Xiaomi Mi Note 2 review: Filling in
Filling in
Synthetic benchmarks
The Snapdragon 821 is the flagship chipset of choice this season and the Mi Note 2 packs one. Qualcomm's top-end offering, as the number hints, is an updated version of the S820 from the spring, and we've witnessed what both chips are capable of in a number of devices. Let's check out the Mi Note 2's scores.
Starting off with some good ol' Geekbench, we can see the Mi Note 2 scoring on par with its S821 peers - two more from camp Xiaomi and the OnePlus 3T. The regular S820 bunch are a notch down. The Huawei Mate 9 rules the multi-core test with its unmatched quartet of Cortex-A73s, while the iPhone 7 Plus' Fusion cores are in a league of their own in single-core.
GeekBench 4 (multi-core)
Higher is better
-
Huawei Mate 9
6112 -
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
5664 -
OnePlus 3T
4364 -
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
4333 -
Xiaomi Mi Mix
4288 -
Xiaomi Mi Note 2
4278 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
4128 -
Sony Xperia XZ
3868 -
LG V20
3824 -
HTC 10
3621
GeekBench 4 (single-core)
Higher is better
-
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3473 -
Huawei Mate 9
1898 -
OnePlus 3T
1890 -
Xiaomi Mi Note 2
1824 -
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
1815 -
Xiaomi Mi Mix
1815 -
HTC 10
1708 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
1696 -
Sony Xperia XZ
1578 -
LG V20
1576
From dedicated CPU benchmarks to the compound Basemark OS II 2.0 and we see the OnePlus 3T pulling ahead with its S821, just barely edging the Huawei Mate 9. The Xiaomi Snapdragons stick tightly together, with only the 5s Plus marginally ahead, but the S7 edge matches them despite packing the older Qualcomm chip. The Exynos powered variant doesn't fare as good, and neither do the LG V20 and Xperia XZ.
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
-
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3796 -
OnePlus 3T
2678 -
Huawei Mate 9
2637 -
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2434 -
Xiaomi Mi Note 2
2381 -
Xiaomi Mi Mix
2364 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
2352 -
LG V20
2159 -
Sony Xperia XZ
2151 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
2050 -
HTC 10
1839
Antutu doesn't seem to like the Mi Note 2 (or the other way around), and the Xiaomi phablet scores about 140K. That's the first run though, subsequent tests yield progressively lower results, all the way down to 110K which seems to be the minimum with the SoC already thermally throttled down. It's not the only device that does this though, we experienced the same behavior on the LG V20, for example.
AnTuTu 6
Higher is better
-
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
173110 -
OnePlus 3T
165097 -
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
155185 -
HTC 10
154031 -
LG V20
141945 -
Xiaomi Mi Note 2
140324 -
Xiaomi Mi Mix
133242 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
132849 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
129229 -
Sony Xperia XZ
124266 -
Huawei Mate 9
122826
With the latest Antutu heavily leaning towards graphics tests, we can find explanation for the diminishing test scores there in GFXBench. First runs of Manhattan yield a reasonable 40fps, but that tends to drop down with subsequent testing, all the way to 32fps, both onscreen and off. Also, Xiaomi's own Mi 5s Plus is consistently an odd frame or two ahead of its more premium brother. And with the OnePlus 3T the gap is even wider.
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
-
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
60 -
OnePlus 3T
49 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
49 -
HTC 10
47 -
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
44 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
40 -
Xiaomi Mi Note 2
40 -
LG V20
40 -
Xiaomi Mi Mix
38 -
Sony Xperia XZ
37 -
Huawei Mate 9
30
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
-
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
56 -
OnePlus 3T
48 -
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
47 -
Xiaomi Mi Note 2
41 -
Xiaomi Mi Mix
41 -
Sony Xperia XZ
37 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
29 -
Huawei Mate 9
28 -
HTC 10
28 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
27 -
LG V20
25
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
-
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
39 -
OnePlus 3T
33 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
32 -
HTC 10
31 -
Sony Xperia XZ
31 -
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
30 -
Xiaomi Mi Note 2
30 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
29 -
LG V20
29 -
Xiaomi Mi Mix
28 -
Huawei Mate 9
22
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
-
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
42 -
OnePlus 3T
33 -
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
32 -
Sony Xperia XZ
32 -
Xiaomi Mi Note 2
30 -
Xiaomi Mi Mix
27 -
Huawei Mate 9
23 -
LG V20
17 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
16 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
15 -
HTC 10
15
Then again, Basemark X produces more consistent results between runs, which is the behavior we're normally used to with graphics benchmarks. Here, it is the Mi Mix that does the best job of all Xiaomis, but also among the current crop of Android flagships. We observe a very pronounced gap in this test between the Spring Snapdragon and the one from the Fall, with the Kirin 960 rubbing shoulders with the better one.
Basemark X
Higher is better
-
Xiaomi Mi Mix
37346 -
OnePlus 3T
36958 -
Huawei Mate 9
36519 -
Xiaomi Mi Note 2
36506 -
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
36062 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
32160 -
Sony Xperia XZ
29548 -
LG V20
29385 -
HTC 10
28882 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
28480
In Basemark ES 3.1 the Mate 9 is the highest ranked droid, but more importantly to the Mi Note 2, the OnePlus 3T has a meaningful advantage here. It also goes to show that the Snapdragon 820 can outperform the 821 - compare the Galaxy S7 edge to the Xiaomi bunch.
Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal
Higher is better
-
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
1517 -
Huawei Mate 9
794 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
733 -
OnePlus 3T
641 -
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
624 -
Sony Xperia XZ
577 -
Xiaomi Mi Mix
558 -
Xiaomi Mi Note 2
556 -
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
538 -
LG V20
526
Overall, nothing surprising in the Xiaomi Mi Note 2's performance - the Snapdragon 821 is a true powerhouse across the board. Even if the Mi Note 2 doesn't top any charts it's still a top-class performer. We're not thrilled about its inability to deliver sustained performance over prolonged work loads, but that's become all too common and is by no means exclusive to the Xiaomi phablet.
Reader comments
- Petwr
- 05 Jul 2022
- rra
Mi phone note 2 replying
- joe nodden
- 12 Dec 2020
- j5{
"FullHD resolution may be stretched a bit too thin over this diagonal" ahhhhh the good old days of 1440p flagships being normal
- Alfas
- 11 Jul 2020
- P%U
Does not remember wifi password. I tried everything that I can find on internet, nothing helped.