52 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 44
REVIEW
remains available too, placing on screen quick access
to the multitasking menu and home screen, and the
ability to lock the screen or take a screenshot.
This change in screen size also means that in line
with more recent ‘bezel-less’ flagships, such as the
Galaxy Note8, Galaxy S8 and LG G6, it has an 18:9
aspect ratio rather than the Mi Mix’s 17:9. In future
that could mean improved app compatibility, and
for now you can use the Settings menu to configure
which apps are allowed to take advantage of the
maximum aspect ratio.
The screen itself is a stunner, crystal clear, bright,
and with realistic colour reproduction. Viewing
angles are good, too. All the things we’d expect from
a decent IPS panel. Xiaomi is holding out on the
resolution, though, and while many of its competitors
are including Quad-HD it has yet to release anything
higher than full-HD on a smartphone. Actually, that’s
the approach Samsung has taken with its Galaxy
Note8, too – Quad-HD is possible, but it’s set to
full-HD by default. While we won’t pretend there is
no visible difference between full- and Quad-HD, we
really don’t think it matters all that much. And when
you’re talking about a phone with a screen this large,
it makes sense to reduce its potential impact on
battery life as much as possible.
Battery life, by the way, was one of Mi Mix’s
strongest suits: its 4,400mAh battery could easily last
two days with even heavy use. So it’s disappointing to
see battery capacity reduced here to 3,400mAh.
You should take into account that the screen is
now smaller and the new 10nm processor significantly