5 Reasons I Dislike The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2

Unless you stayed away from the internet today or live in a cave you will have heard that Xiaomi launched the Mi Mix 2 today, and while I should be excited I’m not and here are 5 reasons why!

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is THE big Xiaomi phone launch and as such fans around the world had huge expectations after all the first Mi Mix rewrote the smartphone rule book, the Mi Mix 2 should take phone design to the next level.

5 Reasons I Don’t Like The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2

Unfortunately, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 launch today hasn’t blown me away. I’m not awe struck, and I don’t feel compelled to buy one for myself. Why? keep reading to find out.

Fingerprint Scanner

The Xiaomi Mi Mi2 has its fingerprint scanner on the rear of its ceramic body. I’ve no problem with fingerprint scanners on the rear but I believe in this day and age they should be reserved for budget phones, not high-priced flagship smartphones.

The Xioami Mi Mix was a cutting edge Android smartphone and at the time it launched we could forgive it for having a rear fingerprint scanner, but now a year on surely there’s a much better solution?

Actually yes there is! Why not a fingerprint scanner under that large display? It’s a technology that has been discussed for a long time already and if rumors about Vivo’s next phone are accurate it’s a technology that’s just around the corner so why hasn’t Xiaomi adopted it for its concept flagship?

Design

The original Xiaomi Mi Mix was a stunning piece of design and the Mi Mix 2? Well, it’s very similar to the original, isn’t it? There is very little difference visually on the Mi Mix 2 compared to the first generation, and worse of all the rear looks like an old Nokia.

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Front Camera

With the 5.99-inch display taking up most of the front of the device, Xiaomi’s designers have had to move the position of the display from the traditional location to a new place on the chin of the handset.

Again we saw this on the original Mi Mix, but it’s not the position that bothers me it’s the fact that the phone even has a front camera in the first place!

Meizu has already shown us that a rear camera with a small rear display can be effectively used to take selfies so why not ditch the front camera altogether and have a secondary rear display instead?

Single Camera

No, two cameras don’t necessarily mean better performance, but we’ve already seen that dual cameras can be used to great effect when done properly so why hasn’t this expensive flagship phone got two sensors on the rear?

Durability

Durability is my next big concern. To be fair though it’s not only the Xioami Mi Mix 2’s durability I worry about but all full-screen phones.

Smartphones are expensive at the best of times, but the Mi Mix 2 is even pricier than most, has fewer features and has an odd sized 5.99-inch display! How easily can that large panel be broken? How easily can it be fixed?

So those are my 5 reasons I’m not impressed with the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2. You have every right not to agree with me, and I’d love you hear your thoughts on this phone in the comments section below!

Disclaimer: We may be compensated by some of the companies whose products we talk about, but our articles and reviews are always our honest opinions. For more details, you can check out our editorial guidelines and learn about how we use affiliate links.

About the author

Andi

Name
September 11, 2017
Someone’s hand will make it impossible to use that front face camera.
But rear display? No, no gimmicks.
Nothing said about the battery either.
“Dual camera”, this here is just another gimmick, pass.
At least it doesn’t have a shitty curved screen that nobody wants.
- cyril symbio
  September 11, 2017
  the moment you need the face camera, like for a wechat call (very very popular in China, that’s why Chinese phone makers ditching the front camera are nothing but stupids) it doesn’t take to be a genius to hold your phone upside down. The software will rotate, the camera will be above, and screamers can shut up.

Farhan
September 11, 2017
The biggest flaw: miui
Giulio Dainese
September 11, 2017
completely agreed on everything, and i add that removing the mini jack is a stupid marketing move
September 11, 2017
My beefs: too big (deal breaker), no headphone jack, battery is too small, MIUI.
Other than that, nice looking phone.

Cesc Fabregas
September 11, 2017
lol all reasons you dislike i cant agree with !
samsung and apple coudlnt bring the fingerprint scanner under the display even researching it for years and investing millions in it. so why use a technology that doesnt work properly yet!
the design is truly a little similiar to an old nokia but has a minimalistic and timeless design which looks better the more you look at it.
the iphone and the essential phone did it not like xiaomi and really destroyed the all screen phone concept with it. if you make thos black cut outs then why even go for a full screen phone? xiaomis front camera is maybe not perfect for selfie freaks but i doubt those would buy a mix anyways.. they integrated it well in the body with black coating so almost dont see not like mix1
honestly i dont need dual cameras i just need an allround ok camera. i really dont get the hype with dual cams etc. if you really want good pics you need to buy a real camera anyways..
if the mix 2 is like mix 1 its one of the first phones which uses clips to position the dislpaypanel on the front easy to change not like with rubber band and glue..
my downside is no QHD and no OLED display.. i think for allscreen phones oled is a must have !!!

