Introduction
Do we have a good one for you today – the Honor 6X goes up against the Xiaomi Mi MIX. The Honor 6X looks like your typical smartphone with large bezels at the top and bottom; the Mi MIX is an entirely new design from Xiaomi. Except for the bezel at the lower part of the display, the phone is complete without bezels as the display runs up to the other three edges. Xiaomi even put the speaker under the screen so it would not take up bezel space – but the problem is that it lands more in the middle of the screen than at the top, making phone calls a little difficult unless you use the speakerphone. The Honor 6X is an all-metal design whereas the Mi MIX is a ceramic beauty to look at, but can be slippery to hold. They both offer a solid build and a nice clean design, although the Mi MIX would easily win in the looks department. Let’s look at some of the similarities between these two devices before we look at each one individually.
The Honor 6X and the Xiaomi Mi MIX do have a few things in common. Besides the big difference in screen size, both use a Full HD resolution, and both use an IPS LCD display. The Honor 6X is packing 32GB of expandable storage and the Mi MIX offering fixed storage of 128GB or 256GB. The Honor 6X has a great camera area with dual lenses, and it should satisfy most photo buffs, whereas the Mi MIX received mixed results according to our full review. They both have a large enough non-removable battery to get you through the entire day – especially the Mi MIX with 4400mAH with rapid charge. Only the Mi MIX has an NFC chip for mobile payments, although both include a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. The usual suspects are there – WiFi, Bluetooth (v4.1 on the Honor 6X and v4.2 on the Mi MIX), GPS, and a reversible Type-C USB port for charging and data transfer on the Mi MIX and an older style microUSB port on the Honor 6X.
Please take a thoughtful look at the detailed Specifications Comparison chart below, and here you will see just how these two great devices stack up against one another – click on the “View Full Comparison” link at the end of the chart to expand the details. After that, we will look at each device in greater depth and point out some of its pros and cons. From all of this information, we will try to determine the winner based on specs and execution of design and functions.
Specifications
Honor 6X
Like most Chinese-based smartphone manufacturers, Honor puts out a device with good specs at a reasonable price and the mid-range Honor 6X continues taking us in that direction. The 3GB/32GB model will set you back only $250, and the 4GB/64GB model will run you a mere $299. For the most part, it is a solid metal design, although you will find small pieces of plastic at the top and bottom to allow for better antenna reception. Honor rounded the corners and used 2.D-curved glass that hooks up nicely with the curved sides to make it a pleasure to hold. Considering this is a mid-range device under $300, it is unusual to find dual cameras. Let’s see how it stacks up to the more expensive Xiaomi Mi MIX.
The Honor 6X sports a nice sized 5.5-inch IPS LCD Full HD display, giving it a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and 403 pixels-per-inch (PPI). Honor packs their HiSilicon Kirin 655 octa-core processor in the Honor 6X that has four cores clocked at 1.7GHz and four cores clocked at 2.1GHz. This is paired with their Mali-T830MP2 GPU as part of the package to handle the graphics. The base Honor 6X packs 3GB of RAM and offers 32GB of expandable internal memory via a microSD card, but Huawei says to look for a 4GB/64GB option coming soon.
Even with its low price, Honor was able to include a dual camera setup in the Honor 6X. The primary camera is 12MP, but only uses a 2MP secondary camera to deliver what Honor says is a “professional-grade bokeh effect.” It uses Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF), includes a LED flash, and can take some decent pictures. The front facing camera (FFC) is a rather large 8MP lens for selfies and video chatting. The Honor 6X uses a large 3340mAh non-removable battery that takes about 2 hours to charge.
