a few, I like changing the transition effects, choosing from a variety of themes or wallpapers, quickly launching the camera from the standby mode, adjusting a few display settings manually or using a built-in app lock feature.
Most importantly, the Mi Max 2 is really fast and fluid no matter what I do with it even after installing quite a few apps.
MULTIMEDIA and ENTERTAINMENT
Since the Mi Max 2 has a huge display, a lot of people will most likely use it for multimedia consumption or entertainment. Therefore, you need a good loudspeaker and the Mi Max 2 delivers in this department with its stereo speakers setup. One is on the bottom and another is embedded in the earpiece. The sound quality is one of the best you can find on any sub-$300 phone. The sound is rich, crisp and clear and the volume output is very good.
The sound quality via the headset jack is also great. No distortions and balanced sound.
CAMERAS
When it comes to optics, the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 has a 12MP camera that has f/2.0 aperture lens and dual tone dual-LED flash. The selfie camera uses a 5MP sensor. The stock Xiaomi camera app allows you to take pictures very fast. Also, there are a few shooting modes like a manual mode that lets you adjust a few image settings.
The daylight image quality is pretty good considering this is a $300 phone. The pictures are sharp, there is a good amount of detail and colors look nice. However, some of the shots may come out underexposed.
The low-light camera performance is not so great as images are really noisy and grainy.
The 4k video looks quite good. The footage is detailed and quite sharp. However, you may see some auto-focus issues, some video artifacts, and the auto-exposure can work more gracefully. Also, the video stabilization could be better. The 1080p video looks quite good too but naturally, there is less detail compared to the 4k footage. The slow-motion video is decent but there is quite a bit of noise and the auto-focus seems to be jumping too quickly.
The selfies look quite good and there should definitely be enough quality for social media needs.
The 1080p selfie video quality is decent. The sound recording quality is quite good but the sound volume is quite low for some reason.
Download full resolution camera samples
CONNECTIVITY
When it comes to connectivity, the Mi Max 2 almost excellent. Wifi speed and range are great and the Bluetooth 4.2 works fine. Also, the navigation is very accurate thanks to the built-in GPS, Beidou and Glonass receivers. There is also a built-in FM radio. However, you have to know that the phone lacks the LTE band 20, and there is no NFC.
The Mi Max 2 has a hybrid dual-SIM card tray that can take either 2 SIMs or 1 SIM and the microSD card. The call quality and signal reception are great using either SIM card slot.
As for sensors, the Mi Max 2 has an accelerometer, ambient light, gravity, proximity and gyroscope sensors that work just fine. There is also an IR blaster that allows you to control devices like TVs.
BATTERY LIFE
The 5200mAh battery on the Mi Max 2 is just fantastic.
Snapdragon 625 is one of the most efficient chips out there and thus, you can use the phone for days. That translates to over 11 hours of screen-on time, depending on how you use the phone. In other words, you can use this phone for 4 or even 5 days, which is just an amazing result.
In case you need to recharge the battery, it takes just about 2.5 hours to do it with the supplied fast charger.
CONCLUSIONS
The Xiaomi Mi Max 2 is one of the best oversized budget phablets you can buy.
For the price of less than $300, you will get an all-metal device that just looks premium, a humungous 6.44” display, great all around performance, MIUI 8 with a ton of features, stereo speakers setup, and a killer battery life.
The camera performs quite good in daylight but it struggles in lower-lit situations and in the video mode. Also, the phone lacks NFC, LTE Band 20 and finally, this phone is definitely not for everyone due to its sheer size.
At the end of the day, the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 is still a fantastic option if you are looking for a super-sized phablet but as always, make sure to consider a few shortcomings before making a purchase.
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