Verdict
You’ll have to import it, but it’s worth the effort.
Saturday, 7 October 2017
Key Features
- Review Price: £342.00
- 5.15-inch IPS LCD display 1080p
- Snapdragon 835, 4/6GB RAM
- 64/128GB storage
- Dual 12-megapixel cameras
- Front-facing 8MP camera
- USB-C
- 3350mAh battery
- Android 7.1.1
Xiaomi’s devices may not be so easily available in Europe and America, some of them are certainly worth hunting down.
The Xiaomi Mi 6 is one such device; a compact Android phone offering plenty of power and a lovely screen that undercuts even the OnePlus 5 for value.
Xiaomi Mi 6 – Design
The Xiaomi Mi 6 is an iteration of the design first seen with the company’s Mi 5 phone last year, and considering that handset was a pleasure to hold and use, this is far from an issue. In fact, the Mi 6 is one of the only Android flagships – aside from the Huawei P10 – to stick with a fairly small 5-inch display and keep the phone manageable in size.
The combination of the small display, heavily curved sides on the rear and the slightly curved screen mean that if you’re looking for a phone that’s comfortable to use one-handed then this is it.
It looks great too, and considering the price is well built in the main. While there’s no plastic to be seen, except for some mushy volume keys, some corner-cutting has evidently taken place. The Mi 6 picks up scratches like no other phone I’ve used in a long time; I even discovered a deep scratch on its rear when I took it out of the box. In addition, the back glass panel has already started to come unstuck in the bottom corner, and with little force I can pry it away leaving a visible gap.
The biggest omission on the Xiaomi is the lack of a headphone jack. The company says this is the result of a space issue, and in order to fit in a bigger battery and splash-proof rating, something had to go. I find that an odd response – there are several phones on the market that have full IP ratings and yet manage to retain the headphone jack. In my opinion, a headphone jack is still a requisite on a phone and it will continue to be until quality Bluetooth headphones come down in price. You do get a flimsy 3.5mm dongle in the box that you’ll probably lose instantly, but no USB-C headphones.
Tucked under the glass on the front is a ceramic fingerprint sensor that’s exceptionally fast and reliable.
Xiaomi Mi 6 – Screen
Xiaomi is one the few brands that hasn’t yet made the switch from 1080p to quad-HD on any of its phones, but in most ways that’s a good thing. The 5.15-inch LCD panel here is one of the best I’ve seen, and is noticeably more attractive than the Huawei P10 due to much richer colours and a more even brightness.
Most phones manage good peak brightness, and the Xiaomi Mi 6 certainly does that reaching 600 nits, but it also does well in the dark – when you want what’s onscreen to be visible but not blinding.
1080p seems the right choice for a display of this size and pixels are impossible to spot. You also benefit from that lower-res screen, which requires less power with the knock-on effect of better battery life – another area in which the Mi 6 really impresses.
LCD panels don’t quite achieve the deep colour saturation, nor the deepest blacks, seen on AMOLED panels from the likes of Samsung, but really this display is so impressive that this isn’t much of an issue. What IPS LCDs do have over their AMOLED counterparts is much better viewing angles, however.
Interestingly, the screen doesn’t feature a polarising filter on it, so if you’re wearing certain types of sunglasses then you simply won’t be able to see the screen outside.
Xiaomi Mi 6 – Performance
The Xiaomi Mi 6 was one of the first phones announced to be running Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 SoC, and the rest of the device’s internals are all high-end. There’s 6GB of RAM and either 64GB or 128GB of storage available – but, annoyingly, no microSD support.
Considering the high-end specs it’s no surprise that the Xiaomi Mi 6 runs fantastically well. During my few weeks with the device I’ve suffered no lag or slowdown, and the Adreno 540 GPU handles each and every Android game with ease.
The biggest issue I can see arising is that since this phone isn’t built to be used outside of Asia, it’s missing a few of the required LTE bands worldwide. In the US, for example, you won’t get 4G support on the major networks; but here in the UK I have 4G working on both Three and EE. Call and Wi-Fi quality is good, and the mics do a good job at noise-cancelling.
Like the iPhone 7 and HTC 10, the Xiaomi Mi 6 manages to pump out decent audio by combining one speaker on the bottom of the device, next to the USB-C port, and another next to the ear piece above the display. It sounds good, much better than the Samsung Galaxy S8, but not as good as the HTC U11. However, it doesn’t really get very loud. It also lacks a punch of bass, meaning it’s fine for YouTube videos but not so much for audio.
Synthetic benchmarks are becoming increasingly redundant and I don’t find them a trustworthy source of determining the speed of a phone. Recently, many phones I’ve reviewed simply don’t appear to run benchmarking suites properly, and that’s what I’ve found with the Mi 6.
Xiaomi Mi 6 – Software
There’s a lot to like about Xiaomi’s latest flagship, but the software still stands out as being one of the weaker points. Like many skins from Chinese manufacturers, MIUI changes too much of Android 7.1.1, to the point where it doesn’t really feel or act like Google’s OS.
