The Big Daddy of Phablets
Xiaomi launched the Mi Max
phablet in 2016 and exactly a year later, the Mi Max 2 has arrived. The
massive, tabletrivalling 6.44-inch screen remains the same. Instead, the
company has refined the design, added more features and upgraded the hardware.
We believe that keeping the
same screen size on the Mi Max 2 is a sensible move from Xiaomi. The 6.44-inch
screen is big enough to make it stand out and add productivity. But it's not
big enough to make it feel like a tablet.And yes, it can still fit into most
pockets because of the slimmer bezels.
The revamped design has
curved edges which makes it much more comfortable to hold. Even though the Max
2 has a bigger battery compared to its predecessor it doesn't gain much in size
or weight -it's just 7.6mm thick and weighs 211 grams (Mi Max was 203 grams and
7.5mm slim). Only the black variant has been launched in India which is a good
move -it's our favourite among the current crop of Xiaomi phones and stays in
high demand.However, keep in mind that the phone is not meant for everyone. The
large size makes it cumbersome to hold in hand for too long.
There are obvious benefits
of the large screen. While it is still a full HD resolution, the screen is
bright and crisp. It is an absolute joy to watch videos, browse web-pages, play
games and read books. The slim bezels almost merge with the black body -great
for viewing videos. You can adjust colours, contrast, text size and there is
also a reading mode. The downside is that it's impossible to operate with one
hand.
This is one of the first
smartphones from Xiaomi to come with MiUI 8 based on the latest Android 7.1.1.
You get the usual Xiaomi feature set including second space, dual apps, one
handed mode, security app with cleaner, data usage, blocklist, virus scan, call
recording and permission manager. Special mention to the handy Quick Ball
virtual button -you can customise it for shortcuts as well as preferred
gestures and it makes navigating and using the phone with this large screen
much easier. The split screen function is missing at the mo ment but the
company mentions it will be coming soon via a software update.
Hardware includes the
efficient Snapdragon 625 with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. These specs, while not
flagship level, are great for all kinds of use as well as for gaming. We did
notice that at any given time almost 1GB of RAM was available for use -this
kept things running smoothly. We did not notice any lag with over 15 apps
running in the background.
You get a large 5,300mAh
battery on the Max 2 and it is one of the first phones that, in our experience,
managed almost 3 days of battery life. Even with heavy usage (4G with VoLTE,
hotspot activated, screen brightness at 70%), the Mi Max 2 lasted over a day
and half. In addition, the phone has Quick Charge 3.0 support and a QC 3.0
charger is included in the box.
Around the back is a 12MP
camera with f2.2 aperture that managed to take some fantastic shots in
daylight. Even indoors, the images have good details and natural colours.
However, in low light, there is visible noise and lack of details. Do keep in
mind that this is a large phone and it lacks OIS, so you have to keep your hand
steady to get a clear picture. The front camera manages to take good pictures
in daylight, but indoors and in low light it suffers from soft details and
noise which is visible on the phone's screen itself.
Other features that
impressed us on the Mi Max 2 include the fast and accurate fingerprint scanner,
stereo speakers (one of the loudest we have seen on a smartphone) and the
fantastic remote app with IR blaster.
With the Mi Max 2, the
company has added a bunch of refinements and upgrades while sticking to an
aggressive price. If you need an affordable, large screen smartphone with the
best battery life (say bye-bye to bulky powerbanks), there's nothing better
than the Mi Max 2. The closest competitor to the Mi Max 2 is the Samsung Galaxy
A9 Pro (`22,900) -it has a 6-inch super amoled display (full HD), Snapdragon
652, 4GB RAM and a 5,000mAh battery.
|
Karan
Bajaj
|
ET2AUG17
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