Xiaomi Mi Max review: large screen and powerful battery in a slim body. Operating experience Xiaomi Mi Max

The Android world is dominated by simple rules- the diagonal of the screen must be stretched as long as the smartphone can be held in the hand without tension. Curved displays, frameless design, bone conduction instead of a microphone - any means are good in the fight for an even larger picture area with moderate dimensions.

But another thing is surprising: all the predicted by the past years made a mistake in their forecasts, when they promised that soon there would be no smartphones left, except for giant "shovels". Because giant smartphones, as they were exotic, have remained so. The overwhelming majority of smartphones fit into 5.5 inches diagonal, a couple of "parodists" follow Galaxy Note and produce 5.7-inch models, and 6 inches and above is a rare species that is almost never found on sale.

Good large-sized smartphones (and not “here we stretched 960x540 pixels over six inches”) are doubly rare, and each of their representatives is a hype event.

Specifications

	XiaomiMiMax
Operating system
Screen
CPU
Graphics
RAM
Persistent memory	32/64/128 GB, microSD slot
Connection
Cameras	front: 5 MP
Battery	4850 mAh, non-removable
Dimensions (edit)	173.1x88.3x7.5 mm
Weight
Price at the time of publication
Where can I buy

Design and management

Xiaomi Mi Max is very big. Extremely large and not very suitable for wearing in a trouser pocket. The average Mi Max jeans do not fit completely - the strip with the rear camera and a small part of the body sticks out, and when walking you feel uncomfortable, because when you enter the bus or, God forbid, walking up the stairs, the "shovel" in your pocket sticks into your groin ...

The black frames around the screen represent that the screen is larger than it actually is, but this is not a flagship model at all, so "". Thanks already for the backlighting of the keys under the screen + for the usual Micro-USB instead of Type-C. But no thanks for the hybrid slot, because to be greedy for a separate microSD slot in a 6.4-inch "shovel" is a disgrace!

And also keep in mind that Xiaomi has stuffed a 4850 mAh battery into a 7.5 mm case (your iPhone 5s and Galaxy S7 are thicker!). For comparison: the legendary shovel Sony Xperia The Z Ultra had only a 3000mAh battery.

Screen and sound

Viewing angles are not record-breaking - the contrast drops noticeably when the display is tilted (the picture is not inverted, but it becomes much darker). The color balance is also a little "left" in cold shades, so white here tends to be blue rather than yellow), but even the coolest smartphones suffer from this.

The screen is not flawless, but better - only the flagships

In all other respects, the Mi Max screen is good - very bright (although it does not have any 600 and above cd / m2, at least in the manual adjustment mode), the contrast is also good, and the colors are not oversaturated, contrary to the latest vulgar fashion. Tempered glass is durable, does not get dirty and does not collect scratches for no good reason.

The sound in the headphones of the Mi Max is peculiar. Xiaomi got at its disposal a good sound path Snapdragon 650/652, and this could be limited to. But the Chinese went their own way, so initially the phablet sounds dirty, inexpressive and generally worse than it should be given such initial data. But in the audio settings there is a bunch of settings for Xiaomi headphones and an equalizer.

To be honest, the presets for “native equipment” are not inspiring - for the basic Xiaomi Piston 3, for example, the installation from the “Piston 3 Youth Edition” headphones came up. And from “just Piston 3”, judging by the miserable sound, did not fit.

Better to quit doing nonsense and not connecting presets, but activate the equalizer and adjust the knobs specifically for your headphones. In this case, the sound will be good - no worse than that of conventional smartphones for non-audiophiles.

The speaker in Mi Max is of average quality, it was clearly introduced into the smartphone after they measured out the space for the battery and processor. That is, the sound is average in volume, but not painfully intelligible - it does not come to wheezing or squealing, but in general, similar sound was given out in computer clubs in the 1990s.

Iron

The first thing for which Xiaomi smartphones are loved is that they are loaded with powerful processors at a minimal price. Mi Max was no exception, although the creators did not make it a flagship and limited themselves to Qualcomm's “sub-flagship” processors with six and eight cores. In principle, after the release of Redmi Note 3, no one is surprised by such components.

That was enough to make the Mi Max the fastest phablet over 6 inches. 4 GB variant random access memory and Snapdragon 652 is equal in processing power to last year Samsung Galaxy S7, and the six-core is doing the same Xperia Z Ultra, Huawei P8 Max, not to mention the cheaper models. At the same time, the new Huawei Mate 8 and P9 Plus will crush our Xiaomi to smithereens, only now they cost almost 3 times more, which indicates how ambitious Huawei's pricing is now.

Even the junior version with the Snapdragon 650 processor is very fast

For "play" and work, there is enough power even for middle version(but you shouldn't buy a smartphone with 2 GB of RAM). The extra two cores and the abundance of memory don't make the difference in the more expensive variant. But, if you want some "reserve" for applications and multitasking - a couple of thousand for the option "Snapdragon 652/4 Gb / 64 Gb" can be paid in addition. And do not forget that games are also installed only in the smartphone's memory, and not on microSD.

Software

Xiaomi does not want to release smartphones with "empty" Android for anything, under any sauce - the Chinese have been remaking the Google system for a long time and adapting the "green robot" to their taste. By and large, Xiaomi and Meizu remain trendsetters in the design of Android shells, only Samsung influences public opinion more strongly.

Due to deep interference in "hard-to-reach places", Xiaomi smartphones are constantly lagging behind competitors in terms of the relevance of versions of Android itself - until now, many models have not received Android 6.0, because the Chinese prefer to upgrade the shell, not the "substrate". Mi Max like new smartphone, this fate has passed - Marshmallow is here "out of the box", and the MIUI shell is still limited to the stable version 7.4.

The firmware is convenient, although not fully Russified

Today there are Mi Max variants with global (multilingual) and Chinese (Chinese and English) versions. Even the global version is not fully translated, but when buying, you should focus on it. But in general - with some skills and a computer, you can make even Chinese version smartphone.

In the global version, the minimum preinstalled apps everything is flat, cozy and much more thoughtful than Huawei, ZTE and other Xiaomi imitators in the interface.

In a word, for those who have not seen MIUI before, this is Android redesigned by the Chinese with a completely new design, a bunch of new settings and some idiotic solutions. For example, the time to turn off the screen is not in the settings of this very screen, as in all normal smartphones, but in the menu where the owner of the smartphone sets a password or fingerprint to unlock.

By the way, the scanner is pretty good - it is less nimble than in the Mate 8, but it is much better at recognizing prints than its counterpart in the LG G5 SE, for example.

Cameras

The Xiaomi Mi Max has a rear camera of the level "to somehow shoot and with a not very shameful quality." For fun in a smartphone, you can even control shooting manually (shutter speed, ISO, white balance, focusing), but the benefits of this are near-zero.

Because the sensor is very, very fond of light, and in conditions of its deficit, it bothers with digital noise and poor sharpness. Focusing is clumsy, it is difficult to shoot objects close up (although, with proper skill, it is possible).

Still, it's a shame that the newest phablet takes photos in much the same way as the Redmi Note 3 a year old. If not worse.

With the video, things are also average. Yes, 4K recording is supported, but the quality is far from flagship. There is no optical stabilization, there is no 60 fps at Full HD, the focusing has to be “kicked” manually, the detail is average. True, at night the smartphone copes with shooting surprisingly well. Yes, digital noise is noticeable, but the frame rate does not drop, and autofocus, to the best of its capabilities, tries not to blur the picture.

The camera shoots disgustingly in low light

Autonomy

6.44 inches of display area is not as scary as their imaginations paint. Yes, the IPS-matrix cannot be called an economical option, but the large battery capacity covers all the disadvantages. Before us is a rare example when a huge smartphone is also hardy.

Discharging Mi Max in 24 hours is practically a feat. A smartphone, in fact, lasts for 2-3 days if you use it measuredly. For 1.5 days - if you drive it "for all the money." At the same time, the energy saving modes in MIUI are solid (if only they were transferred) - the system can clear RAM on a schedule, turn off Wi-FI, Bluetooth, vibration, GPS and other energy consumers if the battery is discharged below the required level.

Even with a monstrous display diagonal, Mi Max remains a very durable smartphone.

