Cheap Chinese smartphones are good because they are good and cheap. This seems to confirm the opinions of satisfied users. How much is the truth in these assurances? Today we are testing Xiaomi Mi 6 – the flagship of a well-known Chinese brand, which does not stand out too much on the most expensive phones of well-known brands but is much cheaper than them. If you can not see the difference, why overpay? Or maybe you can see?

Not only the display of the Mi6 is small by today’s standards, but also the case, which nestles pleasantly in the hand. The buttons on the right side are easy to reach. The smartphone does not need to hide from the water either. According to Xiaomi, it is watertight, but without any indication of how deep and long it may submerge.On April 19, 2017, Xiaomi formalized the Mi 6, its new flagship. Like the Mi 5 before it, it tries to impose on the parallel market as a flagship killer, this smartphone with a technical sheet at the forefront of technology but proposed at a price defying all competition. Is the bet successful?

Overview Of Xiaomi Mi 6

The Mi 6 enters the arena with a screen of IPS Full HD 5.1 inches (1920 x 1080 px 13 cm diagonal) behind which moves the latest high-end platform Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 835 with its 4 Kryo cores clocked at 2.45 GHz and its four others at 1.9 GHz. It comes with Adreno GPU 540 and 4 GB of RAM (Also Comes with 6GB version). Photo side, two modules of 12 Mpx are installed on the back, one of 27 mm f 1.8 and the other of 52 mm f2.6, which allows it – almost, we will come back to it – to display the marketing argument “2x zoom” way iPhone. The front sensor, it, points to 8 Mpx. Finally, connectivity question, the usual dual SIM slot, and USB-C are part and a fingerprint reader. Only the port jack and the location microSD shine by their absence. The phone is Wi-Fi enabled 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, Bluetooth 5.0 and it has a GPS chip and NFC. Everything is powered by Android 7.1.1 behind the overlay MIUI home and it is powered by a battery of 3350 mAh.

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Unboxing

The Xiaomi Mi6 comes in a package that comes with several additional accessories. In addition to the USB C cord, you can also find a rubber cover and USB C reduction to a 3.5mm audio jack. Handsfree headphones are missing.The Xiaomi Mi6 has opened up the box at first glance. We even enjoyed it, even more, when we pulled it out and grabbed it. The first feeling is even heavier (168 grams), but it is excellent for holding it. It is especially beneficial for the back, which is rounded to the side so that it will fit into your hand. Indeed, controlling the Xiaomi Mi6 with one hand is seamless and comfortable, which also applies to carrying, for example, in a pocket of your legs. In addition, in black it works very elegantly and discreetly.

Design & Appearance

The screen coating is soft, does not catch the finger and its edges are 2.5D to make the use more enjoyable. This curvature is also found in the 4 slices, as is currently the fashion.On the back, it is more or less similar since the Xiaomi Mi 6 has a glass shell (or ceramic on the most expensive model) curved on all four sides. In addition, on the blue model that we have, fingerprints that have decided to stay are very little visible.There is the back of the Xiaomi logo, very visible, and three discrete lines in English and Chinese, relatively simple, but we would like more discreet.

The Xiaomi Mi6 design is top-notch and is certainly not ashamed to compare with more expensive competitors. On the contrary. Smartphone surprised us and, at least in terms of design and quality of processing, we consider it one of the best in the market. In his hands, he has a lasting and firm impression. Additionally, the blue version is not a problem with fingerprints, which can be seen here. We have a single reservation on the sloping back. When holding a hand is more or less all right, but when laying on not quite flat surfaces, it can be scratched. You should, therefore, be careful where you think Xiaomi Mi6. Just to be sure you can not find him anywhere else than you put him. Plus, there is also increased water resistance. The Xiaomi Mi6 can not dive like some of the flagship ships, but will withstand the usual pitfalls,

Finally, the three physical buttons (power, high volume, and low volume) are all located on the straight edge and are very accessible, even with one hand, and the drawer for both SIM cards is on the left. The upper edge hosts an infrared port and an environmental microphone, while the lower edge accommodates the USB-C port, the multimedia speaker and that’s it! Yes, Xiaomi has decided to ignore the port jack, replaced by a USB-C adapter to jack included in the box.