My review unit came preloaded with Google Play, which is easy enough to flash on if your device doesn’t, yet basic Android features such as split-screen multi-tasking and replying directly from notifications were nowhere to be found.
The lack of an app drawer will no doubt annoy some, and the icons are all a bit old-fashioned. There’s a general lack of style and design here, and the iOS influence is clear to see.
There a few nice additions that I’d like to become more common in Android skins. Dual App mode lets you have two completely separate versions of the same app – Facebook, for instance – and this is great for separating work and personal apps.
Xiaomi Mi 6 – Camera
Last year’s Xiaomi Mi 5 was good, but it lacked an impressive camera. With Xiaomi aiming to launch the Mi 5 at such a low price, there were always going to be compromises – and the optics were just that.
This time around, there’s a lot more to like. And before the OnePlus 5 came along, this was the only Android phone to use its dual-sensor setup to offer 2x zoom through a telephoto lens.
Dual cameras on phones are nothing new, but often they each go in completely different directions with how they use that secondary sensor. The Huawei P10 offers a dedicated monochrome sensor for proper black and white photos, while the LG G6 has a wider-angle lens that’s great for landscape shots. The 2x telephoto sensor on the Xiaomi Mi 6 is similar to theiPhone 7 Plus, and lets you zoom in without theoretically losing any quality in the photo.
Both the sensors on the Xiaomi Mi 6 are 12 megapixels, although only the main one packs in optical image stabilisation. There’s also a difference in the apertures on the lenses, with the main having an f/1.8 and the telephoto having a narrower f/2.6. These two big differences mean that the zoom feature isn’t very good unless there’s good light.
The shiny back is a fingerprint magnet
I like the variety the zoom feature offers, and in well-lit daytime environments the pictures can be very good, There’s plenty of detail, a decent range of vibrant colours, with the wide aperture offering excellent depth to photos. A Portrait mode – which looks exactly the same as the iOS version – offers a good simulated bokeh effect. However, just remember to head into settings and turn off the ‘watermark’, or else you’ll have ‘Shot on a dual-camera’ on every photo.
Photos have plenty of detail, but the lack of auto-HDR does make them over-exposed
There’s a nice feeling of depth to pictures 2x zoom, same as above
Detail is retained in lower light, but the autofocus slows down
The auto HDR mode does level out exposure, but it doesn’t work well for every shot
There are a couple of issues I have with the pictures, but considering the price I can forgive Xiaomi. The HDR mode, which boosts shadows and saturation, has to be manually enabled every time you take a photo – so it’s either all or nothing, and this can lead to certain bright photos looking almost fake. Exposure can be a little erratic, too; you’ll often find yourself using the manual exposure slider to level things out. I’ve also found the autofocus to be on the slow side, and if you’re quickly firing off shots then you’ll need to ensure you’re holding the phone very steady.
Having OIS on the main sensor does improve low-light photos and it’s possible to get good night shots. The stabilisation makes a bigger difference in video, where the Mi 6 captures footage that’s much smoother than the juddery OnePlus 5.
On the front there’s an 8-megapixel sensor that has a nice wide-angle lens. It takes great selfies, offering balanced skin tone and lots of detail. One particularly strange feature of the front camera is a software tweak that tries to guess your age and gender. It doesn’t work, but is good for a quick giggle.
Xiaomi Mi 6 – Battery Life
Xiaomi says that one of the reasons for ditching the headphone jack was to allow for the bigger battery, and the 3,350mAh cell tucked inside the glass body certainly is large for a 1080p phone of this size.
Whether or not the extra battery life is a valid trade-off for the lack of headphone jack is up to you, but I’ve been thoroughly impressed by the battery life on offer here. Getting through the day is no issue at all, and on numerous occasions I’ve forgotten to charge the device overnight and it managed to get to lunch the following day. The lower-res screen – when compared to other flagships – also means it consumes less power when streaming and gaming. An hour of Netflix ate through 8%, which is impressive.
Quick Charge 3.0 is supported, and using my own charger the phone took about 90 minutes to fully charge.
Should I buy the Xiaomi Mi 6?
If you’re on a budget, happy to sacrifice a few features and don’t mind importing then the Xiaomi Mi 6 is a good buy.
It’s fast, well designed and has a lovely screen – but there are some issues that arise along the way. The lack of a headphone jack is annoying, but I have more long-term concerns about build quality and the lack of certain LTE bands.
Small Android phones that pack high-end features are rare, with only really the Huawei P10 and Google Pixel offering similar size and specs. But both of these are pricier than the Mi 6; and personally, I prefer the camera and display of the Xiaomi Mi 6 over the Huawei P10.
At the time of this review, the Xiaomi can be picked up from gearbest.com for £342 (6GB/64GB) and £405 for 128GB storage.
Score in detail
- Performance9
- Camera8
- Design7
- Battery Life8
- Value9
- Software5
- Calls & Sound8
- Screen Quality8
