Xiaomi’s new Mi Mix 2S comes with wireless charging and dual cameras

At a gala event in Shanghai, Xiaomi took the wraps off their latest wunderkind the Mi Mix 2S as well as a slew of other offerings that include a gaming notebook and a wireless charger.

The Mi Mix 2S is not so much a radical reimagining of its predecessor the Mi Mix 2 as it is a thoughtfully considered, iterative update that retains what made it distinctively good looking while also upgrading it to keep it current. After all, the Mi Mix 2 won a slew of awards on account of its rather posh looking design so they’ve stuck to the approach of ‘if it ain’t broke’, don’t fix it. What they have improved on is notably the inclusion of a dual rear camera array, a refreshed processor along with Qi wireless charging.

Externally, the Mi Mix 2S is a tad bit heavier at 191g versus its predecessors 185g on account of the improved hardware though it is stylistically a chip off the old block with a similarly svelte chassis hewn of aluminium and ceramic.

The rather quaint bottom-chin mounted 5-MP selfie camera remains in its prior position which requires you to flip the phone upside down to take a selfie. Unfortunately, the 3.5mm audio jack remains nixed and it still lacks any water or dust resistance.

The lush display on the Mi Mix 2S is fortunately similar to the Mi Mix 2 with a 5.99-inch, 2,160 x 1080 pixel ratio display that has an 18:9 aspect ratio and super slim bezels all around taking centre stage.

Under the hood, the Mi Mix 2S comes with an improved Snapdragon 845 processor running Android 8.0 Oreo under the hood versus the older Snapdragon 835 running Android 7.0 Nougat on the Mi Mix 2.

This is paired with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM and with 64GB, 128GB or 256GB of non-expandable storage depending on configuration which is dependent on market.  For China, the phone will have a digital assistant that they’ve dubbed as “Xiao Ai” which offers similar functionality to Google Assistant.

Mi Mix 2S Rear Dual Cameras

The biggest, most important update to the Mi Mix 2S is that it upguns the rear cameras to include two 12-MP sensors. One camera sports a wide-angle lens f/1.8 with four-axis optical stabilisation while the other has a 2x optical zoom telephoto lens with an f/2.4 aperture.

So far so good but where it ups the ante over its competitors is that it includes a veritable checklist of top-shelf imaging tech to ensure superior image performance.

The rear cameras include larger individual pixels on the sensors at 1.4 microns,  and – get this – dual-pixel autofocus; it’s apparently akin to the implementation used in Samsung’s renowned Galaxy series phones since the S7 onwards. It also integrates AI for better selfies with dynamic bokeh effects and scene detection all around. 

All this cutting edge tech snags the phone an unprecedented score of 101 on DXo Mark for capturing photos and an overall score of 97, which puts it on par with some of the best phones on the planet.

The Mi Mix 2S is powered by a 3,400mAh battery juiced by a USB Type C port with Quick Charge 3.0 support. This is the same size as the Mi Mix 2 though the enhanced efficiency of the Snapdragon 845 SoC ought to offer enhanced endurance.

Mi Mix 2S Prices and Availability

Prices vary depending on configuration with the entry level model that has 6GB RAM and 64GB of storage retailing for CNY3,299 (about RM2,032). The midrange variant which has 6GB RAM and 128GB of storage retails for CNY3,599 (about RM2,218) while the highest end variant comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage for CNY3,999 (about RM2,464). In terms of colours, you get to choose between a black finish with gold trim and a white finish with silver trim.

There are no global launch dates as yet nor are there details if the Mi Mix 2S will make it to Malaysia or even which variant will land on our shores. What is confirmed at the moment is that the phone will be available for sale in China next week on 3 April 2018. Still, if you are especially keen you can get it through all the usual side channels.