Guest
September 11, 2017
Someone’s hand will make it impossible to use that front face camera.
But rear display? No, no gimmicks.
Nothing said about the battery either.
“Dual camera”, this here is just another gimmick, pass.
At least it doesn’t have a shitty curved screen that nobody wants.
- cyril symbio
  September 12, 2017
  the moment you need the face camera, like for a wechat call (very very popular in China, that’s why Chinese phone makers ditching the front camera are nothing but stupids) it doesn’t take to be a genius to hold your phone upside down. The software will rotate, the camera will be above, and screamers can shut up.

Farhan
September 11, 2017
The biggest flaw: miui
Giulio Dainese
September 11, 2017
completely agreed on everything, and i add that removing the mini jack is a stupid marketing move

Sansa
September 11, 2017
Total BS reasons.
– Fingerprint. If they could, they would. Yeah, what Cesc Said, companies are spending a lot of time and money developing it and yet, no display fingerprint yet, why? Who knows.
– Design? Can you really figure out everything without even touching the phone?
– Camera. S8 has one single camera sensor and yet….
– The phone shouldn’t have a front camera? OMG, have you ever heard about skype? Do you know how a video call work? Do you want to use Meizu’s tiny back display for that?
- hotphil
  September 12, 2017
  – Fingerprint. If they could, they would. Yeah, what Cesc Said, companies are spending a lot of time and money developing it and yet, no display fingerprint yet, why? Who knows.
  Because it doesn’t work or doesn’t work cheaply enough yet 😉

Daniel McDermott
September 11, 2017
I’m quite disappointed as well, for different reasons perhaps. Why I won’t be buying:
– They cut 1000mah off the battery rating. For what? Save money? You had a feature spec that people loved, and now just an an average battery.
– No headphone jack. This alone is a dealbreaker for many people. I’m on the fence about this one, but I understand others anger about it.
– Bigger bezels than the original Mix. Don’t believe their renders they use in their marketing, it’s really fake. Take a look at MKBHD’s hands-on, and you’ll see in the side by side with the original Mix this phone is not bezel-less anymore.
– No OLED. I understand this tech is expensive and availability low, but not even the special edition features OLED panel? Disappointing, LG, Oneplus, Samsung and Apple got it, why is Xiaomi falling behind?
– Single camera can be good, but from what I’ve heard it’s just the Mi6 camera, which is good, not great. However, this is their flagship, and not having a dual-camera could scare away a lot of customers. Also, front camera is so bad, they didn’t even mention it in the presentation.
- NextHype
  September 12, 2017
  “They cut 1000mah off the battery rating. For what? Save money? You had a feature spec that people loved, and now just an an average battery.”
  Probably for saving space as they greatly reduced body size :
  Mix 1 : 81.9 mm x 158.8 mm x 7.9 mm
  Mix 2 : 75.5 mm x 151.8 mm x 7.7 mm
- NextHype
  September 12, 2017
  “Bigger bezels than the original Mix. Don’t believe their renders they use in their marketing, it’s really fake. Take a look at MKBHD’s hands-on, and you’ll see in the side by side with the original Mix this phone is not bezel-less anymore”
  lol you’re right… but strangely nobody says it.
  the king is naked.

boo Jay
September 11, 2017
My beefs: too big (deal breaker), no headphone jack, battery is too small, MIUI.
Other than that, nice looking phone.

Cesc Fabregas
September 11, 2017
lol all reasons you dislike i cant agree with !
samsung and apple coudlnt bring the fingerprint scanner under the display even researching it for years and investing millions in it. so why use a technology that doesnt work properly yet!
the design is truly a little similiar to an old nokia but has a minimalistic and timeless design which looks better the more you look at it.
the iphone and the essential phone did it not like xiaomi and really destroyed the all screen phone concept with it. if you make thos black cut outs then why even go for a full screen phone? xiaomis front camera is maybe not perfect for selfie freaks but i doubt those would buy a mix anyways.. they integrated it well in the body with black coating so almost dont see not like mix1
honestly i dont need dual cameras i just need an allround ok camera. i really dont get the hype with dual cams etc. if you really want good pics you need to buy a real camera anyways..
if the mix 2 is like mix 1 its one of the first phones which uses clips to position the dislpaypanel on the front easy to change not like with rubber band and glue..
my downside is no QHD and no OLED display.. i think for allscreen phones oled is a must have !!!