Competitors

	XiaomiMiMax	HuaweiMate 8	LeTV One Max (X900)
Operating system
Screen	6.44 ", 1920x1080, IPS, 342 ppi	6 ", 1920x1080, IPS, 368 ppi	6,33 ", 2560x1440, IPS, 464 ppi
CPU	Qualcomm MSM8956 Snapdragon 650, 6 cores (4x Cortex-A53, 1.4 GHz + 2x Cortex-A72 1.8 GHz) / Qualcomm MSM8976 Snapdragon 652, 8 cores (4x Cortex-A53, 1.4 GHz + 4x Cortex-A72 1.8 GHz )	HiSilicon Kirin 950, 8 cores (4x Cortex-A53, 1.38 GHz + 4x Cortex-A72 2.3 GHz)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 MSM8994, 8 cores (4x Cortex-A53 1.5 GHz + 4x Cortex-A57 2.0 GHz)
Graphics
Operationalmemory
Persistent memory	32/64/128 GB, microSD slot	32/64 GB, microSD slot
Connection	4G (LTE Cat.6), 3G, Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 b / g / n / ac), Bluetooth 4.2, IrDA, GPS, GLONASS, NFC	4G (LTE Cat.6), 3G, Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 b / g / n / ac), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, GLONASS, NFC	4G (LTE Cat.9), 3G, Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 b / g / n / ac), Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, GLONASS, NFC
Cameras	main: 16 MP, with autofocus, video recording 3840x2160, front: 5 MP	main: 16 MP, with autofocus, video shooting 1920x1080, front: 8 MP	main: 21 MP, with autofocus, video recording 3840x2160, front: 4 MP
Battery	4850 mAh, non-removable	4000 mAh, non-removable	3000 mAh, non-removable
Dimensions (edit)	173.1x88.3x7.5 mm	157.1x80.6x7.9 mm	167.1x83.5x8.95 mm
Weight
Price at the time of publication	17,000 rubles (version with 64 GB of memory)	25,000 rubles (version with 32 GB of memory on the "gray" market)	20,000 rubles
Where can I buy	Spit call: 2801 3 inline	Spit call: 2801 3 inline	Spit call: LeTV One Max X900 2801 3 inline

Since we are talking about Chinese phones today, it is not a sin to compare them with each other in the realities of the gray market. If Xiaomi, bundled with 3 GB of RAM, costs 15.5 thousand rubles (Aliexpress), then the Huawei phablet will cost 10 thousand more.

That is, it can no longer be called an "anti-crisis shovel", but the surcharge is, in many ways, justified. Huawei has better display, much better cameras, a more powerful and economical processor, a better speakerphone, a slightly better case. True, the operating system is prettier in Xiaomi, and the sound quality in the headphones of the Mate 8 is not particularly pleasing. The rest is taste and a choice between two diagonals.

LeTV (LeEco) One Max

If Xiaomi ever falls out of favor among its aggressive fans of "powerful Chinese for a cheap", then it will be LeEco that will bury this company. Because for 21 thousand rubles, hot Chinese guys offer even cooler characteristics. Yes, Snapdragon 810 is no faster than the current 652 in terms of the processor, but it still makes the six hundredth series in gaming disciplines. And the Quad HD display on a monstrous diagonal will also come in handy.

Only he will need to flash support Google play, put russification and generally have fun in every possible way before the smartphone can work normally in Russian realities.

Considering that Huawei P8 Max is seriously outdated, Sony and Samsung are asking exorbitant sums for similar shovel phones, ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra will also not be cheap and will appear in Russia soon. This is where the distinct competitors of the Mi Max end.

conclusions

Xiaomi has not produced failed smartphones for a long time - these Chinese are too experienced to make gross mistakes. But the Mi Max has its own specifics to keep in mind. You should be prepared for the fact that this model is a slightly stripped-down tablet. Buying a cover for a 6.4-inch monster is nonsense, it will grow in size to completely indecent values. And you should know for sure if you can carry such a "pipe" in your trouser pockets.

Xiaomi does not know how to do quality cameras... Even the "best of the best", let alone Mi Max shoots at the level of models that can be ordered from China for 10-12 thousand rubles.

Mi Max is not "the coolest" for its price among Chinese phablets. The same LeTV can do better. Today Xiaomi is chosen for its relative reliability in comparison with the "newbie Chinese phones", and not for the maximum stuffing in the characteristics. For everyone around you, you will not be the owner of a phone for 17-20 thousand, but another "freak with some kind of Chinese metal nonsense." Because the design of the Mi Max does not shine, and the Xiaomi brand is not familiar to all Russians. By the way, Xiaomi fans will be sure that you bought a stretched Redmi Note 3 Pro, which, in general, is not far from the truth.

"My sadness, you leave me." Do you even imagine what kind of sadness it is to look for a decent-sized mobile phone with a screen diagonal close to that of a tablet? All over the world, from the American iPhone-Motorola regions, through the richest South Korean manufacturers, "Factory China" and semi-basement assemblers, there are less than ten large mobile phones, which are not ashamed to buy. Not latest models with super-processors, cameras and screens, and in general models that can be found not in second-hand condition.

But once on every corner they joked about "plastic surgeries to enlarge hands under large mobile phones." But since 2013, large-sized models have become a piece commodity - both Samsung capitulated with its own, and Sony, who had the courage to make a 6.4-inch flagship, and rare smartphones with big screen produced only by the Chinese and only for the Chinese market.

Today, praise for bezel-less fashion, the situation has changed - manufacturers are happily stretching sweeping IPS and AMOLED matrices along the very edges of the case. Only in case of 6.2 ”or more large screens such pleasure costs more than 30 thousand even from the well-known cheap Chinese manufacturers. This is if you do not take into account that mobile phones with displays elongated "sausage" in height are as similar to "tablet phones" as "sour cream" to sour cream.

If, among the non-flagships, we discard models collected from "production waste" that are ashamed to sell in compact smartphones, there will be a couple of old Huawei in Chinese online stores, Doogee "what if you are lucky and not defective" Y6 Max and two generations of Xiaomi Mi Max.

If you decide to operate your smartphone with one hand, you will have to "crawl" with a brush from the top with a notification curtain, a fingerprint scanner and a volume key, to the bottom, where there are three keys under the screen Android control(backlit, by the way!). In the settings, you can turn on the one-handed control mode, and then the image on the display will collapse to a small square in the corner you need. But this is a pitiful sight, and one does not want to do that.

But after several days with a shovel phone, you pick up a 5.5-inch mobile phone ... and it seems tiny, and even very infuriates with a cramped keyboard (in Mi Max, the screen width is such that you don't even want to turn the keyboard to landscape orientation). It's like taking in iPhone hands 5s after Galaxy S7 edge / S8. And 5-inch smartphones generally seem like toy "dialers".

Mi Max 2 is far from bezel-less, but a big black matte smartphone doesn't need it

But, if you really wanted to yourself big smartphone, get used to it quickly - especially since Mi Max 2 is very thin and much more compact than most smartphones with a diagonal of 6.3-6.4 inches.

And more spectacular - matt black metal smartphone looks "clear and bold", like the Dagestan Lada Priora. The metal is very high quality, the paint is perfectly smooth, not slippery and masks fingerprints well. And even better, it hides the Wi-Fi / GPS / cellular antennas that are stretched across the top and bottom of the case.

Strangely, at 210 grams of weight (almost 2 times more than in the iPhone 5s), this colossus does not seem heavy. Moreover, the body contains a huge battery, stereo speakers, and an infrared port for control household appliances, thanks for that. And no thanks for the damn hybrid slot that forces you to choose between two SIMs or one SIM + microSD.

Screen and sound

Imagine yourself in childhood, when your parents tell you “son, the TV shows something bad, fix it,” and you turn the controls on the particle board of your “Horizon” / “Electron”. You have to twist a lot, because each channel is badly caught in its own way.

Xiaomi Mi Max 2 is injected by robots, not a man - automatic system Display contrast adjustment is enabled by default and does an excellent job. Without it, the display of Mi Max 2 = an enlarged copy of the matrix in Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, only with perfect color reproduction.

Slightly brighter (460 versus 420 cd / m2), slightly less contrasting (810: 1 versus 1000: 1) matrix. By the standards of "shovels" - a normal result. In the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, the display was even less bright, and in the Lenovo Phab Plus, our Mi Max 2 did not hold a candle. But the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro and ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra went a little ahead in terms of characteristics, and Xiaomi compensates for such a loss of losses with software tricks ...

With dynamic contrast, the system “uses the knobs” so that it does not catch the eye - it brightens the display on the street (the gamma value reaches the very whitish 2.7) when it is necessary “just to see something”) and raises the contrast up to up to 2000: 1 when the correct shades are not important to you (i.e. always, except for full-screen videos and photos). It sounds scary, but it works - there is always enough brightness and "readability". At the same time, saturation, white balance and color levels always remain normal, which means that the display does not distort and embellish photos on cameras, as Honor 9 likes to do, for example.

It is a pity that the viewing angles are mediocre - on three sides, if you look from the side, the image just darkens, but when looking from the right (from the side of the volume and power keys) your neighbor will see "negatives", that is, an inverted image. That is, he will not be able to get acquainted with new memes on social networks and the vacation of your girlfriends in swimsuits for the company.

Inexpensive screen "leaves" only due to electronic tricks, but the speakers are good in themselves

The sound in the headphones is not bad - voluminous, moderately clean (as far as Snapdragon allows without a dedicated audio chip), "boyish". That is, the bass threshes well even in heavy-duty high-impedance plugs like the Xiaomi Hybrid Pro, the clarity of the high frequencies at which the "tynts-tynts-tynts" is held is also normal. If the "middle" is not enough for you - discover the magical taste of Nescafe smartphones with Asahi Kasei DAC on board. And in Mi Max 2, you can only spice up the sound a little to your liking using the equalizer (this is a plus). Only beforehand, you will definitely have to turn on the preset for one of the types of headphones to choose from and spoil the sound a little to make it more fun to edit it (this is a minus).

It is a pity that there is no volume reserve - if in modern music you can isolate yourself from the noise of a car / bus / train at a volume “two divisions less than the maximum”, then the old recordings of Modern Talking or Viktor Tsoi, for example, do not sound deafening even at maximum volume ... In really noisy rooms, this flaw will strike you ... in your ears. I don’t know if it’s possible to fix this problem in the engineering menu of the smartphone.

