Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 review

The Competition

Once a concept, the true bezel-less screen is now within our reach. Thanks to Xiaomi and the Mi Mix series, the whole market has moved towards edge-to-edge screens. And now we can only hope the companies would once again take note and make the next leap for a notch-less smartphone world.

The Mi Mix 3 has solved the problem with the bezels with a sliding platform. Is it the best solution - probably not - but it's really close to the real deal. Better than the NEX S pop-up selfie camera, better than the Find X pop-up module, and a lot better than the NEX Dual Display.

The Mix 3 was announced before the Honor Magic 2, which uses pretty much the same 6.39" AMOLED screen and a similar slider solution. We can't be sure who came up with this idea first, but the Mi Mix 3 is available in quite a few markets officially - including Europe, while the Magic 2 is a tough one to find so we'd give the win to Xiaomi.

The Honor Magic 2 also failed to impress with camera quality, even though it has six of those. Still, it's one truly unique phone to have and experience.

And that was the only real threat to the Mix 3.

Xiaomi has launched the Mi Mix 3 officially in Europe and the first markets to get it are Spain and Italy. It costs about €500 or cheaper - depending on the ongoing promotions. And that's a tough proposition to beat even without taking into account the unique sliding form factor.

The Galaxy S9+ is a bit more expensive, but also offers a notch-free AMOLED, higher-res at that. Its camera setup is quite capable, while the glass design is as stunning as they come. The Mix 3 has a ceramic back and Night mode to offer over the S9+, while the water-proofing and connectivity points go to the Samsung.

OnePlus 6T is another flagship that comes to mind in the €500-600 range. It has the Snapdragon 845 and very handsome design, it does the trending Night Mode, too, and its OLED screen is excellent, waterdrop-like notch or not. It lacks a telephoto camera, but the Oxygen OS and its fluidness have already won millions of users.

And finally, if you are only after the slider and don't care much for the rest of the specs, you may want to consider the Lenovo Z5 Pro. It has the same 6.39" Super AMOLED screen, a similar slider as the Mix 3 and Magic 2 but it runs on the upper midrange Snapdragon 710 and isn't as skilled in the camera department. Then again, it may cost as low as half the Mi Mix 3 price depending on where you live, so it's worth mentioning here.

Huawei Honor Magic 2 • Samsung Galaxy S9+ • OnePlus 6T • Lenovo Z5 Pro

The Verdict

The Mi Mix 3 is an excellent offer coming just before the next flagship season. Xiaomi will be upgrading the phone in a month or two with the next 5G-capable Snapdragon chipset, but the price will go north of the current €500 mark.

But today the Mix 3 is one of the best smartphones you can get if you want a unique, no-nonsense experience, and it's rather cheap at that. The cutout-free AMOLED screen is great, the performance is flagship worthy and will continue to be for at least one or two years, the camera is great, too, and the battery life turned out pretty good.

Sure, the Mix 3 omits a thing or two, but it's a very solid device worth having and a needed break of those notched smartphones. And if you aren't convinced yet, you just have to go and try it yourself and see how the retro slider came back to kill the notorious notch.

Pros

• Great 6.39" Super AMOLED screen
• A unique slider, feels secure enough
• Flagship performance
• Good battery life given the 3,200 mAh capacity
• All-round good camera experience
• MIUI 10 and Android Pie out of the box
• Rich retail box with fast wireless charger inside

Cons

• Lacks water-proofing
• Very slippery
• Single loudspeaker
• EIS available only for 1080p capturing