I’m a fan of the Mi Max, ever since I reviewed it last year. I thought in the beginning that it was just way to big, silly size even. No way, I would keep it. Move forward over a year and here I am, still, after so many more powerful phones have passed through my hands I still stuck with my Mi Max.
Why? Two main reasons for me, Immersive large screen, great for media consumption and typing with on-screen keyboards. The second reason, one of the most important factors for me, battery life. The Mi Max was one of the kings of battery life in 2016, losing out to the Snapdragon 625 devices. Mobiles like the Redmi Note 4X I reviewed while in New Zealand had astounding battery life, almost 15 hours of continuous screen on time. The same mobile my wife now uses and only charges once every 4-5 days. And it’s this same efficient chipset that is now in the Xiaomi Mi Max 2.
Xiaomi Mi Max 2 Vs Mi Max, spot the difference?
But I was a little disappointed in the announcement of that chip in the Mi Max 2, chipset wise I expected the Snapdragon 630, the latest or even the more powerful Snapdragon 660, the 650’s successor. The rest of the changes ticked all the boxes. Unibody, stronger build, better camera, dual loudspeakers, quick charge 3, larger battery, smaller inner screen bezel and type-c port. But the thought of the SD625 SoC, 1080p screen with a large 5300mAh battery meant battery life should be even better right? Well so far it looks the case, but that will come in my final review. So far for cons of the Mi Max 2, there are two. The price, $265 is the best price I could find with coupon MaxMHG here http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_638129.html So a lot more expensive than the first gen Mi Max, which is now around $189 to $200 for the 32GB version.
Google Play for the stock Chinese ROM can be installed here: https://techtablets.com/2017/05/get-google-play-xiaomi-mi-6/
Xiaomi Mi Max 2 unboxing and first look mini review. (Including Mi Max Vs Mi Max 2 camera review)
Timecodes:
02:37 – Just get the box open!
06:18 – First boot
07:31 – ROM & Info
08:46 – Antutu Vs Mi Max
09:56 – Size comparison
11:43 – Speaker test
13:03 – Camera review Vs Mi Max
17:31 – First Impressions
Findings:
- The build quality is a big step up over the Mi Max, unibody housing, rounded edges just feel better in hand.
- The screen seems a little less reflective.
- The black inner bezel is half the size of the Max’s but it looks larger due to more white left and right bezel.
- The front loudspeaker is just like the Mi 6, supports the main loudspeaker and gives more mids and highs.
- The ROM so far stable based on Android 7.1.1
- The Mi Max 2 feels faster and smoother than the Mi max dispute the lower benchmark scores. (Benchmarks aren’t everything!)
- The front camera is still average, the rear camera is a lot better than the Max’s but still not a flagship camera missing OIS for better low light shots.
Thoughts after 12 hours with the Xiaomi Mi Max 2:
More soon, but so far I like it a lot. I feel in many ways it’s worth it over the Max, but only if it was a little cheaper. It’s just come out so give it a few months I think it will sell for $250. This phone is now my daily mobile, so I’ll be using it all the time. Updates on the battery life, call quality, GPS and gaming to follow.