Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S: A smartphone camera that rivals the iPhone X

This is it. Xiaomi’s Mi MIX 2S has been officially revealed. Headline features include some focus on AI, a new camera and new internals! Here’s everything you need to know.

Before we begin, you should know that the Mi MIX 2S is not vastly different from the Mi MIX 2. Still, all things considered there are some notable differences that might just be enough to make you jump ship.

First up is the display. Mi MIX 2S gets an updated “full screen” display with slightly slimmer bezels all around. There is no notch which means that the selfie camera still lives in the slightly thicker chin at the bottom. Not great for selfies, but at least there’s no notch.

Inside, you’re getting an updated set of specs that include a new Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor clocked at 2.8GHz mated to up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. This means the phone is an absolute powerhouse device and according to Xiaomi, the MIX 2S received an AnTuTu score of 277,178. All of those insides are encased in the same kind of ceramic and aluminium body as its predecessor.

The next big change is in the camera department. Gone is the singular camera module and in its place sits a 12MP+12MP wide+telephoto dual-camera system. It utilises a Sony IMX363 sensor with large 1.4-micron pixels for better low-light performance. It’s also got Dual Pixel autofocus for faster focusing and hardware-level multi-frame noise reduction.

All of this adds up to quite the formidable camera. It scored a total score of 97 points on DxOMark (on-par with the iPhone X) with a photo score of 101 points. The website even called it a “Chinese gem”.

Beyond hardware improvements, Xiaomi also equipped the Mi MIX 2S with AI capabilities as well as Xiaomi’s own AI voice assistant. This allows the phone to do things like instantly translate languages and convert foreign currency.

But, the most interesting thing of all relates to the camera.

Not only can it help produce better overall photos, the AI can also do funky stuff with your bokeh in portrait mode. It can change the shapes of the bokeh balls as well as stretch them into some space-like swirly effect.

Besides that, the Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S also supports fast 7.5W wireless charging using the Qi standard. Xiaomi also became a Google ARCore partner with the Mi MIX 2S so it will support those AR apps going forward.

There will be three variants of the Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S:

Mi MIX 2S — Snapdragon 845, 6GB RAM, 64GB storage — RMB3,299 (around RM2,043)
Mi MIX 2S — Snapdragon 845, 6GB RAM, 128GB storage — RMB3,599 (around RM2,230)
Mi MIX 2S — Snapdragon 845, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage — RMB3,999 (around RM2,476)

The top-spec model will also come with a free Xiaomi wireless charger (worth RMB99).