Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 hands-on review

Hardware

We've missed sliders - smoothly sliding them open to answer a call and then sliding them shut with a satisfying click to hang up. The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 brings back that tactile joy along with other neat tricks.

This is great, the slider isn't just a way to move the selfie camera off the front bezel and avoid the scar of a notch. The added functionality will see a lot more use than "squeezable" phones like HTC and Google make (have you ever used Edge Sense).

The way that Xiaomi pulled it off is pretty innovative. It uses neodymium magnets to lock the phone in the open and closed positions and also to provide the "springy" feel in between. This is a more durable solution than actual springs, Xiaomi says the Mix has been tested through 300,000 open/close cycles and you can use it as a fidget toy.

Still, pressing down on the top edge of the phone, we can feel the top half of the slider bend a bit. Drop tests with the Mix 3 will be interesting.

Open or closed, the 6.39" screen is always visible. It's a Samsung-made AMOLED with 19.5:9 aspect ratio - and unlike most 19.5:9 phones, you get to use all of the screen, no awkward notches here.

The 6.39" Super AMOLED screen has the front all to itself • Always On Display

It has 1,080 x 2,340px resolution, same as Xiaomi's other flagship models. It tops out at 600 nits maximum brightness with an additional sunlight mode. 430 nits is the typical brightness. Anyway, the display supports HDR and 103.4% coverage of the NTSC color gamut.

Always On Display mode is available as well (we'll see how it affects battery life when we do the full review).

Note that the earpiece lives in the lover half of the slider. You can talk with the slider closed, though.

The earpiece and dual selfie camera are on the bottom half of the slider

The frame of the phone is made out of 7000-series aluminum, which has a higher tensile strength than 6000-series. The back is made of ceramic, which explains the shine (and slippery-ness) that Xiaomi was able to achieve. The glass front offers slightly more grip. The sturdy build and all that ceramic do add to the weight, however, and we didn't like how slippery the phone is - this is a phone you'd better put in a case.

Mi Mix 3 in Onyx Black, Jade Green and Sapphire Blue

That will make it easier to handle and protect the back in case you do drop it. Speaking of the back, all three color versions are just so reflective, almost like a mirror. Here's a look. It's not quite this reflective in real life, but if that's not a look you like, it's another point for cases.

The ceramic back has a high gloss finish

Sliding the phone open and closed really underscores how slippery the back is (the metal sides too). So, you need to grip the phone tightly to push the slider up and down.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 retail box

There's a case included in the box, which was designed to work with the slider form factor. It covers both halves of the slider and somehow doesn't add any friction. It's better than most bundled cases we've seen, Xiaomi is offering a pretty rich retail box. No headphones, though, you just get a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter.

The bundled case

Since the phone launches with MIUI 10, it comes with the Xiao AI assistant. Like its peers, it has a dedicated hardware button on the side of the phone to summon it.

Dedicated Xiao AI assistant button • Power button and volume rocker

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 has a 3,200mAh battery, not quite the capacity we were hoping for. Still, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that Xiaomi is bundling a 10W wireless charger into the box. Wireless charging is no longer an optional extra.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 retail box • The 10W wireless charger

If you need to charge faster, QuickCharge 4.0+ is supported, though a QC 3.0 charger is provided in the box. Both standards provide 18W maximum, though a 4.0 charger has a higher average speed of charge.

USB-C port for charging (no 3.5mm jack) • Top side of the phone

There's a fingerprint scanner on the back of the phone. It's pretty fast, but the one on our pre-release unit experienced some hiccups, which will be fixed for the release version.

We're not sure if this is caused by the slider design or not, but the vibration of the Mi Mix 3 feels weak and hollow.