The Xiaomi Mi Mix was a taste of what was to come in smartphone design when it released last fall — a large, gorgeous display with next to no bezels. A year later, almost every major manufacturer has followed Xiaomi’s lead in cutting out unused surface area. All the while, the company has been quietly preparing the Mi Mix 2, a successor to its iconic handset. Xiaomi announced the Mi Mix 2 alongside the Mi Note 3, and a new Mi Notebook Pro laptop, at an event in Beijing on September 11.
It’s the Mi Mix 2’s screen that will attract all the initial attention. It measures 5.99 inches, and has an 18:9 aspect ratio, which is shared by the LG G6 and the Samsung Galaxy S8. This makes the body quite tall, and is different from the first Mi Mix’s 17:9 aspect ratio and 6.4-inch screen. The chin below the screen has been reduced in size by 12 percent, and from the images sent out by Xiaomi, the phone’s aluminum frame is curvier and thinner than the original Mi Mix. All this should mean the phone is easier to hold.
Due to the screen taking up the whole of the front panel, the selfie camera is set in the chin, so you’ll have to rotate the phone round to take images naturally with the front camera. On the back is a single Sony camera lens with 12 megapixels and 1.25nm pixel size, which is the same as the main camera found on the Xiaomi Mi 6. It also features 4-axis optical image stabilization and a flash unit.
Xiaomi has worked on improving the sound produced by the Mi Mix 2. It still uses an ultrasonic proximity sensor and a piezoelectric ceramic audio system, meaning you hear calls when placing your ear against the screen. Now it also has a small speaker hole at the very top of the screen, which is connected to a sound guide leading to a membrane speaker inside the device, producing better sound than before.
Inside the Mi Mix 2 is a Snapdragon 835 processor and 6GB of RAM, a choice of either 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB of storage space, plus global LTE support across 43 different bands. The great news is, the LTE bands for AT&T and T-Mobile are included, so if you decide to import a Mi Mix 2, you no longer have to compromise with a lower data speed connection. Yes, we said import. The Mi Mix 2 won’t be officially sold in the United States, and has currently only been announced for China, where it costs the local equivalent of $500 for the 64GB version, $550 for the 128GB model, and $615 for the 256GB model.
If you’re feeling very flush, a special edition all-ceramic Mi Mix 2 will also be sold. It comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage, and will cost around $720 locally. It forgets the aluminum chassis from the regular Mi Mix 2, and is instead made from a single piece of ceramic in a process that takes seven days to complete. It comes in a black color, or a beautiful white model, which we desperately want to own.
Xiaomi hasn’t provided a release date for the Mi Mix 2 yet, but we’ll keep you updated here.
Update: The Mi Mix 2 is now official, and we’ve added all the latest details.