Xiaomi’s latest device, the Mi MIX, is a big departure from the designs of their other smartphones, and that’s in more ways than one. The most striking piece of the whole phone is of course the near complete lack of bezels, or better known as those pesky space-eating components all around the screen of most smartphones. What you’ll find here is a phone that features a 6.4-inch 2040 x 1080 resolution screen on a body that is almost the same size as the screen itself. A super thin millimeter bezel runs around the top, left and right sides of the phone, with components like the front-facing camera lodged inside of the relatively small chin, which actually is still smaller than other phones too.
Xiaomi have also saved space by using a new ultrasonic proximity sensor which is housed underneath the screen and is completely invisible to the user. The earpiece speaker, traditionally placed at the top of the phone, is also located underneath the screen, yet again saving space around the sides of the phone. The Mi MIX’s body is made completely of zirconia ceramic, something we’ve only seen a few phones use in the past and the first phone that’s completely made of this material. This creates an absolutely gorgeous design with smooth curved edges and a perfect mirror finish that resists scratches and smudges thanks to its MOH hardness rating of 8. For reference the only harder materials in this measurement are sapphire at 9, and diamond at 10. This isn’t a phone that’s going to get scratched easily, but it is unfortunately one that seems to be a bit frail if dropped.
Thankfully Xiaomi includes a rather nice leather case in every Mi MIX box for free, something that you’ll likely want to use immediately given how slippery the ceramic build is, even in more humid climates. While our full review carries all the nitty gritty details you can find about the phone, our video review below will get you everything you need to know to make a purchasing decision on this phone. Just know that this phone is only being sold in limited quantities, around 10,000 or so per manufacturing batch, partly because the ceramic body is difficult to make, but also because the more expensive of the two available models features 18k gold trim. Check out the video, don’t forget to subscribe and be sure to let us know what you think!