Sansa
September 12, 2017
Total BS reasons.
– Fingerprint. If they could, they would. Yeah, what Cesc Said, companies are spending a lot of time and money developing it and yet, no display fingerprint yet, why? Who knows.
– Design? Can you really figure out everything without even touching the phone?
– Camera. S8 has one single camera sensor and yet….
– The phone shouldn’t have a front camera? OMG, have you ever heard about skype? Do you know how a video call work? Do you want to use Meizu’s tiny back display for that?
- hotphil
  September 12, 2017
  – Fingerprint. If they could, they would. Yeah, what Cesc Said, companies are spending a lot of time and money developing it and yet, no display fingerprint yet, why? Who knows.
  Because it doesn’t work or doesn’t work cheaply enough yet 😉

Wolvie
September 12, 2017
Battery reduced to smaller rating => I hate this move
No headphone jack ==> also hate this
Bezelles or no bezelles i don’t really care as long as the bezel is not too wide. But if removing the bezel will make this device very fragile then totally NO for me.
OLED is a plus but again with LCD the lifetime of the screen should be longer so i don’t complain much.
And probably the stock availability and lastly the pricing LOL i simply cannot afford to buy anything above $250 so i don’t really care about those premium/flagship gadget LFMAO

Daniel McDermott
September 12, 2017
I’m quite disappointed as well, for different reasons perhaps. Why I won’t be buying:
– They cut 1000mah off the battery rating. For what? Save money? You had a feature spec that people loved, and now just an an average battery.
– No headphone jack. This alone is a dealbreaker for many people. I’m on the fence about this one, but I understand others anger about it.
– Bigger bezels than the original Mix. Don’t believe their renders they use in their marketing, it’s really fake. Take a look at MKBHD’s hands-on, and you’ll see in the side by side with the original Mix this phone is not bezel-less anymore.
– No OLED. I understand this tech is expensive and availability low, but not even the special edition features OLED panel? Disappointing, LG, Oneplus, Samsung and Apple got it, why is Xiaomi falling behind?
– Single camera can be good, but from what I’ve heard it’s just the Mi6 camera, which is good, not great. However, this is their flagship, and not having a dual-camera could scare away a lot of customers. Also, front camera is so bad, they didn’t even mention it in the presentation.
Edit: One thing I forgot – No waterproofing at all. A flagship phone with no IP rating? That’s horrible. Don’t ever use this phone on a rainy day, and careful if you drop it, The Verge already shattered theirs thanks to crappy ceramics, and now have a big gaping hole!
- NextHype
  September 12, 2017
  “They cut 1000mah off the battery rating. For what? Save money? You had a feature spec that people loved, and now just an an average battery.”
  Probably for saving space as they greatly reduced body size :
  Mix 1 : 81.9 mm x 158.8 mm x 7.9 mm
  Mix 2 : 75.5 mm x 151.8 mm x 7.7 mm
- NextHype
  September 12, 2017
  “Bigger bezels than the original Mix. Don’t believe their renders they use in their marketing, it’s really fake. Take a look at MKBHD’s hands-on, and you’ll see in the side by side with the original Mix this phone is not bezel-less anymore”
  lol you’re right… but strangely nobody says it.
  the king is naked.

Guest
September 12, 2017
Battery reduced to smaller rating => I hate this move
No headphone jack ==> also hate this
Bezelles or no bezelles i don’t really care as long as the bezel is not too wide. But if removing the bezel will make this device very fragile then totally NO for me.
OLED is a plus but again with LCD the lifetime of the screen should be longer so i don’t complain much.
And probably the stock availability and lastly the pricing LOL i simply cannot afford to buy anything above $250 so i don’t really care about those premium/flagship gadget LFMAO

Xzarius
September 12, 2017
This is the Xiaomi Mi MIX S.
Not 2. They made a naming error.

NextHype
September 12, 2017
Big up to Andi for not giving up to the hype. If something isn’t OK, even if strongly advertised, you should say it, and say why.
– Back fingerprint scanner : Not a problem for me as my finger naturally touch the scanner when holding the phone
– Design : I agree on this one, Mix 2 design isn’t so great and for me it looks like a LG G6. It has more bezels than Mix 1 and lost its “concept phone” aura
– Front camera : Not a problem for me, as other users already pointed it out, you MUST have a front camera for video calls
– Single camera : Not a problem for me, as dual camera is a gimmick, except for a very few brand using it the right way. Xiaomi isn’t one of them.
– Durability : I think Xiaomi got the Mix bezels back for a better durability, Mix 1 had its screen unprotected by the frame
Real problems for me :
– Single IMX386 f/2.0 sensor : Probably OK in a well done dual cam setting but alone it may not capture enough light in low-light env
– No SD : aw c’mon Xiaomi stop pushing your 256GB version by preventing users to insert a SD card…
– No DAC : I like my phones to deliver good audio quality, and QC SoCs don’t provide that with their integrated DAC
– Screen : FHD LCD ? No VR / No deep black / too much energy spent for max brightness