But what stereo speakers are in Mi Max 2! Oh, they are beautiful! Very loud and "impenetrable" for any provocations - with a claim to low frequencies, but without wheezing, even in heavy and full of bass-guitars music. A clean, surround sound, in terms of volume and bass, is even better than that of a specialized "muzophone", in all parameters, except for the detailing of high frequencies, it is better than in. In general, big Xiaomi turns out to be a good "mobile cinema", and there is even no need to buy a Bluetooth speaker to rap on the streets and delight passers-by with their musical taste.

The only pity is that the stereo speakers sing in different directions - from above it works "at two rates" and provides a stereo conversational speaker, it sings right in your face. The second speaker is a speakerphone, it sings from the bottom edge ... somewhere over there. You can't go anywhere - with symmetrical loudspeakers, smartphones become too long "dildos", so it's better that way.

Iron

In nature, there are only two smartphones with a 6.4+ inch display and powerful processor- based on Snapdragon 821 and Honor 8 Note based on Kirin 955. The first is frameless and expensive, the second is a rarity.

All other "shovels" have either budget (they say, where are you going, losers, no one will release big models for you), or middle (so that the smartphone does not slow down and hangs on every sneeze) class. Xiaomi Mi Max 2 belongs to "the rest" and, among competitors, it can be considered a middling one.

Because Snapdragon 625 is an economical processor at the junction of budget employees and slightly more expensive smartphones, but Qualcomm prefers to “pull by the ears” this model, as if it can claim to be something more.

And this happens because everyone is too lazy to invest in good processors for “neither expensive nor cheap” smartphones. In 2016, Qualcomm released the cool Snapdragon 650 and 652 that were almost as fast as the best flagship processors of 2015. The heat and gluttony of this twins were appropriate, but instead of transferring a good combination of 4 powerful and 4 economical cores to the new "rails" of the 14 nm process technology (less heating, less power consumption), Qualcomm decided to fire up eight dead cores of a budget processor.

The performance in Mi Max 2 is slightly higher than the budget, there is nothing to be proud of

For messengers and the Internet, this combination turned out to be enough, but the fact that in games smartphones work like buckets for 10 thousand is the tenth thing. Who cares about mobile graphics, right?

Huawei suffers from a similar insanity with the Kirin 659, which is similar in despondency. And Samsung, which has a performance hole between Galaxy S and more cheap models shuts up with the argument "But I'm Samsung, and what have you achieved?" and Exynos 7880.

The ten-core cheap "boilers" MediaTek Helio X20 / 25 are faster, but Xiaomi did not dare to spoil the autonomy of the model with a large screen. In general, if you do not know the ins and outs of the processor, everything is fine, wonderful marquise - applications are installed and updated quickly, messengers spin without hesitation and are smeared with 4 GB of RAM in such a way that starting "cold" (when you have not opened a running once then the app is in the background) Snapdragon 625 rarely performs, so the smartphone seems to be faster.

And not only it seems - outside of games, it works much more responsive than Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro, for example. And what about games ... what about games? Everything will work with "some" graphics, and even not all owners of desktop computers, not to mention smartphones, prefer to twist the details to their best taste. But no heating and good autonomy with "little blood".

Software

MIUI shell in Xiaomi smartphones - "dad" design in Android of any Chinese smartphones(except for the same age as Meizu, perhaps). The communist brothers "communed" most of the menus, icons and functions from Xiaomi after the add-on of the name "hare in a hat" proved that Chinese design in a mobile phone is not a disgrace and anecdote, but a good alternative to the Samsung and Sony interfaces that were exemplary in those years ...

Since then, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge - buyers "kicked" the Samsung add-on TouchWiz so painfully that the Koreans rolled out a completely new design in the Galaxy S8 and worked hard on the speed of the system. Among the Chinese themselves, there are lovers of, sorry, "racial purity" of Android - for example, OnePlus, who believe that it is a sin to alter what Google has drawn, but you just need to add a setting here, here and here.

As a result, in terms of functionality and the principle "there should not be a single icon left, as in the standard Android!" MIUI is the best developed, only the vigorous Chinese activity led to the "obesity" of Android under the sauce of Xiaomi. In versions on Android base 5/6 trouble peaked.

In Mi Max 2, MIUI is already on top of Android 7.1 and works better. Boring wallpapers, a minimum of preinstalled applications (we will not show them on Samsung and Huawei with their OneDrive's, Sberbanks and other Herbalife), call recording cellular network, blacklisted, good file manager- everything is fine.

MIUI on top of Android 7 has not changed revolutionary, but it takes up less processor resources

You can create a “second space” - a new smartphone user who will have his own “naked” version of the smartphone and will not have access to your photos and applications. There's even an option to prevent widgets and icons from being dragged across the desktop - a feature you'll idolize when you buy a smartphone for older parents.

Although there are also enough "alternatively gifted" solutions - the screen backlight time needs to be adjusted not in the "screen" item in the settings, but in the "lock screen and status bar" item. By default, the system hides notification icons from you in the curtain at the top - real Confucius are not distracted by trifles. And in order to swap icons (switches for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.), you need to dive deep into the settings.

But there are still more advantages - after you "boil over" from nonsense in some little things, fall in love with MIUI and its comfort.

Cameras

Representatives of Xiaomi at presentations like to nod at the fact that the Mi Max 2 has a camera with the same sensor (Sony IMX386) as the Xiaomi Mi 6. “Can you imagine how cool it will be to shoot a big Xiaomi with such a filling?”, - the Chinese exclaim , and the guys in the assembly hall willingly nod - yes, a stunning solution!

Nicely hung noodles on the ears do not need dismantling, but our Chinese friends forget to mention that the IMX386 is also a sensor in the mass-market Meizu MX6 or Honor 6X, which shoot well, but certainly not masterpiece.

But we are talking about Xiaomi, so this fact should be multiplied by small savings on optics, different aperture values ​​(in Mi 6 aperture = f / 1.8, in Mi Max 2 - f / 2.2) + "crooked hands" of developers unwillingness to teach the camera good to shoot in low light.

Therefore, during the day, Mi Max 2 produces high-quality, juicy photos, quickly focuses, with HDR turned on, it stretches even complex landscapes with light skies and dark buildings to the middle denominator and good visibility. Except that for macro photography (close-up) the camera is badly suited - "sticking" to a flower and capturing it to small details will not work, Mi Max 2 simply will not be able to focus.

But in the evening and at night the camera of the "shovel phone" wants to be covered with obscenities, although even this does not help to shoot better. A loose, dirty picture abundantly watered with digital noise, as if taken with a twice cheaper Redmi 4A or, worse, some "freshly basement" BQ. How so? And what about your cool sensor, like a flagship? ..

“Okay, now I'm going to turn on HDR and with extended dynamic range the camera will start dragging ”is the first thing that comes to mind. I turn it on and I see a blurry frame, as if the photo was taken by an alcoholic with shaking hands. In the dark, Mi Max 2 sets the shutter speed to such an extent that it’s not a matter of taking a photo without a tripod!

At night the camera of the big Xiaomi turns into a "pumpkin"

Switch to manual mode, going through everything possible options settings. And there are only two options - either the fastest possible exposure and a dark picture on which little is visible (this happens if you just shoot in auto mode), or a lighter, but hopelessly blurry photo, if you increase the shutter speed. In general, the manual mode in budget Xiaomi is such a mockery that the buyer thinks that he can influence something.

With video during the day, things are average - yes, you can set shooting in 4K, and the clarity will be really higher than in Full HD, but there is not even software stabilization (not to mention optical) in the settings, and without it the frame "jumps" so much, that you can only shoot as a tin soldier. Or Michael Jackson, who can do it right. But Michael will no longer come to your aid when you shoot with Xiaomi.

It's better not to even try to shoot video at night - everything is terrible, starting with the fact that autofocus "goggles" in attempts to focus (the alternative is to switch the focus type in the settings and "drive" focus by poking into the display every second), continuing with terrible detail, digital noise , a blurry picture, and ending with the constant gurgling of the microphone.

The front camera is normal. If the lighting is good and you want to take a selfie, do it. If you want exemplary detailing of a photographic portrait, you shouldn't go to Xiaomi at all, but to another address.

On the one hand, there is no large-sized smartphone within 20 thousand rubles, which would shoot in the same way. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016), worth 18 thousand, will "break" the big Xiaomi both in video detail, and in the quality of microphones, and in night shooting, and in taking selfies. It's better not to even think about how much better a comparable Xiaomi Mi5s shoots.

Autonomy

In a nutshell - just super! “On paper” it seems that 5300 mAh for 6.44 inches is not that much. But in reality, the increase in the diagonal of the display does not hit the autonomy as much as it seems at first glance. And the power consumption of IPS-matrices decreases from year to year, although no one ever talks about this.

In short, Xiaomi Mi Max 2 will easily last for two days of very intensive use. If you do not "detach" from the smartphone screen, it can be discharged in a day. If you use it from time to time - three days of autonomy. Without any energy saving modes (which, by the way, in Xiaomi, are some of the most powerful among all android phones).

Super-durable smartphone that also charges quickly

Unlike the first Mi Max, which had to be kept at the outlet for 3 hours to fully charge from 0%, the second model does not look so scary. With support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0, the smartphone charges up to 60% in one hour. Remaining 40% Charger licks a little less intensely (), so Mi Max 2 charges up to 100% in two hours exactly. Good result - it's hard to find another 5000+ mAh smartphone that replenishes the charge just as quickly.