The screen of the Xiaomi Mi 6 is not exceptional in its lack of borders, but its intrinsic qualities cannot be denied. With a brightness of over 570 cd / m² according to our probe, we can say that the Mi 6 is immersed in the lux and has no problem with readability, even in direct sunlight. At worst it can happen that fingerprints come to interfere on the darker areas of the image, but a simple stroke of the rag can solve this problem very quickly.Xiaomi Mi 6 has a full HD screen of 5.15 inches, which is very standard today. With 428 PPi, the display fineness is already very good and it is useless on such a diagonal to switch to WQHD.Note that its slab also displays a very good contrast of 1260: 1, very wide viewing angles, but a voluntary colorimetry a little cold by default (more than 7500 K where the standard is more around 7000 K). Fortunately, an option makes the whites a little purer in the phone settings. Too bad that the possibilities are not as precise, however, as in other brands where it is possible to choose very precisely the hue that you want to give to its display.

The Xiaomi Mi6 measures 145.2 x 70.5 x 7.5 mm and weighs 168 g in the glass version. There is also a ceramic version which weighs a little more with 182g. It houses a front 5.15 inch IPS LCD screen, which is the 8-megapixel front camera the light and proximity sensor, a white notification LED, and the front speaker is located. Below the display are three softkeys that replace the bottom Android menu bar. The left button opens the task manager and the right button is the back button. Both are characterized by white dot-shaped LEDs, which light up when pressed. The middle softkey is a little further enclosed in the housing and serves not only as a home button but also as a fingerprint sensor. This unlocks very reliably and fast. In my subjective sense even either as fast or faster than. Xiaomi is fastest sensors in the smartphone market.

First and foremost, it feels good and because of its size feels good in the hand. Above all, the processing at Xiaomi is really good on most smartphones. That was also the case with the predecessor of the Xiaomi Mi5s, which is also very stable and well-survived crashes. The colleague who had tested the Mi6 in front of me, has dropped it twice hard from a height of about 1m and it is undamaged except for a few small scratches. These can only be seen in direct light, eg in sunlight, if you look closely. Overall, I like the design, the handling, and the quality really. Only the buttons on the side could feel a bit better in terms of the click feeling.

Hardware & Performance

Inside the Xiaomi Mi6 works a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 octa-core processor, whose cores are clocked up to 2.45 GHz. It is the currently strongest CPU from Qualcomm, which is also built into the Sony XZ Premium, HTC U11 and the US version of the S8 and S8+. For the graphics of the Qualcomm Adreno, 540 is responsible. It offers enough power to play at the highest settings at full resolution, which should not be difficult as this is a FullHD display. 2K would have done it without any problems, but the size does not really need that. Otherwise, the system runs as usual with Xiaomi very fluidly and should cause no problems.

The eight-core Snapdragon 835 processor, which is currently one of the fastest system-on-chips, will be able to exploit efficiency advantages thanks to its state-of-the-art 10-nanometer production process, thus contributing to this impressive slow-speed. Incidentally, the Android 7 system, which Xiaomi has covered with its own MIUI interface, is expected to respond quickly.Runtime advantages also bring the still-moderate image area of ??5.15 inches and compared to QHD screens slightly reduced Full HD resolution. The latter is fine because higher mobile screen resolutions are imperceptible to us with naked eyes outside of VR glasses.

For this, the internal 64GB memory (52GB available) with a very fast read / write speed of460 / 200MB / s points. In the other benchmarks, the Mi6 delivers as expected peak values, with benchmarks are often only half the truth. The waste heat is still limited but is noticeable if you do not use a shell. But we could not measure more than 38 ° in the warmest place.

Camera & Video Performance Of Xiaomi Mi 6

The 12-megapixel dual camera consists of two different sensors. On the one hand the Sony IMX386 with optical 4-axis image stabilizer with f / 1.8 and on the other hand the Samsung S5K3M3 without optical image stabilizer and f / 2.6. The focus is on phase detection and a dual-LED flash is also included.The two sensors are to ensure that as lossless as possible twice zoom is possible, which also works quite well. If you look closely, you also notice that when zooming the Samsung sensor is switched on.The colors are great, the dynamic range is really good and saturation, contrast etc. are great. Snapshots always work well and the optical image stabilizer also helps. Otherwise, I also like that close-ups work well here.