xploratorul
September 12, 2017
Your 5 reasons are not serious, c’mon.
- Patrick Aeschlimann
  September 12, 2017
  I couldn’t care less about his 5 reasons. The lack of a headphone jack kills it for me.
Xzarius
September 12, 2017
This is the Xiaomi Mi MIX S.
Not 2. They made a naming error.

NextHype
September 12, 2017
Big up to Andi for not giving up to the hype. If something isn’t OK, even if strongly advertised, you should say it, and say why.
– Back fingerprint scanner : Not a problem for me as my finger naturally touch the scanner when holding the phone
– Design : I agree on this one, Mix 2 design isn’t so great and for me it looks like a LG G6. It has more bezels than Mix 1 and lost its “concept phone” aura
– Front camera : Not a problem for me, as other users already pointed it out, you MUST have a front camera for video calls
– Single camera : Not a problem for me, as dual camera is a gimmick, except for a very few brand using it the right way. Xiaomi isn’t one of them.
– Durability : I think Xiaomi got the Mix bezels back for a better durability, Mix 1 had its screen unprotected by the frame
Real problems for me :
– Single IMX386 f/2.0 sensor : Probably OK in a well done dual cam setting but alone it may not capture enough light in low-light env
– No SD : aw c’mon Xiaomi stop pushing your 256GB version by preventing users to insert a SD card…
– No DAC : I like my phones to deliver good audio quality, and QC SoCs don’t provide that with their integrated DAC
– Screen : FHD LCD ? No VR / No deep black / too much energy spent for max brightness

xploratorul
September 12, 2017
Your 5 reasons are not serious, c’mon.
- Patrick Aeschlimann
  September 12, 2017
  I couldn’t care less about his 5 reasons. The lack of a headphone jack kills it for me.
Simply Unapologetic
September 13, 2017
I totally agree, i was blown away by the first mi mix, and it was the only phone i considered( and bought) to replace my returned note 7, ist it my imagination or the bezels seem slightly thicker on the Mi Mix 2? it reminds me of the Doogee Mix now or one of the other clones, for me it doesnt stand out in any way…and finally the lack of a headphone port just kills it for me…goodbye Xiaomi… ( ill still keep my Mi Mix 1 though…as i still find it gorgeous

Simply Unapologetic
September 13, 2017
I totally agree, i was blown away by the first mi mix, and it was the only phone i considered( and bought) to replace my returned note 7, ist it my imagination or the bezels seem slightly thicker on the Mi Mix 2? it reminds me of the Doogee Mix now or one of the other clones, for me it doesnt stand out in any way…and finally the lack of a headphone port just kills it for me…goodbye Xiaomi… ( ill still keep my Mi Mix 1 though…as i still find it gorgeous

sotong
November 16, 2017
This is my first ever Xiaomi smartphone. It is dual sim but there is no micro sd card slot! Not everybody uses two sims at once. They should have made one of the two sim slots convertible to a micro sd card slot (available in many other phones). No 3.5mm headphone port. I didn’t like MIUI – too many bloatware and most cannot be uninstalled (I had to put all the unwanted apps into a folder and name it Useless). No Goople Play Store – luckily can be installed from Mi Store using a Google Installer app to install some Google apps. Photo quality so-so. Phone is slippery, even with the plastic back cover provided, it still is quite slippery – makes me nervous that it’ll just fall off my hand easily smashing it. Sigh!
Guest
November 16, 2017
This is my first ever Xiaomi smartphone. It is dual sim but there is no micro sd card slot! Not everybody uses two sims at once. They should have made one of the two sim slots convertible to a micro sd card slot (available in many other phones). No 3.5mm headphone port. I didn’t like MIUI – too many bloatware and most cannot be uninstalled (I had to put all the unwanted apps into a folder and name it Useless). No Goople Play Store – luckily can be installed from Mi Store using a Google Installer app to install some Google apps. Photo quality so-so. Phone is slippery, even with the plastic back cover provided, it still is quite slippery – makes me nervous that it’ll just fall off my hand easily smashing it. Sigh!

5 Reasons I Don’t Like The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2

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