Xiaomi Mi 6 is the company's new flagship smartphone, introduced in April 2017. It has a solid reserve of power due to the top-end hardware, consisting of SoC Snapdragon 835 and 6 GB of RAM. It is protected from moisture and is intriguing due to the presence of a dual rear camera and support for optical zoom.
Design and assembly features
The device is presented in a glossy case in white, black and light blue.
The Mi 6 frame is made of stainless steel, the back and front are covered with glass. There is also an exclusive edition in black with ceramic coating.
The glossy panel looks impressive, but its surface is quite slippery and quickly becomes covered with fingerprints. The manufacturer took these nuances into account and equipped the smartphone with a silicone cover-pad that prevents slipping. The case is protected from dust and moisture according to the IP67 standard. That is, it is not afraid of raindrops or fountain splashes, but it is not intended for deliberate immersion in water.
Connectors and control elements
Navigation in the OS interface is carried out using the multifunctional touch button “Home”. It is combined with a fingerprint scanner and is located at the bottom of the screen under the glass.
Buttons for controlling volume and power are placed on the edge on the right. On the left is a tray for 2 nano SIM cards. The bottom edge is occupied by a symmetrical USB Type-C connector, speaker and microphone grilles.
The smartphone does not have a separate audio jack. Company representatives explained this step by the need to free up more space for other components. As a result, the headphones are connected to the USB-C connector via a special adapter included in the package. If you have wireless headphones, a Bluetooth connection is used.
Display
A clear, contrasting image with natural colors and maximum viewing angles is the merit of the high-quality IPS matrix installed in Xiaomi Mi 6. The display diagonal is 5.15”, resolution – FullHD. Among the interesting features of the screen is a wide range of brightness adjustments. With a maximum value of 600 nits, excellent readability of screen content is ensured outdoors in clear weather. The ability to set a minimum level (from 1 nit) allows you to set a comfortable brightness, at which the image will be visible only in complete darkness.
A modified reading mode helps reduce eye strain. When activated, the “yellow effect” is minimized, and the color palette is closer to natural shades.
Hardware (processor, memory)
Among all the chipsets available at the time of release, the manufacturer chose the most powerful option: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 with integrated Adreno 540 graphics. The RAM capacity of 6 GB is also impressive. All this provided the smartphone with a truly flagship level of performance, comparable to the Galaxy S8. The smartphone easily copes with any load, demonstrating excellent performance.
This is confirmed by the results obtained during synthetic tests. To evaluate gaming performance, the 3DMark graphics subsystem test was used. In Sling Shot mode, Mi 6 scored 3140 points, and in Sling Shot Extreme mode – 2296.
AnTuTu estimates the performance of Xiaomi Mi 6 at 158240 points.
Depending on the configuration, the built-in storage capacity can be 64 (about 49 GB available) or 128 GB. It is not possible to install an external MicroSD memory card.
Software
As expected for a flagship, the device is equipped with the current version of the OS: Android 7.1.1 Nougat with MIUI 8.0 shell from Xiaomi. The model is supplied to the international market with a Global (multilingual) version of the firmware, as well as full support for Google services.
Cameras
The main module consists of two 12-megapixel cameras. The aperture of the main sensor is f/1.8. The camera is equipped with PDAF autofocus, dual LED flash and 4-axis optical stabilization.
Frames taken in daylight are quite sharp, detailed and contrasty.
Xiaomi Mi 6 also copes well with indoor photography. And even in low light conditions it is quite possible to get a good result. Video recording in 4K and FullHD resolution (at 30 FPS), as well as Slow-Motion in HD resolution (120 fps) is supported.
Dual Camera Features
The key purpose of the dual module is to provide the effect of depth (simulated bokeh) in portrait mode. Using software processing, attention is focused on the subject by blurring the background.
The presence of a dual photo module makes it possible to shoot distant objects without loss of quality, due to the 2x optical zoom.
Front module
The front sensor is designed to shoot with a resolution of 8 megapixels. Supports gender recognition based on facial features to auto-adjust skin-smoothing filters. If there is a man in the frame, the filter works with lower intensity, and if there is a woman, on the contrary, with higher intensity. When you turn off all filters, you get good detailed selfies.
Sound quality
To provide stereo sound, the multimedia and conversational speakers are used simultaneously. The latter has a smaller volume reserve, but, nevertheless, the effect is obvious: a fairly high-quality, clear sound is reproduced. To ensure wireless transmission of stereo sound in good quality, the A2DP profile is used.
Wireless network
Xiaomi Mi 6 is equipped with a high-speed Wi-Fi module 802.11ac, with two antennas for reception and transmission (2x2 MU-MIMO). Operates in the bands: 2.4 and 5 GHz. The updated version of Bluetooth 5 is supported, with double the speed and 4 times the range compared to its predecessor.
Mobile communications are represented by 2G, 3G and 4G LTE networks. The Mi 6 wireless network set also includes an infrared port and NFC.
GPS (A-GPS), GLONASS and Beidou systems are responsible for navigation and geopositioning. There is a quick search for satellites, with instant connection during a “hot” start and within 15-20 seconds. when "cold".
Autonomous operation
The smartphone has a 3350 mAh battery: by modern standards, the numbers are not the most impressive. However, due to the optimization of the MIUI 8.0 firmware in combination with the energy efficiency of the Snapdragon 835, which uses a 10-nm process technology, Xiaomi Mi 6 demonstrates quite adequate results. The charge lasts for approximately 9 hours of continuous video playback. In mixed mode with moderate use, the device can work throughout the day.
Quick Charge 3.0 accelerated charging technology has been implemented. Using the supplied power adapter (5V/2A 18W), the charge level is fully restored in 1 hour.
Pros and cons of Xiaomi Mi 6
Main advantages:
- nice design;
- dual camera with bokeh effect and 2x optical zoom;
- high performance;
- protection from dust and moisture;
- a wide range of network communications;
- fast charging Quick Charge 3.0.
Main disadvantages:
- glass body collects fingerprints;
- there is no 3.5 mm jack for regular headphones;
- There is no slot for an external memory card.
Bottom line
Xiaomi Mi 6 is a worthy successor to the line of flagship devices. It successfully combines the advantages of previous generations with updated technical and software capabilities and maximum performance.
Now Xiaomi Mi6 is offered on a flash sale at a reduced price - the version with 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal memory in black will cost the buyer only $450! Hurry up - the number of smartphones is limited!