Competitors

			Honor 8Note
Operating system	Android 7.1 Nougat		Android 7.0 Nougat
Screen	6.44 ", 1920x1080, IPS, 342 ppi	6.4 ", 1920x1080, IPS, 344 ppi	6.6 ", 2560x1440, AMOLED, 443 ppi
CPU	Snapdragon 625 MSM8953 Octa Core (8x Cortex-A53 2.0GHz)	Mediatek MT8783, 8 cores (8x Cortex-A53 1.3 GHz)	HiSilicon Kirin 955, 8 cores (4x Cortex-A53 1.8 GHz + 4x Cortex-A72 2.5 GHz)
Graphics
Operationalmemory
Persistent memory	64 GB, microSD slot	32 GB, microSD slot	64/128 GB, microSD slot
Connection	4G (LTE Cat.4), 3G, Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 b / g / n / ac), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, GLONASS, NFC, IrDA	4G (LTE Cat.4), 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 (IEEE 802.11 b / g / n / ac), Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, GLONASS	4G (LTE Cat.6), 3G, Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 b / g / n / ac), Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, GLONASS
Cameras	rear: 12 MP, with autofocus, video recording 3840x2160, front: 5 MP	main: 13 MP, with autofocus, video shooting 1920x1080, additional: 13 Mp, front: 8 MP	rear: 13 Mp, with autofocus, video recording 3840x2160, front: 5 MP
Battery	5300 mAh, non-removable	4050 mAh, non-removable	4500 mAh, non-removable
Dimensions (edit)	174.1x88.7x7.6 mm	173.9x88.3x9.6 mm	178.8 x 90.9 x 7.2 mm
Weight
Price at the time of publication	20,000 rubles (official deliveries) 16,000 rubles ("gray" market)	23,000 rubles (official deliveries) 16,000 rubles ("gray" market)	22,000 - 25,000 rubles ("gray" market)

Yes, I understand that comparing the fancy new Mi Max 2 with a simple Lenovo phablet looks like a "beating of babies", but if you choose for yourself inexpensive smartphone with a large screen, you will not get away from the second generation Phab.

In terms of display quality, smartphones are more or less equal (although the viewing angles in Lenovo are even worse), but the deeper into the forest, the angrier the “hares” in earflaps. The processor in Phab 2 Plus is an old dull state employee MT6753 with a new nameplate, of the level "if only it works somehow." In games, the operating speed is depressing, fast charging is not supported, there are no stereo speakers, there is no NFC (the ability to pay with a smartphone at the checkout counters), the autonomy is worse, the body is thicker, Android old, the price is higher.

In Lenovo's favor, we can say that it is better. front-camera(it is even equipped with a flash!), and the rear cameras can do fashionable blur, that is, bokeh. As for the rest, the Phab 2 Plus looked like a "retired" on the day of launch, and with "live" competitors, it makes little sense to purchase it.

Honor 8 note

All the best for the Chinese! The real rival of Xiaomi, the monstrous giant of the subsidiary of Huawei, has not even started selling in Russia, so you will have to look for it on Aliexpress and other Chinese stores-markets. Is it worth doing this at all?

Costs! Because you get an even larger mobile phone with an ultra-sharp AMOLED display (like in Samsung), a processor of the level of the flagship smartphones of 2016 and a flagship camera of 2015 with optical stabilization(she migrated to the new Honor from Huawei P8 / P8 Max). There are no stereo speakers in the smartphone, it takes longer to charge and does not work for a very long time from the battery - the gluttonous processor affects.

The smartphone that you buy abroad will most likely be stuffed with Chinese applications - they will have to be removed manually. The smartphone is super-rare - it is difficult to find a cover for it, and it is even more difficult to get spare parts in the event of a breakdown. But this is one of the fastest and coolest "tablet phones" at a very attractive price, it's worth taking a closer look.

conclusions

It is difficult to criticize a smartphone that has almost no competitors - all the nitpicking is broken about the fact that no one produces inexpensive models with a near-tablet diagonal, and even more so no one sells officially in Russia.

Probably, Xiaomi is very fond of their Mi Max, and therefore do not fool around with gluing different cases to the same model (Redmi 3 Pro / Redmi 3S / Redmi 4 / Redmi 4X), but they are really constructing a new generation of "shovel phone" from scratch. For this reason, Mi Max 2 received a cool compact body of the latest fashion, excellent stereo speakers, a super-capacious battery and a modern operating system. Such goodness in the Russian Federation, even in "simple" smartphones with small screen within 20 thousand not so much, but in the category "6.4+ inches" at all. For the fact that Mi Max 2 "bends its line" and turned out to be a non-pop smartphone, he gets the Editors' Choice award.

Low headphone volume headroom

Mediocre (like for a smartphone for 20 thousand rubles) gaming performance

The past season, the Chinese company Xiaomi, which a couple of years ago was one of the few that performed well in the segment of medium-sized flagship smartphones with top-end characteristics, marked the release of almost the largest tablet phone on the market with a huge screen, balanced characteristics and impressive autonomy. Such a product that is not quite familiar to Xiaomi, nevertheless, fell in love with the fans of the brand, and Mi Max became a hit. It is quite natural that the manufacturer did not stop and, on the wave of success, released an update to this popular solution this season - Mi Max 2. The new product retained the best features of its predecessor, and some dubious moments were mitigated. Read more about all this in our Xiaomi Mi Max 2 review.

Main characteristics of Xiaomi Mi Max 2

• SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 625, Octa-core Cortex-A53 (2.0GHz)
• GPU Adreno 506 (650 MHz)
• Operating system Android 7.1.1, MIUI 8.5
• 6.44 ″ IPS touchscreen display, 1920 × 1080, 342 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 4 GB, internal memory 64/128 GB
• Support for Nano-SIM (1 pc.), Micro-SIM (1 pc.)
• MicroSD support up to 128GB
• GSM / GPRS / EDGE networks (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
• WCDMA / HSPA + networks (850/900/1900/2100 MHz)
• LTE networks Cat.12, FDD (B1 / B3 / B5 / B7 / B8), TD (B38 — B41)
• Wi-Fi 802.11a / b / g / n / ac (2.4 and 5 GHz) MU-MIMO
• WiFi Display, WiFi Direct
• Bluetooth 4.2
• GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, BDS
• USB Type-C, USB OTG
• Infrared port
• Main camera 12 MP, f / 2.2, autofocus, 4K video
• Front camera 5 MP, f / 2.0, fixed. focus
• Proximity sensor, illumination, magnetic field, fingerprint, accelerometer, gyroscope, step counter
• Battery 5300 mAh, Quick Charge 3.0
• Dimensions 174 x 89 x 7.6mm
• Weight 211 g

Contents of delivery

Xiaomi Mi Max 2 received a standard box, made of very thick and hard cardboard. The lid, I must say, sits too tightly, and no additional means for convenient removal are provided. Therefore, you have to shake it many, many times until the pallet crawls out at least a little. Frankly speaking, not the most convenient packaging for opening.

The content, as usual, is the scantiest. The box contains nothing but a charger with variable maximum output current and voltage (3 A 5 V / 2 A 9 V / 1.5 A 12 V) and a connecting cable. The tool for removing the SIM card is fixed on the paper tab as standard.

Appearance and usability

The body of Xiaomi Mi Max 2 is completely made of metal. There are no end plastic inserts, the one-piece aluminum trough completely covers all the edges, having only one gluing point with the front glass. Accordingly, so that the metal does not shield the radio signals, grooves are cut outside for the antennas. They are curved in a modern way in accordance with the lines of the body, repeating its shape.

Otherwise, this is a completely typical representative of Xiaomi smartphones, with the most simple and concise design. He is neither handsome nor repulsive, simple and calm.

The case is very large, wide, but rather thin: its thickness is only 7.6 mm, and due to the strongly rounded edges, the case feels even thinner in the hand, the edges almost dig into the palms, because for such a wide case you need a rather strong grip. In short, this is not the most thoughtful option, for a large and heavy device (weighing 211 g), the side edges must be made flatter and wider, otherwise the smartphone spins in the hand like a bar of soap and every time strives to fall to the floor.

The brushed smooth metal also contributes to the fact that the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 is quite slippery to hold in the hand. But the good grease-repelling Gorilla Glass front glass and the non-marking metal of the back make the device almost immune to fingerprints, the smartphone for a long time maintains a presentable appearance without the need for constant wiping with a cloth.

The all-metal case without plastic inserts is resistant to bending, practical, reliable and able to serve for a long time, you just need to try not to drop it on the floor. To do this, it is better to immediately purchase a cover, because, as already mentioned, a wide, heavy and very thin device with sharp sides does not hold well in the hand.

Now let's move on to listing the elements located on the body of the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 - there are more of them here than usual. From non-standard - a useful IR transmitter at the top, which, using the built-in Mi Remote program, turns a smartphone into a convenient one Universal remote remote control home appliances. The program immediately recognized the old Philips TV without any problems, with which not all programs of this kind can now cope.

In addition, on the top you can find a 3.5 mm audio output for headphones and a small hole for the auxiliary microphone.

The bottom end is for a universal USB Type-C connector, two rows of holes are cut on the sides of it. Behind the right one hides a speaker, and behind the left, perhaps a spoken microphone, but it usually does not need so many holes.

