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Xiaomi Mi Max Review (photo)

October 5, 2017

In just a month from its presentation, the Xiaomi Mi Max has no more secrets to hide, as we have had the opportunity to examine its sales package (as well as the general aesthetics of the device) in a first unboxing, his performances in some benchmarking, she uses her astonishingly autonomy and finally his own teardown! However, to definitively close the circle, let's make a compendium of what we've seen so far and conclude the understanding on the Xiaomi Mi Max with its final review.

Unboxing and Specifications

With this device, Xiaomi has created a new packaging that differs from the previous ones due to the lack of the illustrative image of the smartphone which is replaced by the name (in red) of the device itself. The color of the packaging and the content itself remain unchanged (USB cable, manuals, pin and charger).

Moving on to the technical specifications, it was made in three different versions (at the end of the article with the relative prices) which vary in the amount of storage (RAM and internal archive) and for the processor used (Snapdragon 650 or 652), as also happened for the Xiaomi Mi 5.

6,44 display "IPS full-HD LCD (1920 x 1080 pixel) and ~ 342 ppi;
Qualcomm Snapdragon 650/652 CPU (4 A53 1,4 GHz cores and 2 GHz 4/72 A1,8 cores);
3 / 4 GB of RAM memory;
32 / 64 / 128 GB internal memory;
16 MP rear camera with PDAF, OIS, dual flash LED (bitone) and focal aperture f / 2.0;
5 MP front camera and focal aperture f / 2.0;
Fingerprint Sensor (back cover);
Dual-SIM / SIM + micro-SD connectivity, 4G +, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac (dual band), GPS, Infrared sensor and Micro USB Type-B with OTG;
Dimensions: 173,1 x 88,3 x 7,5mm;
Battery from 4850 mAh with Quick Charge 3.0 (battery charger to be purchased separately);
Weight: 203 gr;
Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow Operating System with MIUI 7.3 (MIUI 8).

Display and Design

The display is a beautiful 6,44 IPS LCD unit protected by a Gorilla Glass 4 glass and full-HD resolution (342 ppi) that confirms the unnecessary resolution of 2K resolution, since even with this wide diagonal it is impossible to see the pixels on the display. The only criticism that can be attributed to this display is the low visibility under the direct sunlight. To better focus on how large the diagonal of the display (and the smartphone itself), we include a photo of the Xiaomi Mi Max with a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and a LeEco Le Max 2.

Remaining on the smartphone front, we find the three backlit soft-touch buttons, the headset cap with the front camera and the proximity and ambient light sensors, and the customizable RGB LED.

In general, the Mi Max sports a metal unibody body with two bands (upper and lower) in plastic that hide the various antennas and improve their overall reception. At the rear we find the main camera with the dual bi-tone LED flash, the fingerprint sensor and the Mi logo. On the right side we find the power button and the volume rocker, while on the left side only the trolley for SIM / SIM + micro-SD. Below we find the micro USB port (Type-B), the system speaker and the main microphone, while above we find the secondary microphone for the reduction of background noise, the infrared sensor and the 3,5 jack mm.

Performance / Benchmark

In this review, the 3/32 GB version with Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 CPU (exa-core) was considered. The performances in 3D games (like Asphalt 8) are good for a device with this hardware equipment, as the graphics are set by default to the maximum level and there are only a few small sporadic frame skips but nothing so relevant. Furthermore, the Xiaomi Mi Max does not present any type of overheating even after 30 minutes of intense gaming.

Below, however, are the screenshots of the scores obtained with AndroBench, GeekBench and AnTuTu.

Interface and Camera

The graphic interface is the classic MIUI (7.3 based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow) seen so far on all other Xiaomi devices and, therefore, changes relatively poco (an additional column appears in the toogle section) but we still wait a few days before seeing the real differences thanks to the MIUI 8, which we remember will be optimized more in relation to the diagonal of the display (the Mi 5 and the Mi Max will have a special version of MIUI 8).

Moving to the photo compartment, you can see in the photos with ambient / indoor / indoor light (below) a good overall definition with natural and clear colors (not in the original resolution).

While in the photos in the dark, it is possible to notice less detail and much more noise but overall they turn out to be good for the specific price range to which it is proposed.

Finally, the selfies captured by the front camera are also good, while the video recording reaches up to 4K resolution and are not too bad but the continuous autofocus presents some problems (it varies too frequently), so we recommend disabling it.

Connectivity and Autonomy

Connectivity in general does not present any kind of problem, as well as all Xiaomi devices (the 800 MHz band is still missing).

As for autonomy, we recommend that you also consult the article at the beginning. Even if the Xiaomi Mi Max has a large display, it does not affect energy consumption and thanks to the 4850 mAh battery it can easily cover 1/2 days with stressful use but, as usual, this value is very subjective, in how much may vary according to the specific use made of it.

Conclusions

This device is certainly the first true phablet that Xiaomi has ever made, with a truly large display and unmatched autonomy. On the other hand, this device is absolutely not within everyone's reach due to its size that makes it impossible to use it with one hand (even with the specific function enabled). With this device you can safely play any titles with complex 3D graphics without having significant problems and, above all, no overheating occurs. The photographic quality is good and the video recording as well but the autofocus problem penalizes the overall quality (probably resolvable through software updates). Finally, the absence of the micro USB Type-C port represents a significant step backwards that could have been avoided, given all that the smartphone has to offer.

Ultimately, the Xiaomi Mi Max turns out to be a very solid and well-constructed device with the use of premium materials and all-in-one features that identify it as a device that deserves to be purchased (especially for those with big hands) . Here are the various versions of the same with the relative prices (at the exchange rate):