On February 26, Xiaomi will attend MWC 2018, the best trade show of the year for mobile devices. But the Chinese company will probably not showcase Xiaomi Mi7 as you may have expected. The hi-tech giant which recently re-joined the top 5 best smartphone brands in the world will take advantage of Mobile World Congress to announce the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, the first intermediate “S” version of the Mi Mix series. It will be a flagship killer, but it should also have great quality-price ratio just like every other phone released by the company.
Here is everything we know about the upcoming flagship thanks to rumors and leaks surfaced in the last months.
Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S: Design
The design will get significant improvements if we are to compare the Mi Mix 2S with its predecessor. The Mi Mix series has always been focused on the screen-to-body ratio, and the STB ratio will be even higher than the Mi Mix 2 on this model. According to leaked images, the bezels will be extremely narrow on each of the sides of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, and there will be a very small notch on the top right corner which will make space for the front camera. Either the whole body or the back cover of the handset should be made of ceramic, and the overall looks should be one of the most interesting things ever seen on a phone.
We expected to see a fingerprint reader on the rear side, but a recent banner shows that there is no fingerprint reader on the back cover. This makes us think that Xiaomi may have opted for a fingerprint reader embedded in the display thanks to the new chip unveiled by Synaptics. According to the leaked image, it is unlikely that the fingerprint reader will be replaced with a 3D facial recognition technology like Face ID, because there is no space for a sensor like that on the front side. At last, expect to see a dual SIM tray and an IR sensor to use the phone as remote control for your TV.
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Display
Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is expected to come with a 5.99-inch display just like Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 and Note 5 Pro, which should show images with the same Full HD+ resolution of about 1080 x 2160 pixels (we say “about” because, due to the notch, the resolution will not be exactly 1080 x 2160 like other 18:9 displays). The display will obviously have an 18:9 aspect ratio. Xiaomi has never released a device with a 2K display and this decision will probably continue with the Mi Mix 2S as well.
Hardware
Under the hood, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S will have the best components that you can imagine. The SoC will be the best 2018 chipset by Qualcomm: the octa-core Snapdragon 845 with a max clock frequency of 2.8 GHz. This processor includes a dedicated module for artificial intelligence, so expect several AI features on this handset. The SoC should be paired with 8 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of internal storage, which is the best configuration ever seen on an Android phone. Unfortunately, we still do not know if the internal storage will have the latest UFS technology to ensure high speeds in data transfer.
Camera
Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S should be better than its predecessor in terms of camera performance. The flagship will sport a dual camera setup in a vertical configuration at the center of the back cover, and the LED flash will be placed between the two sensors. Some firmware files have revealed that there will be a Sony IMX363 sensor. The camera will surely have some AI features like, for example, scene recognition to automatically adjust the colors and other parameters. Automatic HDR, object tracking, and chroma flash should be available as well, given that they are typical MIUI features.
Battery
Talking about the battery, there shouldn’t be significant improvements. Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S should come with a 3400 mAh lithium unit, the same capacity as the Mi Mix 2. But the energy consumption may be optimized better given that there is a better SoC in the internals. Anyway, if the leaks about the battery capacity are to be believed, there shouldn’t be much difference in terms of battery life.
Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S: Price
There is still no information regarding the price of Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, but Xiaomi has hardly ever disappointed us with its pricing. This handset may be the cheapest flagship phone with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset launched at MWC 2018, as Samsung Galaxy S9 and the alleged Sony Xperia XZ Pro should be very far from being affordable. But the price will still be higher than the Mi Mix 2, obviously.