The mechanical power and volume keys are located on the side under the right hand, they are not very large, made of metal, rather rigid and with a short travel. The keys are not the most comfortable, but you can get used to it.

The back panel is customarily given over to the camera module with flash, as well as a fingerprint scanner. None of these elements stick out beyond the surface, the device lies on the table steadily. Unlike the first version of Mi Max, here the flash was placed to the left of the camera module. It is double, shines brightly. The scanner works out recognition clearly, quickly, the finger can be brought up from any angle. Registration of up to 5 fingers is supported.

The front panel is completely covered with 2.5D Gorilla Glass with sloping edges. Above the screen, in addition to the grille and sensors covering the earpiece, there is also an LED event indicator, it shines with a milky dot during charging, but does not work as a notification about missed voice calls.

The lower part of the front panel has a row of touch buttons with their own customizable backlight. Traditionally for the MIUI interface, additional functionality is added to the buttons, enabling them to be held for a long time.

Xiaomi Mi Max 2 on Russian market can be purchased in golden color, as in our photographs, and also in black.

Screen

Xiaomi Mi Max 2 is equipped with an IPS display with 2.5D Gorilla Glass with sloping edges. The physical dimensions of the screen are 80 × 143 mm with a diagonal of 6.44 inches. The screen resolution is 1920 × 1080, the dot density is about 342 ppi. For a screen with such a huge area, the resolution and dot density are perhaps too small. It is also worth noting that the notorious black bezel around the display, for which Xiaomi has always been so scolded, remained in place, but became about half thinner. Nevertheless, it is still clearly visible, and the total width of the frame around the screen together with the sides of the case is 4 mm from the sides, 17 mm from the bottom, and 14 mm from the top. That is, there is no question of any "framelessness" here.

Display brightness can be manually adjusted or used automatic settings based on the operation of the ambient light sensor. The AnTuTu test diagnoses support for 10 simultaneous multitouch touches. It is possible to activate the screen by double tapping.

Detailed expertise using measuring instruments conducted the editor of the "Monitors" and "Projectors and TV" sections Alexey Kudryavtsev... Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the test sample.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface, resistant to scratches. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are approximately the same as those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the turned off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - Xiaomi Mi Max 2, then they can be distinguished by their size, and Nexus 7 in the photographs for comparing images on the screens is located under the tested device):

The screen of the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 is slightly lighter (brightness in photographs is 124 versus 117 for the Nexus 7). The doubling of reflected objects in the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 screen is very weak, which indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically, between the outer glass and the surface of the LCD matrix) (OGS type screen - One Glass Solution). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (such as glass / air) with greatly different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of intense ambient light, but their repair in the case of cracked outer glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be changed. On the outer surface of the screen there is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (even better than the Nexus 7 in terms of efficiency), so fingerprints are much easier to remove, and appear at a slower rate than in the case of ordinary glass.

With manual brightness control and with the display of the white field on the whole screen, the maximum brightness value was about 520 cd / m², the minimum - 1.0 cd / m². The maximum brightness is very high, and given the good anti-glare properties, readability even on a sunny day outdoors should be at good level... In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable value. In the presence of automatic brightness control according to the light sensor (it is located to the left of the slot of the front speaker). V automatic mode when the ambient light conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness control, by which the user can try to set the desired brightness level in the current conditions. If you do not intervene, in complete darkness, the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 4 cd / m2 (too dark), in an office lit with artificial light (about 550 lx) sets to 160 cd / m2 (normal), in a very bright environment (corresponds to the lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or slightly more) increases to 520 cd / m² (to the maximum, which is needed). The result did not quite suit us, so in conditions of complete darkness we slightly moved the slider to the right, and for the three conditions indicated above, we got the following values: 14, 160 and 520 cd / m² (suitable values). It turns out that the automatic brightness control function works adequately and to some extent allows the user to customize his work for individual requirements. At any brightness level, there is no significant backlight modulation, so there is no screen flickering either.

This smartphone uses an IPS-type matrix. The micrographs show the typical IPS subpixel structure:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of photomicrographs of screens used in mobile technology.

The screen has good viewing angles without a significant color shift even with large gaze deviations from the perpendicular to the screen and without inverting (except for the darkest when deviating along one diagonal) shades. For comparison, we present photographs in which the screens of Xiaomi Mi Max 2 and Nexus 7 display the same images, while the brightness of the screens was initially set to about 200 cd / m2, and the color balance on the camera was forcibly switched to 6500 K.

White field perpendicular to screens:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field.

And the test picture:

The color contrast on the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 screen is slightly overestimated, while the color balance of the Nexus 7 and the tested screen is slightly different. The photo was taken in the case of the profile selected by default Automatic contrast in screen settings:

In the profile Increaser contrast the color contrast is even higher, and in the profile Standard there seems to be no increase in color contrast, and this profile should be chosen first. This is how the test image looks like:

Unfortunately, in this profile, as in the profile Increaser contrast color temperature adjustment is not available. It is difficult to understand what drove the developers when they so limited the options for adjusting the color reproduction. Surely this was done solely for the benefit of the user.

Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:

It can be seen that the colors did not change much on both screens, but in the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 the contrast decreased to a greater extent due to the strong lightening of black, and it also began to show signs of inverting dark shades.

And white box:

The brightness at an angle at the screens has decreased, but in the case of the Xiaomi Mi Max 2, the decrease in brightness is less (to avoid strong darkening, the shutter speed for pictures at an angle is increased compared to previous photos). The black field, when deviated along the diagonal, lightens strongly and acquires a purple or reddish tint. The photos below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same!):

And from a different angle:

When viewed from a perpendicular view, the black field uniformity is very good:

Contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is normal - about 820: 1. The response time for the transition black-white-black is 16 ms (8 ms on + 8 ms off). The transition between gray tones of 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes 25 ms in total. The gamma curve, plotted using 32 points at equal intervals in terms of the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal a blockage in either the highlights or the shadows. The exponent of the approximating power function is 2.34, which is slightly higher than the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve deviates slightly from the power dependence:

When choosing a profile Automatic contrast there is a not very aggressive dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the displayed image; in other profiles, we did not reveal its presence, which is very good.

The color gamut is close to sRGB:

The spectra show that the matrix filters mix the components together to a moderate extent:

As a result, the colors have natural saturation and hue (only you need to select a profile Standard). The balance of shades on the gray scale is good, since the color temperature is not much higher than the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the spectrum of the absolute black body (ΔE) is mainly below 10, which is considered an acceptable indicator for a consumer device. At the same time, both parameters change little from shade to shade - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of the color balance. (The darkest areas of the grayscale can be ignored, since there is no color balance. of great importance, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

To summarize: the screen has a very high maximum brightness and has good anti-reflective properties, so the device can be used outdoors without any problems even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable level. It is also acceptable to use the mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works adequately. Also, the advantages of the screen include the presence of an effective oleophobic coating, the absence of an air gap in the layers of the screen and flicker, good uniformity of the black field, as well as an acceptable color balance and a color gamut close to sRGB. The disadvantages are the low stability of black to deviation of the gaze from the perpendicular to the plane of the screen. Nevertheless, taking into account the importance of characteristics for this particular class of devices, the screen quality can be considered high.

Camera

The front 5-megapixel camera has an f / 2.0 aperture lens with fixed focus and no flash of its own. There are several modes of portrait retouching, you can choose the aspect ratio and picture quality, and there is also a standard one for all smartphones. Xiaomi mode determining the sex and age of the subject. At the same time, the shooting quality itself is modest: the image noticeably distorts the proportions of objects, the detail is low, the dynamic range is narrow, so there are underexposed areas and obvious highlights.

The main camera uses Sony module The IMX386 features a 12-megapixel 1.25μm large-pixel sensor and an f / 2.2 aperture lens with fast phase detection autofocus. The flash is double two-tone, it shines brightly. There is no stabilization system.

There is a mode of manual settings, in this mode 4 sliders become available (white balance, focusing options, shutter speed and sensitivity values). There are also some additional modes here that are not available in cheaper models, such as group selfie and 1: 1 square.

In the settings section, everything is standard for Xiaomi: there is access to variable values ​​of definition, saturation and contrast, there are functions for determining faces, age, gender, you can even use the camera as a QR code scanner. But you cannot choose the resolution of the picture, there are only three ready-made presets and two aspect ratios. The HDR mode is highlighted separately and is always available directly from the viewfinder screen for quick activation.

The camera can shoot video in 4K resolution (3840 × 2160), as well as 1080p at 30 fps, but not 60 fps. There is no video stabilization, so it's better not to shoot handheld on the go, but otherwise the camera copes well with video. The same cannot be said about sound recording: the sound is recorded with distortion, due to the overly aggressive operation of the noise reduction system, there is a familiar effect of echo and gurgling water.

• Movie # 1 (58 MB, 3840 × [email protected] fps, H.264, AAC)
• Movie # 2 (34 MB, 3840 × [email protected] fps, H.264, AAC)
• Movie # 3 (27 MB, 1920 × [email protected] fps, H.264, AAC)
• Movie # 4 (19 MB, 1920 × [email protected] fps, H.264, AAC)

	Good sharpness in the distant shots.
	Quite good sharpness across the field and according to plans.
	The text has been worked out well.
	Sharpness only falls in the corners.
	Good detail even in the distant shots.
	The camera copes well with macro photography.