The photo experience offered by the Mi6 is sometimes frustrating as the smartphone alternates the very good and the very average. Xiaomi highlights its “optical zoom x2” and a portrait mode. The latter is rather convincing even if we regret his tendency to smooth the cliches.When conditions are good, the Mi6 is a good photophone, it produces detailed pictures, with a good sharpness and colors rather precise.

The 8-megapixel front camera can also be very convincing here. This is not only due to the level of detail, the great colors, contrast, etc., but also the great dynamic range. You can take pictures where you and the background are clearly visible. For other and more expensive smartphones, it often happens that the background is simply not visible or the sky just knows. This is also an advantage if you want to record videos with the Xiaomi Mi6 with the front camera. Vloggers should have their fun here.I do not mention the sound quality here and save it for the corresponding section. Videos are recorded here with 1080p 30 FPS. Otherwise, the pictures are pretty good even in low light situations and look quite natural and well lit. A display selfie flash, in which the display lights up white, does not seem to exist here.

Reyan(Left) Habib(Center) Farrukh(Right)

A beauty mode is of course included and here you can choose between either the smart or the Pro mode. In Pro mode, the thinning of the face, the skin tone, and the skin correction can be set more precisely with values from 1 to 10. The changes are displayed live, where the result is visible on many other China smartphones, the result only after the recording. But I was well served with the smart mode so far.If you want, the camera can also show your age and gender. Where the gender is still reliably determined, the age is just a gimmick, where the value also changes depending on the exposure position, etc. It is probably also determined by the Asian standard, which is why we are all displayed a bit older than we are. The Magic Mirror is also there, showing you on a scale of 1-10 how good you look. For me, he shows only 9.6 instead of 10, that is 0.4 too little.

The video camera is also very good and the video recordings are not only qualitatively pretty nice but also well stabilized because of the optical image stabilizer, which is not always the case with other devices. The dynamic range is also really good here and can easily catch up with devices like the Huawei Mate 9 or P10. 4K recordings are also possible here, with all modes, including the Full HD camera are limited to 30 FPS, where 60 FPS in Full HD and below should be possible without problems. I hope that will be a nice patch. Slow motion and fast motion are also possible, although in the latter case it is also nice that the interval can be set in which the time lapse images are recorded. For a long-term recording saves a lot of memory and battery depending on the setting.

The Best Experience Of (MIUI 9) Android 7.1.1 Nougat

The MIUI superstructure is a bit from another world. Compared to others, it differs in many things, not just about appearance but also functions. Xiaomi approaches the area itself in the traditional way – respectively. a traditional style of Apple smartphones. All application icons are located directly on the desktop or in the folders. If you prefer a different desktop layout with your own app menu, you’ll need to look at alternatives from Play.The superstructure that runs over Android 7.1.1 Nougat has been a very comprehensive impression on us. It offers everything you expect from it and even more. Compared to pure Android, not only the layout of the desktop but also the notification bar changed, especially on the graphics page. However, you will still find links to quickly switch phone features and notifications. Of course, you can also change the layout of the elements, or replace them with others.

A great addition to the superstructure is also the support of the motifs. Those in the company’s store will really find a lot, not just about some ugly approach, but about topics that look really good and you will not be shy about using them. The same is true of the backgrounds MIUI has packed in the base several times. As well as the themes, you can also expand these with others you download from Themes.The system settings then hide other interesting features. For example, there is a child mode that only accesses selected apps or games on the phone and can prevent SMS from being sent. The touch assistant makes available some of the basic features available from the floating window. Well, of course, you can also activate one-handed operation or change the functions of the navigation keys underneath the display. In addition to classic compression, they can also react to their longer retention.

The second profile also appears to be useful. This allows you to enable a new user profile for the device that will be completely separate from the one you are using. This means that your other profile can have completely different apps, or work with other social networking or email accounts. You can also use cloned applications for the same purpose. By the way, they can also be locked for all applications installed on the system. When launched, they can be unlocked using a pattern or fingerprint.New users will probably have to get acquainted with the MIUI superstructure. The truth, however, is that it is getting used to her very quickly. Besides, we’ve sometimes experienced some freezing of the app, so we have no reservations about the system as such. We also applaud pre-installed applications that may be useful for many users.

