Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 vs Mi Mix 2: Here’s what’s new

Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 is available in China for a starting price of RMB 3,299 ( ₹34,000 approximately). Here’s what’s new in Xiaomi Mi Mix 3.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G version to launch in Europe soon. (Xiaomi)

Xiaomi on Thursday launched a new smartphone under its bezel-less Mi Mix series. Called Mi Mi Mix 3, the new Xiaomi smartphone not only improves on the design front but also brings whopping 10GB of RAM, only the second phone in the world to have so.

But is that all to the new Mi Mix? Let's compare the new Xiaomi smartphone with its predecessor Mi Mix 2 and check out what has changed.

Design
Xiaomi's Mi Mix started off as a concept phone long before edge-to-edge screens or notch displays were popular. The second generation Mi Mix 2 retained the same look but had a more compact form factor at 5.99-inch display on the front with 18:9 aspect ratio. Mi Mix 3 goes back to being a large screen with a bigger 6.39-inch AMOLED display with 19:5:9 aspect ratio.

The key difference between the two screens is that the chin and side bezels on the newer phone have become slimmer. Higher aspect ratio means more real estate to the screen. While Mi Mix 2 screen covered 80% of the front, Mi Mix 3 ups the game with 93.4% screen-to-body ratio.

But the screen dimension isn't the only thing that has changed. Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 fixes a big problem that Mi Mix 2 users faced - rotating the camera to take selfies. Mi Mix 3 now uses a slider camera which is tucked on the top edge, similar to the set up we've seen on Oppo Find X. It may be recalled that Mi Mix 2 had the front camera located at the bottom and needed to be flipped whenever you had to take a selfie.

Also, it initially faced issues with optimising for third-party applications like Facebook and Instagram. A slider back or Vivo Nex's motorised pop up camera ensures you don't have to make big trade offs as well as live with ever-distracting notch.

Specifications
Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 runs on the top-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. The game changing addition is 10GB of RAM - among the highest in any smartphone so far. Xiaomi earlier this week launched Black Shark Helo, touted as the world's first phone to have 10GB of RAM. Xiaomi hasn't revealed the battery capacity of the phone yet. Though it says it will bundle a 10W charger, said to be 30% faster than the predecessor.

The smartphone is available in 6GB and 8GB variants as well. While the top-end model has 256GB storage, the other two models have 128GB built-in storage.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 ran on 2017's flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor coupled with 6GB of RAM and 128GB built-in storage. It featured a 3,400mA battery. On the software front, it ran on MIUI 8 based on Android N out-of-the-box. The phone, however, is eligible for Xiaomi's latest MIUI version.  

Camera
Xiaomi has really improved its camera game of late. Just like several other Xiaomi phones launched this year, Mi Mix 3 uses machine learning algorithms to optimise images. It now also has four cameras, two each on both and front.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 featured 18k gold-plated camera rim (HT Photo)

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 featured 18k gold-plated camera rim (HT Photo)

The smartphone has 12-megapixel and 12-megapixel rear cameras with Sony IMX363 sensor and f/1.8 and f/2.4 aperture respectively. On the front it sports a 24-megapixel and 2-megapixel dual-camera with Sony IMX576 as main sensor.

Compared to Mi Mix 3, the predecessor camera specifications certainly look dated. The phone had 12MP rear camera with Sony IMX386 camera sensor, 4-axis OIS, and large 1.25μm pixels. On the front it housed a 5-megapixel selfie camera.