The camera is good. High detail and good sharpness are noticeable in almost all images. Sometimes there are areas of confusion in the corners of the frame, and sometimes quite large, but otherwise the camera works very well. Perhaps, it could be recommended not only for documentary, but also for artistic photography, if not for the out-of-focus areas in the corner.

Telephone part and communications

The communication capabilities of Xiaomi Mi Max 2 thanks to the X9 modem are wide, however the FDD range LTE Band 20 is still not supported. Thus, of the interesting ones, only two ranges are supported. LTE frequencies FDD (Band 3 and 7), there is also support for four TDD LTE bands (Band 38 - 41). In the city limits of the Moscow region, the device with a Beeline SIM card behaved flawlessly, but with Tele 2 we could not even run Speedtest to check the data transfer speed.

Supports two Wi-Fi bands (2.4 and 5 GHz) with MU-MIMO, there is Bluetooth 4.2. WiFi Display, WiFi Direct are available, you can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels. There is no NFC module in the device. The USB Type-C connector supports connecting external devices to USB mode OTG.

The navigation module works with GPS (with A-GPS), with the domestic Glonass and with the Chinese Beidou. The first satellites during a cold start are detected within the first seconds, the positioning accuracy is satisfactory. There is a built-in magnetic compass.

The phone application supports Smart Dial, that is, while dialing phone number the search is immediately carried out by the first letters in the contacts. Methods for customizing the sorting and display of contacts are standard for the Android interface, there is a blacklist for unwanted contacts. There is a function of automatic recording of telephone conversations from the line, VoLTE is supported. The vibration alert is average in strength. In the conversational dynamics, the voice of a familiar interlocutor is well recognizable, the sound is thick, rich, powerful and loud.

Xiaomi Mi Max 2 supports active waiting for both SIM cards in 3G / 4G simultaneously. That is, the SIM card can be actively waiting in the network not only in 2G, but also in 3G, even if another card is assigned for data transmission in 3G / 4G. The interface does not allow you to select a specific SIM card for sending SMS in advance - only during connection. In advance, you can assign a SIM card for voice calls and data transfer. Cards work in Dual mode SIM Dual Standby, radio modem one.

Software and multimedia

As software platform Xiaomi Mi Max 2 uses Android OS of the latest version 7.1.1 together with its own proprietary MIUI shell 8.5 with over-the-air updates. Since Xiaomi has now officially entered the Russian market, it is no longer necessary for devices officially purchased here to install the store on their own. Play apps Store and set Google programs Apps.

For users familiar with the MIUI interface, there is nothing new here. V global firmware all are present Google services, Russian language is supported, and as virtual keyboard preinstalled with SwiftKey. There is no separate menu of programs in the launcher, additional third-party programs the smartphone is almost not preinstalled. There are several utilities (compass, QR scanner, dual account), there is a system manager in which you can configure energy saving, anti-virus protection, control traffic, enable block blacklists. Gestures are supported and a dual-window mode is promised, coming with future updates. For those who bought a smartphone with a huge display, but prefer to operate it with one hand, there is a mode for reducing the area of ​​the working screen. There is also a friend virtual button, which allows you to get quick access to the most requested functions.

To listen to music, we use our own proprietary player with a familiar interface and a familiar set of specialized profiles for different models ear phones. The sound of the smartphone is rich, clear and loud. In this device, the earpiece is also used for sounding music and films, and although it is quieter than the main speaker, the surround sound effect is still created and adds power to the sound. The unit sounds extremely bright and loud.

The sound in the headphones is also bright, thick, pleasant to the ear, there are low frequencies and even bass. The dictaphone, contrary to popular belief about an overly aggressive noise cancellation system and the inability to register low sounds, has quite good sensitivity. FM radio in the smartphone is available.

Performance

The hardware platform Xiaomi Mi Max 2 is built on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC, made using 14-nanometer technology. This SoC includes eight 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 cores with a frequency of up to 2.0 GHz, the Adreno 506 video accelerator with a core frequency of up to 650 MHz is responsible for graphics processing. The amount of RAM is 4 GB, and the built-in flash memory is 64 or 128 GB, depending on the modification. Of these, about 51.5 GB of flash memory (out of 64) and about 2.1 GB of RAM are free.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 is a platform designed for mid-range smartphones. This is no longer the most interesting chip in its category, it was replaced by the Snapdragon 626 with a higher core frequency (2.2 GHz instead of 2.0 GHz). Thanks to the 14 nm process technology, the SoC combines good performance with low power consumption. It should be noted that the novelty did not become more powerful than its predecessor Mi Max, although the public expected the use of at least Snapdragon 660 in Mi Max 2.

Both in complex and in graphic tests SoC Snapdragon 625 demonstrates satisfactory results for most tasks, around 60K in AnTuTu. The performance is sufficient for recording and playing video up to 4K UHD resolution and for demanding games. Mortal kombat X runs on a smartphone without the slightest lag.

Benchmarking AnTuTu and GeekBench:

All the results obtained by us when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks, we have summarized in tables for convenience. Several other devices from different segments are usually added to the table, also tested on similar latest versions benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the resulting dry numbers). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison, it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, therefore, many worthy and relevant models remain "behind the scenes" - due to the fact that they once passed the "obstacle course" on previous versions test programs.

Testing the graphics subsystem in gaming tests 3DMark, GFXBenchmark and Bonsai Benchmark:

When testing in 3DMark for the highest performing smartphones, it is now possible to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

	Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 625)	Moto Z2 Play (Qualcomm Snapdragon 626)	Htc one X10 (MediaTek Helio P10)	Honor 6X (HiSilicon Kirin 655)	Moto e4 plus (MediaTek (MT6737)
3DMark Ice Storm Sling Shot ES 3.1 (more is better)	464	470	421	378	99
GFXBenchmark Manhattan ES 3.1 (Onscreen, fps)	6	7	5	5	3
GFXBenchmark Manhattan ES 3.1 (1080p Offscreen, fps)	6	6	5	5	1
GFXBenchmark T-Rex (Onscreen, fps)	18	23	17	19	11
GFXBenchmark T-Rex (1080p Offscreen, fps)	23	23	17	19	6

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for evaluating the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowances for the fact that the results in them significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so that the comparison can be truly correct only on the same OS and browsers, and this possibility is available when testing not always. In the case of Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

results AndroBench test on the speed of working with memory:

Heat images

Below is a thermal image back surface obtained after 10 minutes of running the battery test in the GFXBenchmark program:

Heating is more localized in the upper part of the device, which, apparently, corresponds to the location of the SoC. According to the heat chamber, the maximum heating was only 32 degrees (at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees), this is very little.

Video playback

To test the "omnivorous" video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Web. Note that it is important for mobile devices to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is often impossible to process modern versions using processor cores alone. Also, do not expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are tabulated.

Format	Container, video, sound	MX Video Player	Native video player
1080p H.264	MKV, H.264 1920 × 1080, 24 fps, AAC	reproduced normally	reproduced normally
1080p H.264	MKV, H.264 1920 × 1080, 24 fps, AC3	reproduced normally	not reproduced
1080p H.265	MKV, H.265 1920 × 1080, 24 fps, AAC	reproduced normally	reproduced normally
1080p H.265	MKV, H.265 1920 × 1080, 24 fps, AC3	reproduced normally	not reproduced

Further video playback testing was done by Alexey Kudryavtsev.

We did not find the MHL interface, like Mobility DisplayPort, in this smartphone, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see "Testing techniques for video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)"). Screenshots with an exposure of 1 s helped to determine the nature of the frame output of video files with various parameters: the resolution varied (1280 by 720 (720p), 1920 by 1080 (1080p) and 3840 by 2160 (4K) pixels) and the frame rate (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps). In our tests, we used the MX Player video player in the "Hardware" mode. The test results are summarized in the table:

Note: If both columns Uniformity and Skips green ratings are set, this means that, most likely, when watching movies, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and skipping of frames will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. Red marks indicate possible problems with the playback of the respective files.

According to the criterion for outputting frames, the quality of video files playback on the screen of the smartphone itself is very good, since in most cases frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) to be displayed with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without frame drops. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the edge of the screen, one to one pixel by pixel, that is, in its original resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235: all shades are displayed in shadows and highlights.

Battery life

Xiaomi Mi Max 2 received a very capacious 5300 mAh battery. With such a battery, the hero of the review expectedly demonstrates very high, bordering on record duration results autonomous work... In real scenarios of use in working mode, the smartphone is quite capable of holding out for a couple of days without recharging.

Testing has traditionally been conducted at typical power consumption levels without using power saving features.

Continuous reading in the Moon + Reader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (the brightness was set to 100 cd / m2) with auto-scrolling lasted more than a day until the battery was fully discharged, and with continuous video playback in high quality(720p) with the same brightness level through the home Wi-Fi network the device operates for about 17.5 hours. In 3D games mode, the smartphone can work for 10 hours, but everything will depend on the specific game and settings.

The smartphone supports proprietary fast charging Quick Charge 3.0, but such a huge battery cannot be charged instantly anyway. The smartphone is fully charged with a current of 2 A at a voltage of 6.2 V for 3 hours 10 minutes, which is also quite good considering the size of the battery.

