Xiaomi is adored for cheap devices, the Chinese have learned to create cool things in terms of price and quality, you can’t argue with that. What about more expensive devices? After all, Xiaomi produces models from the simplest to the most sophisticated, the choice is huge. I spent, scary to say, 3 months with Xiaomi Mi Note 2. I have accumulated impressions and I want to share my thoughts on why buy an expensive smartphone from Xiaomi.

Similar to Samsung

When you go with some new product, friends and acquaintances are usually interested in: what is it, what model is it, how much does it cost, and so on. Of course, you tell what and why. In the case of Xiaomi Mi Note 2, I was asked such questions very rarely. Not because it’s bad, no, people took it for the good old Samsung Galaxy S7 edge.

Perhaps, for such words, Xiaomi fans will be offended by me and say that you can find 7 differences between a Chinese and Korean smartphone without a magnifying glass. But around are ordinary people, not fans, most of them are. So they consistently reacted to Xiaomi as they did to last year’s Samsung. Say, why did you suddenly switch from Apple to Galaxy, very harsh times have come?

You start to explain that this is not Samsung, but Xiaomi, made in the same spirit: glass panels front and back, curved screen, thin body, excellent build. You give it to be held in your hands, to try it – the reaction remains the same, people perceive it as a clone, and not as an original model. And that’s the problem.

Why did Xiaomi not invent anything new and add its own features to the smartphone? I could play with the back design, add a pattern or custom colors to avoid resemblance to the Galaxy S7 edge. But, as you can see, they did not become wiser.

Big and slippery

Is it convenient to use a large smartphone with a 5.7-inch screen in a “bezel-less” style? Yes, quite a matter of habit, but you get used to it quickly. There are no false positives when you hold the phone in your hand, although at first such narrow edges are embarrassing. The palm of Xiaomi Mi Note 2 does not cut when you use it, but the phone is slippery, it takes getting used to, otherwise it is easy to drop it, falls are fatal for the glass case.

In principle, this place could have ended the whole story, because the main feature of the phone is its curved screen. But the Chinese could not figure out how to simplify the life of the buyer with bevelled edges.

What is the benefit of a curved screen? Yes, in the same way, what is the use of a rigid sports suspension in a car for driving on broken Moscow asphalt. Understated cars look more spectacular, so a phone with a curved display attracts attention. We didn’t add any functional bells and whistles to this, you won’t display lines with service notifications or a music player track here, this is not provided.

If Samsung tried and added additional features to the shell, then this is not the case here. Just a curved screen and that’s it. Sad? Depending on what you want from a smartphone, I think that the wow effect, and he will give it to you. Well, the characteristics are the tenth thing, although it’s not a shame at all for the filling.

The Chinese did not bother about additional features, they put an OLED display with a resolution of 1080×1920 pixels and a 5.7-inch diagonal. According to my feelings, the screen is even too bright and hits the eyes even at minimum brightness in the dark, otherwise it is good.

Everything is with him

Let’s go over the stuffing. The fingerprint scanner under the screen quickly responds to touch and remembers up to 5 fingers. Somehow not enough for a flagship, they usually offer to save 10 prints, but oh well, we are not octopus people, we will survive.

In terms of filling, Xiaomi Mi Note 2 is no longer the top, but when it came out, it was among the best. Nevertheless, by the standards of 2017, a smartphone with excellent filling. Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 with 4/64 GB of memory or 6/128 GB, but in any case without support for memory cards. It works quickly, there are no lags in principle, everything is fine.

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I was surprised that despite the built-in NFC chip, it was not possible to get the phone working with Android Pay, although this is a smartphone from the official delivery for the Russian market. But 2 SIM-cards worked fine here, with Wi-Fi, too, everything is in order.

Works for a long time, it’s good

The Chinese did not pursue the screen resolution, so a 4,000 mAh battery paired with a Full HD display shows, if not miracles, then at least decent results. With active use, charging is enough for half a day of energetic work, and in normal mode it turns out a day and a half, depending on the load. The results for a flagship device are good, one of the best in the class. Xiaomi Mi Note 2 supports the fast charging function: in 30 minutes it is charged by 50%, but the process of charging up to 100% will take another 90 minutes.

Just a good camera

The camera of Xiaomi Mi Note 2 is not as cool as that of another top-end Xiaomi Mi 6, it shoots very well during the day and so-so in the evening. If the quality of the photo is important to you, then I would look towards the Mi 6, I liked it more on the camera.

What is the price

Xiaomi Mi Note 2 costs 34,990 rubles, this is its official price in Russia, if you order it directly from China, it will cost 6-7 thousand less. Its main alternative is the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. It costs about 42 thousand rubles in Russia, but again, you can order it from Europe or China and save money. In any case, Samsung will turn out to be a little more expensive, is it worth it to overpay? In my opinion, yes, if you need a more sophisticated camera. Otherwise, they are more or less the same, Samsung, for example, wins in terms of screen quality and software, which provides additional settings that reveal the potential of a curved display. But Xiaomi worked for me longer than the S7 edge, which I really liked.

If you don’t bother on a curved screen, there are even more options: this is the OnePlus 3T “flagship killer” and the top-end Huawei P-series.

Opinion

I liked Xiaomi Mi Note 2, although it turned out to be a strange smartphone – I have a feeling that Xiaomi made it with a great desire to copy Samsung and show fans what they can do.

The curved screen gives spectacular shapes, but does not offer additional functions, everything rests only on the design. But appearance is secondary here, because in fact Xiaomi Mi Note 2 is a high-quality replica of the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. But, as befits a replica, it costs less, which means there are no questions. If you want, choose a copy, if you want, buy the original, if you feel that you will use all the bells and whistles of the Samsung shell.

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