Xiaomi’s Mi Mix series of smartphones took us all by surprise when it was first announced. The high screen to body ratio, beautiful ceramic build, and let’s not forget the craftsmanship that goes into designing the phone. A few generations later, we arrive at the Mi Mix 3 – this time with an interesting innovation behind it.
Of course, I’m referring to the sliding mechanism. It is using a neodymium magnet on both halves of the phone. Perfectly calibrated, the magnets’s repulsion and attraction forces acts as a slider mechanism. It is the first smartphone to be announced to have this type of innovation.
This is not a full review like we always do, but just a preview. It is because the unit that we managed to get our hands on is directly from China.
Unboxing
The Mi Mix 3 comes in a box that is square box. Nothing out of the ordinary yet. Opening up the lid, however, we’re greeted with a flap from the inside. It’s a greeting from Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi, which is debossed in gold.
On the road of exploration, we will constantly invest, constantly strive, and constantly break through.
We are willing to devote an additional 100%, even if we only improve by 1%. Be friends with our users.
Be the coolest company in the hearts of our users.Lei Jun
After taking the lid and the greeting message away, we can finally get a glimpse of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 in all its glory. Once again, everything is in Chinese because this particular version is from China.
Under the cradle we can see that Xiaomi included a wireless charging pad in the box itself alongside with the standard wall charger and a USB-C cable.
Under the holder for the wireless charger pad is where the other accessories and documentations are found.
Digging up everything, we can find a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle, the aforementioned charger, wireless charger, and USB-C cable, and also an included hard shell case.
[nextpage title=”Design”]
Like what we mentioned earlier – the Mi Mix 3’s beautiful design is complemented by their new technology. From the simplest terms, we can refer the Mi Mix 3 as a slider phone – and that’s completely true. But the mechanism behind this slider phone is something unique.
By using carefully calibrated neodymium magnets on both “halves” of the phone interlocked by what seems to be rails on both sides, the slider mechanism essentially snaps open and close with the help of magnetic forces.
At the back of the phone we can see that it is once again made out of ceramic – even the fingerprint scanner feels fantastic. Super reflective and slippery, but feels much more solid. The high reflectivity here is complimented by Xiaomi’s brand new color for the Mi Mix 3 – Jade Green.
This brand new Jade Green take on a darker shade of green compared to emerald, and it looks absolutely stunning. Though, I do hope that Xiaomi implemented the imperfections of real jades – like the streaks and also the white color gradients – into the phone’s back as well.
Opening and closing the mechanism feels gentle and not aggressive even though there is a noticeable snap. When sliding the phone down, it reveals the dual front-facing cameras, the earpiece, and other things as well.
Providing protection to such a beautiful device, this is where the included hard shell case comes into play. It is a hard shell case, so don’t expect it to absorb any sort impact – but it does protect against scratches.
This hard shell case snaps only to the back half of the phone but provides protection for both halves while still having a cutout for the sliding mechanism. I truly wonder if they can actually make a TPU case for a phone like this.
My only question here is that can Xiaomi make a transparent hard shell case so that I can show off the magnificent Jade Green? But a transparent hard shell case will be very susceptible to scratches as well. I guess it’s a fair trade-off here.
[nextpage title=”Connectivity & Ports”]
We can’t confirm everything here for the Malaysian version, but we can say that it supports the dual nano SIM cards. Nothing too particularly too magnificent here since the phone is available up to 512GB of internal storage anyway. I mean, even 128GB is quite too much for me.
With a ceramic back means that magnetic fields can penetrate through – and that’s how wireless chargers work. It’s the first ever smartphone that we know that actually includes a wireless charger in the box with the phone itself.
From what we know about the Mi Mix 3, it does support NFC as well.
There’s no 3.5mm audio jack on the Mi Mix 3. This is an acceptable exception here because the phone is essentially split into two parts – that means the thickness is in half as well. The 3.5mm audio jack is nearly as thick as one half of the phone itself.
At least Xiaomi included a dongle, though.
[nextpage title=”Chargers”]
Yeah, we only spent about an hour with the Mi Mix 3 so we obviously can’t tell the battery life on the Mi Mix 3 or logging the charging data too.
We can, however, tell you about the chargers that included with the Mi Mix 3 in the box.
Firstly is the conventional wall plug that. This charger can actually output a total 9V 2A or 12V at 1.5A. It’s still totaling up to 18W, though. Still won’t be as fast as ASUS’s ROG Phone HyperCharge or Huawei’s SuperCharge that can output a total 40W.
Then there’s the included wireless charger. It has a rubberized top to prevent the slippery ceramic back of the phone from dropping off the charging pad. However, we worry about the material turning sticky over time and leaving adhesive residue on the phone.
This is a fast wireless charger too, as it can output a total of 9V 2A. Though, the efficiency of wireless chargers in general are still questionable and cause major heat issues on both the phone and the wireless charger.
[nextpage title=”What do we think about the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3?”]
From an engineering perspective, it’s a much better implementation than having motorized parts. Obviously, this magnetic mechanism is more durable than any motor since there’s technically no lifespan on the magnets themselves.
Though, we do have our concerns when it comes to slider mechanisms as well. The one biggest issue that plagued slider phones is the fact that it needs something to connect both parts of the phone together. And to do that, a ribbon cable is used.
Ribbon cables are always said to be breaking inside these slider phones too. Also, an opening is needed for the ribbon cable to exit and enter the two parts of the phone – hence the lack of any IP rating on the Mi Mix 3 as well.
Let’s not forget the concern of having debris like sand – or the god forbid – salt crystal entering between the gap on the sliding mechanism, it’ll cause a terrible scratch and potentially damage the phone.
Either way, it’s a step forward in the right direction to hide the notch while maintaining the highest screen to body ratio. It’s an exciting phone for sure – and we’re looking forward to actually using the Mi Mix 3 ourselves. Performance and software, however, shouldn’t be far off from any other Xiaomi smartphone powered by Snapdragon 845 chipset.
Like our Facebook Page here at NasiLemakTech.com for more news and in-depth reviews! Also, join our Facebook Group for insightful information and memes!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel too!