Outcome

The smartphone is already on sale in Russian retail, and its official price for our market at the time of the start of sales was set at 20 thousand rubles (for the 4/64 GB version), which is quite affordable by Russian standards. Especially amazing is so low price if we take into account the appetites of the Xiaomi governors, who are in charge of pricing here. However, in Asia, the device is still sold cheaper - on the same AliExpress this model can be purchased for 15 thousand rubles with delivery. By the time our review was published, however, the Russian market was already full of much cheaper offers.

Xiaomi Mi Max 2 is primarily interesting, of course, by the size of its huge screen. The picture on it, however, is a little loose, a display of such an area could have made a higher resolution, but still not bad. There are not so many fans for this format, since for most people such a display size is redundant, and the inconvenience when handling mobile device there are many huge sizes. However, for connoisseurs, this model is very attractive, since it successfully combines good specifications, reliable and attractive case and quite affordable price. Those for whom a very large screen is not required will not find anything special for themselves in Xiaomi Mi Max 2, since almost all the other advantages of the review hero can be easily found in other, smaller ones. modern smartphones middle category. Only a very capacious battery xiaomi Mi Max 2, but still, even lovers of "long-playing" smartphones are unlikely to go so easily to buy a real tablet only because of its battery life. Solid autonomy in this case is rather a bonus. In conclusion, it is worth noting that compared to the first Mi Max, there are no significant improvements here, so the owners of the previous model have no reason to upgrade yet.

In conclusion, we suggest watching our video review of the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 smartphone:

The long-known problems of phablets that prevent them from taking a firm place in the pockets of consumers - too large and heavy, and most importantly, excessive power consumption of the screen - Xiaomi seems to have been able to solve. At least some of these problems are irrelevant for Mi Max, and acceptable compromises have been found on other controversial issues.

Meet on the cover

Xiaomi adores minimalism and adheres to its principles in the gadget's configuration: apart from a smartphone, you can find only a charger, a cord and a paper clip in the box. We remove the film from the screen and the back side, and now we have in our hands the largest smartphone of the company, blurring the line between a phone and a tablet.

Laconic and symmetrical - this is how you can describe appearance gadget. On the top of the front panel there is a light sensor, a speaker slot and a camera, together they form an "oh-oh" smiley, as if they are Totoro's eyes and mouth, and a huge 6.44-inch screen is his belly.

The back panel is made of silver aluminum, in its upper third there is a fingerprint sensor, which is very convenient to use. The speed and accuracy of its operation do not raise any questions, only once in the cold I had a problem - the phone did not want to unlock with a finger, and I had to wake it up by pressing the power key.

I take it out of wide trousers

Unexpectedly, the Mi Max phablet fits easily into both the front pants pocket and the back pocket. And the weight of only 203 g allows you not to pull them up every time the smartphone gets there. Moreover, the gadget looks much more massive than it really is - when you take it in your hands, it turns out that it weighs not much more than a phone with a diagonal of 5 - 5.5 inches.

The phone is quite comfortable to hold, the beveled metal edges do not cut into the palm, but also do not allow it to slip out of the hands. The back panel also does not slip, the matte metal is slightly rough to the touch, there is something for your fingers to grab onto.

However, one-handed use of the phablet will take some getting used to. It is very difficult to print text on weight, no matter how wide the palm is, the gadget strives to somersault from it. The one-handed control mode comes to the rescue, which turns on if you slide your finger over all three buttons from below from right to left. True, I never managed to get used to this function - after all, it's easier to take the phone with one hand and type text with the other.

Screen

Mi Max is a smartphone for those who are tired of straining their eyes, looking at details on small screens. It really does allow for a deeper immersion in the atmosphere of a movie or game than its cousins ​​with smaller displays. The 1920x1080 resolution makes the picture rich, you can see the smallest shades and nuances.

Xiaomi had to compromise in order not to drain the battery in a matter of hours - the display is not as bright as the screen of its fellow Mi5, even after turning this parameter to the maximum, I want to add at least a couple more divisions. And if you put two phones side by side, it starts to seem that the Mi Max is a little "blue" in the picture, which can be corrected in the saturation and color temperature settings. All these nuances do not negate the fact that the screen is really high quality and does not cause any discomfort during use.

Battery

The battery of the gadget has a capacity of 4850 mAh. This is an unprecedentedly high figure for a smartphone - some external power banks are equipped with such batteries. Why are there power banks, not all tablets can boast of batteries of a similar size! Such a battery is stable enough for two days with moderate use of the smartphone, and in the energy saving mode, one charge can be stretched for a week. One of the most demanding games in terms of performance, WOT Blitz, was able to discharge the gadget up to 45% in four hours, for more I did not have enough strength. And the gadget can show YouTube videos for 14 hours.

Performance

On board the phablet is a six-core Qualcomm processor Snapdragon 650 (there is also a version for eight cores) and 3 GB of RAM. This allows you to achieve in game WOT Blitz from 59 to 61 frames per second. True, this indicator is unstable, sometimes it drops to 45, but basically the processor copes with its tasks - less demanding applications "fly" and will work without brakes for another couple of years. At maximum load for several hours, I did not manage to feel any special heating of the back cover - the aluminum surface effectively dissipates heat, no matter what task the processor is performing.

Cameras

The main camera has a resolution of 16 megapixels and autofocus, and protrudes from the body by 1 mm, as is customary in modern smartphones. I did not expect any special miracles from her - she copes well with her tasks, but in low light it "grains" and "smears".

The front camera has a resolution of 5 megapixels and cannot boast of picture clarity; decent selfies can only be taken with good lighting... For some reason, there is no "hidden" shooting mode, which was triggered on other smartphones of the company when you held down the volume key - instead of it, you can start the camera on a locked phone by double-clicking it.

Sound and stuff

At the bottom of the smartphone there are two perforated blocks, but there is only one speaker here, and very mediocre - at maximum volume, the bass disappears almost completely.

Another nitpick - the smartphone is charged from the outgoing micro USB connector. Another couple of years, and none of the colleagues may have a salvage wiring for recharging an inopportunely sat down gadget.

The smartphone supports two SIM-cards, instead of one of them you can insert a microSD memory card.

Summary

In its price category, at the moment, Mi Max has practically no competitors with similar parameters. This also applies to the battery, which allows you to use the smartphone for two days without recharging, and the huge high-quality screen. One more strong point phablet is a MIUI shell that allows you to completely customize the phone by changing the design of all elements in it, up to pop-up system messages. These advantages of the smartphone obscure its minor shortcomings and suggest that Mi Max is the phablet that you will not regret buying.

Reference article based on the author's expertise.

By 2016, the trend to increase the diagonal of smartphone screens has almost ended. Users are accustomed to 5.5-inch "shovels", there were practically no smartphones with screens of larger diagonal, so the manufacturers did not bother too much and riveted the same devices on a stencil. In addition to Xiaomi, which last year released a monstrous in size and autonomy smartphone Mi Max with a 6.44-inch screen. In 2017, the Chinese manufacturer released the continuation of this line - Mi Max 2, which I will talk about today.

The text may contain and most likely does contain grammatical, spelling, punctuation and other types of errors, including semantic errors. I ask readers in every possible way to point out these errors and correct me through private messages.

Specifications

Screen: 6.44-inch IPS display with FullHD (1920 x 1080) resolution; protective glass unknown origin
Body materials: metal backdrop with plastic antenna strips at the top and bottom
Colors: Black (black), Gold (gold)
CPU: eight-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 (64 bit, 14 nm process technology); eight Cortex-A53 cores operate at up to 2.0 GHz
Graphics: Adreno 506
Operating system: MIUI 8 based on Android 7
RAM: 4 GB (LPDDR3)
User memory: 34/64/128 GB
Camera: 13 MP (f / 2.2 aperture), SONY IMX 386 sensor, PDAF phase detection autofocus, LED flash, 4K video recording (30 fps); 5 MP front camera without autofocus (f / 2.0 aperture), FullHD video recording
Network support: 2G GSM - B2 / B3 / B5, B8; 3G WCDMA - B1 / B2 / B5 / B8; 4G FDD-LTE - B1 / B3 / B5 / B7 / B8; TDD-LTE - B38 / B39 / B40 / B41;
Wireless technologies: Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac (dual-band: 2.4 and 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.2 (LE), GPS / GLONASS / BDS, A-GPS support
Sensors: fingerprint scanner, accelerometer, Hall sensor, digital compass, distance and light
Additionally: USB 2.0, indicator LED
Battery: 5300 mAh, non-removable
Contents of delivery: power supply (QC 3.0), USB cable, paper clip to eject the tray, instructions
Dimensions: 174.1 x 7.6 x 88.7 mm
Weight: 211 gram

Contents of delivery

If you've seen the accessory kit that comes with Xiaomi's most affordable Redmi 4A smartphone, then you've seen the Mi Max 2 kit, which costs three times as much. The only difference is the power supply, which supports fast charging according to the Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 standard. In all other respects, everything is standard - a USB cable with Type-C and instructions. There are no headphones, which have never been bundled with Xiaomi smartphones, and there are no covers here.

Appearance, ergonomics, fingerprint scanner

Together with Mi Max 2, Xiaomi has shown a completely new design for its mid-range devices from the Mi line, which in the future may also migrate to the "younger" Redmi smartphones. And at the same time, Mi Max itself has been seriously updated, which in the second generation got rid of many shortcomings. Firstly, no more awkward plastic inserts above and below the metal back cover. Secondly, the edges of the case no longer cut into the palm, since they were clearly rounded on the second Mi Max.



