Xiaomi launched the Mi Max in India, price starts from Rs. 14,999. This Mi Max review will give you ‘the Max’ information that you would need to make a decision. It is a big smartphone (a Phablet), that is smaller than a tablet and slimmer than most smartphones.
Xiaomi Mi Max Review
Mi Max Unboxing
Content : handset, user guide, warranty card, data cable, SIM tray ejector pin and travel charger (5V / 2A).
Design, Display and OS
Mi Max Phablet is packed inside a metal body, again with very good build quality and finishing. In spite of the big size, this handset is not at all that uncomfortable to hold, in fact it is slimmer than most smartphones, and light weight too considering the dimensions and battery. Handset is slightly curvy from the back on the left and right side.
Xiaomi Mi Max weight is 201 grams with built in battery and dimensions are 88.28 x 173.1 x 7.31 (mm). Power button and volume rocker is on the right side, audio jack (3.5mm), IR port and secondary mic is on the top, SIM tray is on the left side and at the bottom there is a primary microphone, micro USB port and speaker out vent.
This is a dual SIM handset using a hybrid slot you can either use a micro SIM and micro SD card or micro SIM and a Nano SIM. 4G is supported, with VoLTE.
There is LED notification (you can even change the LED color as required) and following sensors – accelerometer, light, proximity, gyro, magnetic and hall.
Touch screen is 6.44 inches (using 2.5D curved glass) supporting 1920 x 1080p resolution. It’s sunlight display (as seen on other Xiaomi devices) and comes with corning gorilla glass 3 protection. Color reproduction, viewing angles and touch response are very good.
Mi Max is running MIUI 7.5 based on Android Marshmallow 6.0.1. It will get the MIUI 8 update.
Memory and Storage
Mi Max is packed with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage space. The 4GB RAM and 128GB variant is also available. Users can also use micro SD card of up to 128GB. OTG is supported.
On the first boot (3GB/32GB) you will get around 22GB free internal storage space and around 1.6GB free RAM.
Performance
Mi Max comes with 1.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 hexa core with 3GB RAM / 32GB ROM or Snapdragon 652 octa core clocked at 1.8GHz with 4GB RAM and 128GB ROM. I got the 3GB RAM / 32GB ROM version of review. It is the same hardware that powers the Redmi Note 3, it is powerful, lag free and heat up is under control.
Benchmark (Hexa Core SD 650)
- Quadrant – 30529
- Antutu (64 bit) – 72098 | 3D score – 18785
- Nenamark 2 – 59.9fps
- Internal storage Speed – Read (180MB/s), Write (83MB/s)
- Multi Touch – 10 Point
Gaming
Hardware is powerful, I did not find any issues with Modern Combat 5 and Asphalt (in high visual mode). Check the video review.
Camera
Mi Max comes with 16MP PDAF camera packed on the back with f/2.0 aperture and on the front there is a 5MP fixed focus camera. Rear camera can shoot 4K videos. Camera quality is above average, long shots turned out great but close-ups are not that sharp. Because of the handset size it also gets difficult shooting pictures with one hand.
Do check the sample images and videos at the end of this review.
Others
Sound is loud and clear, in-call sound is also very good. No issues with 4G LTE, WiFi, GPS, FM radio and Bluetooth.
Finger print sensor is fast and accurate, you can tap the sensor to automatically unlock the phone.
Screen is quite big, you get a lot of workable area compared with other smartphones. Check the image below to get an idea about the size.
Battery
The 4850 mAh non-removable battery gives awesome backup, you can expect 7 to 15 hours of non-stop moderate to heavy usage on a single charge. With normal mixed usage you can expect up to 3 to 4 days battery life, with moderate mixed usage up to 2 days and with heavy mixed usage an easy 1 day.
Xiaomi Mi Max Battery Performance (time / battery % drop / estimated battery temperature).
- Running Benchmark app – 9 minutes / 1% / 37 degrees
- MC5 + Asphalt 8 game play – 23 minutes / 5% / 38 degrees
- 4K video playback with full brightness (WiFi /4G on) – 27 minutes / 6% / 36 degrees.
It took me 2 hour 51 minutes to charge the handset using wall charger from 22% to 100%. For a full charge it will take about 3 hours 30 minutes or so.
Verdict
The Mi Max as the name suggests is a big handset. Specially made for those who are planning to buy a handset with a big screen or those who are looking for a tablet with voice call feature. The Mi Max fits perfectly in-between.
Hardware is powerful, camera quality is above average and battery backup is excellent. The only thing that you will need to consider when buying the handset is the SIZE.
Rating 4 out of 5.
Xiaomi Mi Max will go on (open) sale on July 6th at 2PM starting from Rs. 14,999.
Join the Discussion
77 Comments on "Xiaomi Mi Max review – smaller than a tablet, slimmer than most smartphones"
Hi gogi, in my mi max 128gb there is option Enhance low light photos automatically. You didn’t mention about this?
Gogi this guy [link removed] using your video..
Thanks have filed a complaint.
Hi Goji
As this phone comes in 2 variant processor 650/652, do you see lot difference in term of how the phone perform between both processor, im thinking to go with 652 but is it bang for your buck as it’s listed $100 more for 652 model.
I recieved handset on monday and its really very good mob. Gogi ji or anyone pls tell me how to take selfie with fingerprint scanner ?
Hi gogi. I am looking forward to buy mi max 128 gb version. Any idea when its likely going to be available in India?
Not sure when but keep track of the 128GB on Mi site – http://www.mi.com/in/mimax/
I will post info when the same is available.
Gogi can we use VR headset for xioami mi max. If yes then which company Vr headset and where we buy it.
Try making your own VR headset for the big phone. Believe me, its not that difficult. You will need just the lenses and magnets and cardboard.
No you cannot use Mi Max with VR headset, most VR headset support handset with 4.5 to 6 inch screen.
tnx goggi sir but if any one Vr headset wich r available for6.4 inch size in market plz inform because am like big size phone and also VR experience so plz.
What is the app storage capacity on this device?
Gogi, you did not stress much on the audio quality of the phone.
Can you please tell how the phone sounds from the speaker and also with external headphones (not Mi headphones or earphones by Xiaomi !!!), and also how loud and clear are they at max volume ? I own a pair of Sennheiser CX275s noise-cancelling earphones. I am an audiophile. So, sound quality is very important to me.
Sound quality on most Xiaomi phones have been extraordinarily better, since you already have a Sennheiser earphone it will be an excellent combination.
I heard that there is network reception problem occurring when we use dual sims on xiaomi phones including redmi note 3. So, can you please confirm it gogi. Your reply must be appreciated.
I did not find any such issues (both SIM used were airtel).
Gogi, whick one is better on the camera department RN3 or MI max
Both are bad b.coz its chinese junk if you want good camera go for branded devices.
Quality is same, but closeup is not that sharp on Mi Max.
sir is your piece imported?
This is review unit, I got from the company.
can u sell it to me for deducted price, i want mi max mob but budget problem gogi ji, u can contact me trough my email samkumargk@gmail.com