The Honor 6X’s small price tag does not take away from its excellent build quality and good looks. The fingerprint sensor is mounted on the back and can unlock the device, but it lacks an NFC chip, so no mobile banking or Android Pay is possible. Honor did include a blue light filter for the display to help prevent eye fatigue. It measures 150.9 x 76.2 x 8.2mm and weighs in at 162 grams. The Honor 6X comes in Gray, Gold, and Silver with pricing about $250 for the 3GB/32GB model and only $300 for the upcoming 4GB/64GB model. It comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow with a planned upgrade to Android 7.0 Nougat. The Honor 6X is a GSM device so that it will function only on AT&T or T-Mobile in the US.
Xiaomi Mi MIX
Xiaomi is one of the newer Chinese manufacturers that have slowly started to expand their sales from China with hopes of eventually selling in the US. In the past, they basically cloned the look of an iPhone. However, it looks like Xiaomi is boldly going in their own direction – just look at their Mi Note 2 and now the Mi MIX. When you first see the stunning looks of the Mi MIX, it will take you a moment to realize that the display wraps around the top and the sides, leaving a bezel on only the lower portion of the device. The device uses a ceramic backing that adds a certain toughness and beauty to the Mi MIX, but it can also be a bit slippery. Because of its design, it not only looks beautiful but it allows Xiaomi to include a 6.4-inch display in a much smaller package size. Let’s see just how it holds up to the Honor 6X.
The Xiaomi Mi MIX sports a large tablet-sized 6.4-inch FHD IPS LCD display with a resolution of 2040 x 1080 pixels with a respectable 362 PPI. For the Mi MIX, Xiaomi used the newest Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 quad-core processor with a dual-core clocked higher at 2.19GHZ and a dual-core clocked at 2.35GHz. For graphic demands, the Mi MIX sticks with the powerful Adreno 530 GPU. It packs 4GB of DDR4 RAM and 128GB of UFS memory, with no means to expand. Xiaomi also has a model listed with 6GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The Mi MIX packs a massive non-removable 4400mAh battery for power, and it has rapid charge capabilities.
The Mi MIX sports a 16MP sensor for the primary camera along with an aperture of f/2.0, PDAF, a dual-tone LED flash and opting to use EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization) rather than OIS. In our review, the picture quality was a mixed bag with some photos looking great while others no so good. Xiaomi also included a 5MP FFC for social media selfies to share with your friends as well as video chatting.
The Xiaomi Mi MIX is a big design step for the company as they slowly prep themselves to start selling globally. It is striking in looks with its edge-to-edge display and lack of bezels. If they can deliver a device that can be used on all major US carriers, they could well give the Samsungs and LGs a run for their money. The Mi MIX offers Hi-Res 24-bit sound for the earphone, and the huge battery will easily last over a day. The Mi MIX measures in at 158.8 x 81.9 x 7.9mm and weighs in at a hefty 209 grams, although it is not physically much larger than the Pixel XL or Galaxy Note series due to its bezel-less design. It comes in our favorite color – Black – and it will cost you about $515 for the 4GB/128GB model and $590 for the 6GB/256 of internal storage. It is a GSM device and will only work on AT&T or T-Mobile in the US.
…And The Winner Is…
The Final Word
The picture of the Xiaomi Mi MIX is shown as the winner – it certainly beats out the Honor 6X when it comes to technology. The Mi MIX is both intriguing and has a much better processor and GPU than the Honor 6X, but has no internal memory expansion, nor is its camera as good as we would like to see. Then there is the much higher price tag to consider.
The Xiaomi Mi MIX is the clear front runner on paper, and it will dazzle you with its large wrap-around display each time you pick up the device to use. It just seems like it is in a beta state and needs a few refinements – starting with the speaker placement and camera area – to command a price of $515. Its Snapdragon 821 and Adreno 530 GPU will give you enough processing power to run the device smoothly.
The Honor 6X is a lot of phone for $300 and should satisfy most users. You get memory expansion, decent photos, but the lack of an NFC chip means no mobile purchases. It is a good, basic, and economical device that will work on AT&T or T-Mobile in the US. You have to decide whether the larger display, better processor. and mobile purchases are worth the extra $200.