Now the device looks like a classic large smartphone made of metal and glass. The back cover is entirely made of aluminum, in which there are barely noticeable plastic lines on top and bottom, under which the antennas are hidden wireless modules... The aluminum itself is clearly of good quality - strong to the touch, and not like in the first Redmi 3, where there was an extremely thin blende made of metal. Mi Max 2 is sold in two colors - gold with a white front panel and completely black, but the metal coating on them is the same. The case is not easily soiled and not particularly slippery, given the huge size and uncomfortable grip, I would recommend buying the cover anyway. On the back cover yet another classic Xiaomi fingerprint scanner and a dual flash camera in the upper left corner.



On the right side there is a hybrid tray for two nano + micro SIM cards, the last of which can be replaced with a microSD memory card. On the opposite side there is a volume rocker (seemingly also made of aluminum) and a power-lock button. They are located just above the middle of the case, so it is more or less convenient to reach for them. With the arrangement of different elements on the bottom and top ends, Xiaomi did not come up with anything. At the bottom is a Type-C connector with a main speaker and microphone on the sides, and at the top is an IR port and headphone output. I would still like to see the latter at the bottom, so that when using a smartphone (I would even say “smartset”) in portrait mode, the cable does not telepathically throughout the device.



The front panel now also looks much more solid than the one that was in the first Mi Max. Tempered glass of unknown origin is more curved at the edges, which is why the notorious 2.5D effect is clearly visible. The bezels around the screen, although decent, but the dark bezel at the edges of the display (noticeable in the model in Gold color) has become much smaller, which was specially mentioned even at the presentation of this smartphone. Below are the classic touch-sensitive system control buttons with bright illumination, and at the top there are all kinds of sensors, a front camera, a notification LED and an earpiece, which is also the second multimedia speaker.



The fingerprint scanner on the back cover is not located in the most convenient position, but it should be said that in a few weeks I got used to its location and did not experience any discomfort when unlocking the smartphone. It works extremely fast, there were only two or three false positives during testing. In terms of speed, I have no complaints about it.



It is difficult to talk about the ergonomics of a device that is positioned as a smartphone, but looks more like a small tablet in size. Regardless, I liked the Mi Max 2. He is calmly held in one hand, provided that it is a man's and rather big in size. To use, however, the basic telephone functions will have to be done exclusively with two hands. Unless you can activate the reduced screen mode by swiping the touch buttons, but there is no reason to use it all the time. At the same time, my smartphone fit into jeans with medium-sized front pockets, although most often I carried it in a bag. For two weeks of use without covers and films, Mi Max 2 has no scratches or dents on the metal, so I have no reason to doubt the reliability of the aluminum case.

Display

The most important element of Mi Max 2, from which it got its name - a huge IPS-display with a diagonal of 6.44 inches with FullHD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels). The pixel density is far from being a record - 342 PPI. Is it bad? Not at all - it is very difficult to see the pixel-points with the naked eye. The sensor is as responsive as possible, it simultaneously understands up to 10 touches.

The brightness of the MI Max 2 display is 450 nits, while at maximum brightness on a sunny day on the screen as a whole, you can see the image and even small fonts... In the dark, at minimum brightness, you can read text without problems and not be afraid for the eyes. Especially if you turn on the reading mode, thanks to which the color temperature goes into warm tones. The color gamut is already sRGB standard, the contrast is average, but it can be adjusted in the display settings in three values ​​- from standard to high, the difference being minimal.
For all other parameters of the display, I would give a slightly higher grade than satisfactory. When tilted, the colors can be minimally inverted, and the picture can fade.



The display of Mi Max 2 has a good oleophobic coating; although fingerprints are actively collected, they can be easily removed with microfiber. For 15 days of quite active use as a second phone and tablet, not a single scratch appeared on the screen.

Operating system and shell

Xiaomi traditionally does not keep up with the Android updates that Google rolls out, but with the Mi Max 2, everything practically worked out. Smartphone runs on operating system Android 7.1.1, which is covered proprietary shell MIUI 8. MIUI 9 is just around the corner, according to Chinese developers. Smartphone arrived directly from China on the global MIUI firmware 8.5.8.0 with normal localization and pre-installed Google applications.

By MIUI capabilities on Mi Max 2 are no different from the one installed on my main smartphone - Xiaomi Mi 6. Unfortunately, I never got the opportunity to use two applications on the screen at once, which would be very useful on such a large screen. But all the other goodies of MIUI remained - this is the ability to use two identical applications using the Dual Apps function, and the "Second space" so that your smartphone can be used, for example, by your relatives and not see your files and applications.

Generally the work of MIUI 8 on Mi Max 2, I was completely satisfied. During use, there was not a single sudden termination of the application, no freezes or other roughness.

Hardware platform

In Mi Max 2, Xiaomi decided not to increase performance compared to the first "max", but relied on the proven Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 mobile chip, known for its energy efficiency. This is a processor that is made on a 14-nanometer process technology with 8 Cortex-A53 cores with a clock speed of 2.0 GHz. Video accelerator - Adreno 506, RAM - 4 GB. With performance compared to the first Mi Max, it is not that something has deteriorated, it seems that everything has become a little better to work. Applications open instantly, several running applications can be in the background at once (my scenario is twitter, a series in MX Player on pause and Chrome with five tabs).

Games are no longer as good as overall performance. No, most toys from Google Play will work perfectly, but a few resource-dependent ones (for example, World of Tanks) are mediocre. In order to achieve a stable FPS, you will have to lower the graphics settings in those games where possible.

It is important that at maximum graphics settings the device heats up minimally in the upper part of the case - this is almost imperceptible. Hence the absence of any throttling. For example, after several runs, Antutu Mi Max 2 gave a maximum result of 63,000 points and did not fall below 62800. Decent result.

Communication and multimedia

The main difference here between Mi Max and Mi Max 2 is the presence of two speakers at once, one of which is the voice speaker while listening to music / movies. A high-quality stereo effect due to their asymmetrical arrangement is unlikely to be achieved, but the sound produced by a smartphone can be praised at least for a decent volume and a hint of low frequencies. In the headphones, the sound from Mi Max 2 is ordinary, inexpressive, sometimes you want to make it louder and more bass. Normal voice communication - no complaints. Unless you have to get used to holding a smartphone of this size near your ear in the correct position.

The Wi-Fi receiver traditionally supports 5 GHz networks. The smartphone has support for most modern navigation systems... In 30-45 seconds, the smartphone easily finds more than ten GPS and Beidou satellites, after which it does not lose connection. Yes, infrared — an underestimated functionality by many — works perfectly. My cat “lost” the TV remote control, so the Mi Max 2 was a “replacement” all this time and coped with it perfectly.

Autonomy

This is the second smartphone in my memory after Moto Z Play, about the autonomy of which you can naturally speak with pride. Instead of 4850 mAh in Mi Max, a battery with a capacity of 5300 mAh was built into the second generation of the "shovel". Considering energy efficient Snapdragon processor 625, Mi Max 2 gives out monstrous results of autonomy. With an average load in 3G + Wi-Fi, it gave me about 9-10 hours of screen time. That is, the smartphone can easily be used without recharging for more than two days.

When using resource-intensive toys, the smartphone is discharged gradually and without jerking - about 6-7% per hour. If you adjust the power saving modes in MIUI, you can achieve even more outstanding results.



It would be very disappointing if a smartphone with a battery of this capacity did not support fast charging. Here it is - this is QuickCharge 3.0, which is included when using the supplied power supply. On average, a smartphone takes a little over two hours to charge.

Cameras

At the presentation of Mi Max 2, there was a lot of talk about its main camera Sony IMX386 with dual flash and PDAF phase detection autofocus. Allegedly, the same module is installed in the flagship Mi6, so the quality of the images here should seriously increase. That is how it is, but the “giant” is still very far from Mi 6. The aperture of this module is f / 2.2, while in Mi6 it is f / 1.8.





The main camera really began to shoot an order of magnitude better than in the first Mi Max. In ideal lighting conditions, shots are sharp, high-contrast and with a fairly wide dynamic range. Autofocus is moderately smart, focusing when changing plans occurs with a delay of literally a second. The HDR mode has become less aggressive in relation to contrast and works well.





But already in poor lighting conditions, the camera increases the ISO value, which greatly affects the clarity and the picture turns out to be quite dull, and sometimes blurry.



Full-size images can be downloaded from.

Manual settings, which are in the built-in Camera application, will not help here in any way. The camera just frankly weakly shoots at night, you need to be prepared for this.

The front 5-megapixel camera without autofocus shoots well, but again only in perfect light. Mi Max 2 can shoot videos at a maximum resolution of 4K at 30 frames per second, but without any stabilization, the videos sometimes turn out to be not very clear and even blurry.

Outcomes

Xiaomi Mi Max 2 is an outstanding smartphone in its class. It has improved significantly compared to the first generation - camera, autonomy, body and appearance. With the money that is asked for it, this is an ideal option for those who want to get an excellent smartphone for working with multimedia for little money.

What we liked:

• crazy autonomy;
• an excellent camera for its class;
• metal case;
• stable MIUI;
• big screen.

What did not like:

• taking photos in low light;
• video shooting;
• not a perfect display.

Thank you for your attention! I plan to buy +15 Add to favorites I liked the review +34 +57