Review Xiaomi Mi MIX 3: Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 is my almost perfect phone

I have not found the perfect phone yet, but the Mi Mix 3 from Xiaomi is closer than anything I've used for years.

The Mi Mix 3 is a full screen wireless phone with no notch. Its hidden front camera is revealed as you slide down the screen, which moves on a single magnetic slider and makes a satisfying click when it locks into place.

Using the slider is an unexpected satisfaction and I can not stop doing it. The screen even turns on and a chime sounds when you open it, as a mini reward. If you are worried about breaking the screen, Xiaomi says that the slider is rated at 300,000 cycles (opening and closing count for one cycle) and, even with my new addiction, I found myself slipping less than 50 times a day. .

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The Mi Mix 3 is a fantastic device with the best hardware available, apart from the slider. It has Qualcomm's current Snapdragon 845 chip (although the Snapdragon 855 is about to arrive soon), a 6.4-inch Full AMO Super HD display, two 12-megapixel rear cameras with 2x optical zoom and wireless charging. It even has a wireless charger in the box.

The cheapest Mi Mix 3, with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of built-in storage, sells for around $ 490, £ 375 or AU $ 680 converted since its price of 3,299 yuan. The version with 10 GB of RAM and 256 GB of embedded storage costs 4,999 Chinese yuan, or about 845 dollars.

While the cheapest version is a good deal, the highest-end model remains cheaper than the cheapest iPhone XS Max, at around $ 250. The only problem however, is where to get one. You can buy the Mi Mix 3 in most parts of Asia, as well as in Spain and Italy, but since Xiaomi does not sell phones in the United States, it does not. has no official options for phone enthusiasts in the United States.

Almost perfect

I told you earlier that Mi Mix 3 is almost perfect and I was not kidding. Of course, it lacks a few items, such as waterproofing – which, I suppose, is almost impossible with the sliding mechanism – and the secure unlocking of 3D faces, but I can live without these features. Here's why:

The Mix 3 is amazing

The ceramic back of the brilliant signature shines in the light. And while the ceramic support is renowned for its resistance to fingerprint grease, you will still see a lot. The darker color of the phone hides the ugly marks. The phone is comfortable to hold, and although slightly heavier than the iPhone XS Max on paper, I have not really noticed it.

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The 6.4-inch screen is bright and the colors stand out even on the outside in the sun. The Mix 3 also supports wireless charging, which is nice, and as mentioned earlier, you do not need to buy a charger as it comes in the box.

The MIUI 10 software connects all this

The Android experience looks a bit like iOS, but it's really Android. By default, Mix 3 uses buttons on the screen, but you can switch it to a gesture control similar to iOS: swipe up to exit an application, swipe the sides to go backwards or backwards. back, and hold down to display all items. applications currently open on the phone.

One of the new features that takes advantage of the cursor mechanism is to display a customizable quick menu that allows you to quickly access applications such as a recorder, stopwatch or take notes. You can also set it up so that it simply takes a picture with the camera to selfie before.