MWC 2019: Xiaomi unveils Mi Mix 3 5G for Rs 48,000

At an event in Barcelona, ahead of MWC 2019, Xiaomi took to the stage to announce their first commercially available 5G smartphone — the Mi Mix 3 5G. This handset will come equipped with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC and fitted with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X50 5G modem.

The handset will go on sale by May 2019 and feature the new Qualcomm chipset and will start at EUR 599 which roughly translates to Rs 48,000. Apart from the chipset, the handset boasts all the impressive features found on the Mi Mix 3.

The device flaunts a truly bezel-less display — no notch here. There's a sliding dual camera setup. The slider isn’t powered by motors and it supports a manual pop-up magnetic slider mechanism. The smartphone sports a 6.4-inch FHD+ OLED panel with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and it comes with a screen-to-body ratio of 93.4 per cent.

On the imaging duties, the handset packs in four cameras. On the rear, there is a 12MP f/1.8 primary sensor with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and a 12MP f/2.4 secondary sensor with 2x Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). The camera setup is accompanied by dual LED flash and phase detection autofocus.

The rear dual camera also features 4K video recording and 960 fps slow-motion video capture, supported by an AI background music feature that automatically adds sound effects according to the flow of motion in the video. For low-light photography, Xiaomi has introduced a night photography mode in Mi MIX 3, bundling features including hardware multi-frame noise reduction, AI light metering, and AI image stabilization and calibration.

Upfront, the handset features a 24MP+2MP dual camera setup for shooting selfies. In low-light conditions, the sensor uses Super Pixel technology to combine the information of four pixels into one large pixel, resulting in 1.8µm large pixels that are said to improve clarity, especially in indoor and low-light scenarios. The secondary 2M sensor captures depth information to facilitate an AI Bokeh effect.

Moving ahead, the device also comes with a rear fingerprint sensor, supports Google ARCore. It is backed by a 3850mAh battery with 10W Qi wireless charging support. Xiaomi has also added a dedicated AI button to the left side of the phone. Users can wake the Xiao Ai voice assistant by holding the AI button and customise one-click and double-click to perform different functions.

Additionally, Xiaomi says that the full-screen slider is fully customizable. Users can slide open the phone to answer calls or customise it to launch different functions. Additionally, there is a special in-game function for the slider, allowing users to access screen capture, screen recorder, or hide notifications during gaming sessions.