Xiaomi has finally announced the highly anticipated Mi MIX 2S flagship phone. It has arrived as the first smartphone from China to feature the Snapdragon 845 chipset. One of the major attractions of the Mi MIX 2S is that it features dual rear cameras that is equipped with numerous functions.
Design and Display
When it comes to the front design, the Mi MIX 2S appears quite similar to the Mi MIX 2. It measures 150.86 x 74.9 x 8.1mm and weighs 189 grams. Xiaomi has slightly reduced the size of the bottom bezel that features a selfie camera at the right corner. The slim-sized upper bezel features an earpiece.
The Mi MIX 2s features a 7000-series aluminum frame and four-sided curved ceramic body. It can be availed in black and white color options. The dual camera module of the black and white models is respectively surrounded by gold and silver accents.
Like the Mi MIX 2, its upgraded model features an IPS LCD Full Screen 2.0 display that measures 5.99 inches and it offers Full HD+ resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. The screen that delivers an aspect ratio of 18:9 carries support for DCI-P3 color gamut. The Mi MIX 2S offers higher screen-to-body ratio than the Mi MIX 2. However, the exact information of the screen-to-body ratio of MI MIX 2S was not revealed at its launch event.
Performance, Variants and Software
The Snapdragon 845 chipset coupled with Artificial Intelligence Engine (AIE) powers the Mi MIX 2S. It is packed with Quick Charge 3.0 enabled 3,400mAh battery like the Mi MIX 2. However, the Mi MIX 2S is the first Xiaomi phone to arrive with support wireless charging. Its supports 7.5W Qi wireless charging like the 2017 iPhones. The wireless charging bed made available for Mi MIX 2S can be also used for charging other compatible phones.
Here are all the variants of the Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S:
- 6GB RAM + 64GB ROM
- 6GB RAM + 128GB ROM
- 8GB RAM + 256GB ROM (King Version)
All the variants of the Mi MIX 2S feature a microSD card slot. It is running on Android 8.0 Oreo that is flavored with the latest MIUI 9.5 that brings along support for full screen gestures. According to Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun, the Xiao AI voice assistant (only available in China) that has been introduced on the Mi MIX 2S is smart enough to take on the Apple’s Siri. It also includes support for Google ARCore.
AI Dual Camera and Selfie Camera
The Mi MIX 2S is the first phone in its series to feature a vertically aligned dual camera setup. It features an f/1. 8 aperture 12-megapixel Sony IMX363 wide-angle lens that has a pixel size of 1.4micron as the primary sensor. It is coupled with a secondary 12-megapixel telephoto lens that carries support for 2x optical zoom. The dual rear cameras can capture impressive bokeh effect shots by effectively blurring the background and focusing more on the subject.
Also, the backgrounds of the bokeh shots can be customized with 6 kinds of dynamic effects such as AI Dream Bokeh, Van Gogh Starry Night effect and so on. The AI also makes it possible to detect up to 206 scenes along with support for real-time language translation and currency.
With multi-frame image processing for noise reduction onboard, the images shot in low-light conditions are captured with rich details. The dual rear cameras are enabled with features like dual pixel autofocus, dual-tone LED flash and 4-axis optical image stabilization. On DxOMark, the Mi MIX 2S has scored of 101 in photography benchmarks. However, the total benchmarks of DxOMark is 97 which puts it behind the likes of Samsung Galaxy S9+ and Google Pixel 2 XL. The score of 97 ranks it alongside other phones like iPhone X and Huawei Mate 10 Pro.
The 8-megapixel selfie camera is also capable at snapping amazing bokeh effect shots through AI. The Mi MIX 2S includes support for facial recognition through the front camera.
Other Features
The front camera of the Mi MIX 2S also works as face unlock feature. Its back panel is fitted with a fingerprint reader. The connectivity features available on the Mi MIX 2S include dual-SIM, USB-C, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, NFC and it supports 43 network bands from 226 countries. Like the Mi MIX 2, it does not feature a 3.5mm audio jack.
Pricing and Availability
The pricing of the different variants of the Mi MIX 2S are as follows:
- 6GB RAM + 64GB ROM = 3,299 Yuan (~$527)
- 6GB RAM + 128GB ROM = 3,599 Yuan (~$575)
- 8GB RAM + 256GB ROM (King Version) = 3,999 Yuan (~$639)
The wireless charging station for Mi MIX 2S is priced at 99 Yuan (~$15) only. The All the 6 GB variants are available in black color whereas the special edition model has a white-colored ceramic body. The official sales of the Mi MIX 2S will begin on April 3.