Network & Connectivity

The dual-band WIFI module supports the latest ac standard and also brings 400mbit wires to glow. Range and data throughput are excellent. The cutting-edge Bluetooth 5.0 module promises much more performance, in practice with headphones, Bluetooth boxes and in the car, you notice little of it. The connection is constant and stable, just like any other Bluetooth 4 device.

The Xiaomi Mi6 supports all 2G and 3G networks in Pakistan. In the 4G LTE network, however, you have to do without the band 20 (800MHz). Two Nano Sim cards can be inserted into the Dual Sim Smartphone. The Mi6 convinces in the test with very good reception values ??which can also compete with the most powerful smartphone Xiaomi Mi Mix 2. In places where I often only have Edge, I could still use 4G or 3G with the Mi6. The quality of conversation is also absolutely top notch. The voice is clear and loud forwarded and the interlocutor in high volume clearly understood.

Last but not least, the strong GPS reception completes the reception qualities of the Mi6 perfectly. The signal is also strong enough for buildings and determines the position outdoors easily to 2-3m. The car and pedestrian navigation worked in the test simply perfect without any incidents. In addition to the 3 standard sensors (brightness, acceleration and proximity sensor), Xiaomi also packs a compass, gyroscope, pressure and Hall sensor. The Hall sensor is the smart control for hinged covers. As a bonus, there is also an infrared transmitter on the top.

Battery

The Xiaomi Mi6 is a 3350 mAh battery installed, which is quite large if one looks at the stature of the smartphone. This can be charged with Quick Charge 3.0, even though the Snapdragon 835 actually supports Quick Charge 4.0. You have probably decided against it because of the license fees. Overall, it loads but relatively quickly.The battery life is quite good in about 9 hours Screen on Time. Normally you can get through the day, but sometimes the standby consumption seems to be a bit high and at least it does not always seem to be consistent with my review sample. One reaches 9.5 hours, another time about 8.5.Included in delivery is Chinese Quick-Charge 3.0 adapter. This gives every 10 minutes 18-20% battery (between 10-90%). Fully charged is the Xiaomi Mi6 then already after 1 hour and 10 minutes. The China power supply should not be used in continuous operation.

Sound

The Xiaomi Mi6 can, like some other smartphones meanwhile, play the sound in stereo. In addition to the main speaker on the bottom, the front speaker is also used above the display. This is responsible for the heights and the overall sound experience sounds more natural. The sound is pretty good and remains relatively stable even at higher volumes and does not immediately lose quality, such as the Honor 8 Pro. It is above average but could be even louder.

Otherwise, the 3.5 mm audio jack is omitted here and you will be forced to listen to music via USB-C. This has advantages and disadvantages, of course. On the one hand, this makes it difficult to charge the device and at the same time listen to music when you’re not listening to Bluetooth headphones. But you do not have to do without your old headphones thanks to the included adapter and can easily leave it connected to the headphones. It also comes down to the pleasure of integrated Active Noise-Canceling. The integrated microphones are used for this purpose. The result is relatively good. Of course, you can not compare this with expensive Bose headphones, etc., but at least it helps to hide some ambient noise. Depending on the headphone, they allow you to set suitable profiles to suit the sound.

While the microphone sounds good on the phone, it is slightly below average for video and sound recordings. It’s a bit tinny and does not sound as natural as other smartphones. The predecessor, the Xiaomi Mi5s actually had a pretty good microphone, which a friend of mine even likes to use for vocal recording. In the meantime maybe not many people are recording sound anymore, but in my opinion, this is very important for videos. It’s not bad, no, but it could just be better. Especially because I really like the main and front camera.

Availability

Now Comes to the price point the best advice that I give yo.u to buy this amazing flagship-killer smartphone is Called Xiaomi Mi 6 you can purchase it on the No:1 Online Chinese Store mean Gearbest.com that can provide you the price point of this smartphone is Just at $406.71 with usage of this Coupon Code: GBMBP.