The Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 durability test surfaced on JerryRigEverything’s YouTube channel, and it proves that the phone is actually quite durable. Some people were doubting the durability of the device due to its sliding mechanism and what not, but the source proved that the Mi MIX 3 can compete with the best of them out there, at least as far as built quality is concerned. The durability test video has a duration of over five minutes, it’s embedded down below, and we’ll talk more about it in this article, so let’s get started.
The very first test that the Mi MIX 3 was submitted to is the display scratch test. The device comes with Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 protection on top of its 6.39-inch Super AMOLED display, and it scratches when a level 6 pick was used to test the display, while deeper scratches were visible at a level 7. This is actually on par with pretty much every other major flagship that is currently available.
When you slide down the phone’s display, front-facing cameras and some sensors will be revealed. All of those are hidden behind glass as well, and scratching them with a razor did not do anything to them. The phone’s speaker grills and earpiece are made out of metal, and will not be falling out anytime soon, as they seem to be placed firmly into the device’s frame. There is a bit of space between the front and back portion of this sliding phone, right where the sliding mechanism is placed, which is a good thing, as the phone’s cameras will not rub against the body of the phone when you’re sliding it.
The device’s buttons are made out of metal, though the top half of the phone’s frame is surrounded by plastic, even though its frame is made out of metal, while the bottom half is made out of metal (aluminum). The dual SIM card tray is also made out of metal, and the very top and bottom of the device are also made out of metal (aluminum).
The back side of the phone is quite interesting, as Xiaomi once again included ceramic on the back of one of its Mi MIX devices. Ceramic is a much harder material than glass, and it is more resistant to scratches than glass, and the good news is, the phone’s rear-facing fingerprint scanner is also covered by ceramic, so it will not scratch easily at all. The phone’s rear-facing cameras are also covered by glass, and will not scratch easily.
Putting a lighter against the phone’s display killed off its pixels after a while, and they did not recover, though that is not surprising at all considering this is a Super AMOLED display, and chances are you will not point fire straight into your device and keep it there for a while… this is more of a fun test rather than anything else.
Now, the most interesting test of them all is probably a bend test, especially when it comes to the sliding smartphone. Well, you’ll be glad to know that the phone was unaffected by the bend test, it did flex a little bit, but nothing fell out of place, and the phone reverted back to its original state as soon as the pressure was lifted. All in all, it seems like the Mi MIX 3 truly is a quite a durable smartphone, and even though it will take time to see how well will the sliding mechanism hold up against regular use, dirt, pocket lint and what not, the phone does tick a lot of right boxes.