Xiaomi presents this Mi Mix 3 in a black cardboard box similar to the ones we could find in the previous versions of the Mix range. The Xiaomi symbol appears at the top, and the features are printed at the bottom.
As we open it, as with the other models, we see a business card at the top. Under the card, we find ourselves in the center with the phone. In this case, we have the 6GB and 128GB version in black, the only combination that can be found today in the global version, while in China, we also have 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and a particular version called Forbidden Palace with 10GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
In addition, it is a global version that includes the Spanish charger from 5V to 2.5A / 9V to 2A / 12V to 1.5A of output with a CE certificate (European Conformity) and a USB to micro USB type C cable of 1 meter in length. On the other hand, what has surprised me is that it also comes with the Xiaomi wireless charger from 5V to 2A to charge it without needing to connect it directly to the cable.
Design and Screen
Every time a Xiaomi Mi Mix comes out, we are amazed at the design, and this time it was not going to be any different.
Unlike other high-end phones, it does not have a notch (top tab with the camera and speaker) on the screen. It is an all-screen and slider phone. The selfie camera is hidden; having to scroll the screen (down) to use it.
It is made of ceramic and metal, so it gets dirty quickly with fingerprints. Still, the look it provides is exquisite.
It measures 74.7 mm wide, 157.9 mm high, and 8.5 mm thick and weighs 217g (almost 23g more than the Mi Mix 2S and 32g more than the Mi Mix 2). But as you can see, the thickness has also changed. Now, this device is thicker due to its sliding screen; that is to say, we have a terminal that, for those who are not used to it, can be made a bit heavy and oversized due to its thickness, not so much due to its dimensions, since it has a surface Useful of 85% being among the top of current phones in screen use.
The quality of the screen also changes. In this case, it is a 6.39-inch AMOLED panel with an aspect ratio of 19:9 and a Full HD+ resolution of 1080×2340 pixels, which gives a density of pixels per inch of 403. It has rounded edges in the corners and a 2.5D rounded glass with Corning Gorilla Glass protection. (Even so, I would recommend putting a glass or tempered glass to protect it against scratches caused by friction).
The screen quality is excellent. The colors are intense with high definition (103% NTSC) and HDR support. The brightness is also good (600nits), and the contrast is 60000:1; outdoors, the vision is more than correct; we are in winter, and we do not have the light that can affect us being in summer on the beach, but with days sunny winters are good visualization.
Software
Xiaomi is characterized by having an operating system with regular updates, even in its older models, and in this case, it could not be different.
This Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 comes with Android 9.0 Pie with MIUI 10 Global version customization layer. This form is translated into many languages , including Spanish, Catalan, Galician, and Basque. I have seen a new section in the main menu currently untranslated (in English).
This customization layer has all the applications on the main screen, and if necessary, we can group them into folders. We can also configure the navigation buttons to appear or to interact by gestures. It is effortless to use.
Add Google services, including the Google Play app store, YouTube, Maps, and Gmail. Moreover, this phone adds some promoted apps like Opera, Facebook, Aliexpress, and Amazon. However, if we don’t want to have these apps, they can be uninstalled without any problem.
And even though, in this case, it does not seem very useful to me (since it does not have the camera on the screen), it has a simple facial recognition to unlock the device.
Camera
This Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 has a dual camera and a double led flash. The primary sensor is a 12Mpx Sony IMX363 Exmor RS CMOS sensor with an aperture of f/1.8 and a pixel size of 1,400 µm.
The second sensor is a 12Mpx Samsung S5K3M3 with an aperture of f/2.4 and 1,000 µm pixel size (the same as in the Xiaomi Mi8).
The two sensors are used in the Xiaomi Mi8. However, this phone gets three more points in the ranking of the photographic section of DXOMark, and 5 points more in the video section (possibly due to the processing of the images through software).
As for the camera application, it is the same as in other Xiaomi phones, being complete and easy to use. It has Autofocus, 4-axis Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), face detection, HDR filter, panoramic photo option, and automatic mode. It also has portrait mode to get photos with a “bokeh” or out-of-focus effect. It does not bring the option to save the images in RAW format.
This phone also offers the camera an artificial intelligence (AI) option. This option can detect the image or object and correct it to obtain a better quality without knowing.
The selfie camera also mounts two sensors. The first is a 24.8 Mpx Sony IMX576 Exmor RS sensor with an f/2.2 aperture and 0.800 µm pixel size, and the second is a 2 Mpx Omnivision OV02A10 sensor.
