Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 Initial Impressions: A Good Alternative For The Notch

Although many people would say the budget and affordable phones of Xiaomi have a stale design, its flagship series Mi Mix is one of the most innovative lineups I have ever seen in a long time. Xiaomi actually was the first to stir up the revolution against thick bezels with its Mi Mix and Mi Mix 2. Unfortunately, those handsets come with an awkwardly-located front camera didn’t really win the heart of the consumers, and the majority of phone makers eventually follow the ubiquitous notch design.

That being said, after the notch pretty much featuring in most of the smartphones these days, many users are finding the notch to be distracting and somewhat annoying. Hence, smartphone makers have to find another way to get rid of the notch completely, but what is the possible solution for it? The slider on the Mi Mix 3 is what Xiaomi hopes to be an excellent alternative to accommodate the front camera. I had the chance to experience the Xiaomi flagship for some time, and here are my first impressions of it.

Starting with the unique selling point of the Xiaomi device which is its slider where the selfie camera is placed. You may find it similar to the old feature phones with the sliding mechanism. However, as there is no physical keyboard on the Mi Mix 3, its slider will open just to reveal the device’s front camera. And without popping up the slider, the front of the Mi Mix 3 will be dominated by a massive near bezel-less display.

You may also have seen other Chinese companies use similar designs like this. However, while their slider is powered by motorized components which makes their devices pretty delicate. On the other hand, Xiaomi uses neodymium magnets to power its sliding mechanism which allows users to open the front camera with just a slight push in the downwards direction. Xiaomi claims that the Mi Mix 3’s slider has been well-tested to last more than 300,000 cycles.

But the slider on the Mi Mix 3 also offer some other very useful functions. For example, users can answer or reject a phone call just by sliding the panel up or down. Xiaomi also adds a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner which was fast and reliable during my time with the phone.

Besides the useful slider, the Xiaomi flagship also features a very impressive design as well. Once again, the Chinese company uses ceramic as the build material for its device which not only gives users a premium feel and look but also adds to the phone’s robustness.

In the display department, the Mi Mix 3 sports a 6.34-inch Full-HD+ AMOLED display which provides excellent contrast levels and vibrant hues as well. Despite having limited time with the phone, I could confidently say that my experience with it is nothing short of excellent.

The Mi Mix 3 is also packed with powerful hardware, notably the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 845 SoC, coupled with a massive 10GB RAM as well. Unsurprisingly, there was no lag or any other issues regarding the performance during my time with it. The phone could easily and swiftly open the apps as well as juggle between multiple tasks also. That being said, that was only a short time experiencing a new flagship phone, it should work that way. I would need a lot more time to give a final verdict regarding its performance.

Regarding the camera, Xiao opted for a dual 12MP rear camera, including one Samsung S5K3M3 sensor and one Sony IMX363 sensor. On the front, there is a 24MP Sony IMX576 sensor along with a 2MP sensor. It comes with several camera modes including super night scene mode, slow-mo video capture and more. I didn’t have the chance to bring it out to take a couple of shots with only a limited amount of time.

The Xiaomi phone runs Android 9 Pie-based MIUI and is backed by a 3,200 mAh battery with support for Quick Charge 4.0 and wireless charging. For now, Xiaomi hasn’t revealed any plan of launching the Mi Mix 3 on the Indian market.