In front of me I have the new bezel-less smartphone from Xiaomi.
Called the Mi Mix.
I do durability tests on cell phones.
And in the past I have not been too fond of Xiaomi's build quality.
I've already tested 3 other phones made by Xiaomi.
Two of them have catastrophically failed...
The Mi5, and the Note 3. The Redmi 3 Pro... survived, but only barely.
So will the Mi Mix survive my durability tests?
Or will it end up on my Shelf of Shame next to its structurally impaired family members.
Lets find out.
[Intro]
The magnetic door on the cardboard box already has me impressed.
The rest of the packaging pulls out like an accordion.
Each layer having its own compartment for different goodies.
On the left we have the charging wall plug, and USB C Cable, as well as the instruction
booklet.
And the Sim card removal tool.
In the center we have a case.
It has the texture of leather, but feels like cardboard and plastic had a baby.
It will definitely protect the sides and corners of the phone though, against drops.
And that's what we are looking for.
And finally the phone.
This thing is big.
And heavy.
As I've mentioned in some of my previous videos, weight is an indicator of good build quality.
The more material a phone uses, the less likely it is to snap in half.
Ill peal off the protective covering over the back ceramic.
Ceramic has the feel and glossiness of glass, along with the cold heaviness of metal.
Ceramic phones are a relatively new thing.
Aluminum alloy phones would usually scratch around a level 4 or 5, but ceramic claims
to have a level 8 on Mohs Scale of Hardness.
Which is incredibly scratch resistant.
We'll be finding out today.
As usual we will start with the screen scratch test.
My Mohs Picks will tell me where this screen falls on Mohs Scale of Hardness.
Most smart phone screens scratch at a level 6.
A few shatterproof phones will have a plastic screen, which scratches at a 3 like the Droid
Turbo 2.
No one has come out with a sapphire screen yet, but if they did, it would scratch at
a level 8 or 9.
The glass screen of the Mi Mix scratches at a level 6, with a deep groove starting at
a level 7.
Meaning that it is on par with the rest of the flagship phones like the Samsungs or the
iPhones.
Lets transfer the scale over to the back, and see if this phone really is ceramic like
they Xiaomi claims.
You can see the back panel flex with the pressure of my picks as I move up Mohs Scale into the
progressively harder tips.
No tips leave a mark until we hit a level 8 though, which is incredibly impressive.
Thumbs up for that.
Hardly anything reaches an 8 on my channel.
If you remember from my Jet Black iPhone 7 scratch test video.
The Jet Black was scratched by anything that touched it.
Pennies, keys, a screw and my razor blade.
None of those items that scratched the iPhone would do damage to the ceramic Mi Mix.
Ceramic is much harder than anodized aluminum.
The Ceramic Mi Mix is even more glossy than the glossy Jet black.
That might be a little awkward for Apple...
I think ceramic could very well be the material of the future.
Unfortunately, the harder an object is, the more brittle it also becomes..
So dropping this phone could very well be catastrophic.
If you think I should do a drop test of this phone, let me know over on Twitter.
Lets move on to the rest of my tests.
Starting next to the camera.
Not my camera... but the camera of the phone.
This thing is so reflective I could use it to do my hair in the mornings.
Scratching the fingerprint scanner does absolutely nothing.
It could very well be ceramic.
The same material as the back of the phone.
The only way to test that is with the Mohs Picks, and since the level 7 does nothing
to the material, than we know it cant be glass, it has to be ceramic.
Ceramic is definitely on my list of premium materials.
Right there next to glass and metal.
Speaking of glass, the camera lens is also glass.
Thankfully, some smartphones have used a plastic lens in the past, which scratches very easily.
The flash of this phone is plastic, but that's normal.
And a non issue.
The side buttons of the device are unphased by my razor.
And after a quick test with the level 7 Mohs pick, it looks like they are ceramic as well.
Except for the front glass and rear camera lens.
Every single surface of this phone is scratch proof ceramic.
If there ever was a 'JerryRig' proof phone.
This one is on the right path to being It.
I still have my lighter though.
And the 6.4 inch 1080p IPS LCD is about to feel the heat.
It takes about 10 seconds for the pixels to heat up and go black.
But the screen still works perfectly fine around the black spot until it cools down
and the pixels completely recover.
This is mostly just fun to watch.
Now for the bend test.
If you were going to buy a phone, would you pick one that snaps in half?
Or one that doesn't snap in half?
Structural integrity is a vital component in any smart phone, and luckily this Mi Mix
has a lot of it.
The phone hardly budges at all when I use my hands to press from the screen size of
this huge phone.
After flexing the phone from both directions there is not so much as a kink or defect anywhere
on the body.
The screen did freeze and stopped working after the second hard flex, but clicking it
off and clicking it back on again, fixed that and it started working as normal.
It looks like the back panel is held in by a series of clasps, a few of those popped
out as well, but they were very easily snapped back into place.
So this phone passes the bend test.
And this is the First Xiaomi phone i've tested that royally passes all of my durability tests.
I am impressed.
The only issue that could possibly arise with this phone is if its dropped.
With a super hard and brittle ceramic frame, and no bezel, there is no cushion for the
LCD or front glass if the phone ever slips out of your hand.
I dont normally do drop tests, but for this phone I might make an exception.
Let me know on twitter or in the comments down below if that's something you want to
see.
Hit that subscribe button if you want to stay up to date on the durability of every new
phone as it is released.
And let me know in the comments if you like this new thin bezel style of phone.
I think it looks pretty awesome.
Thanks for watching!
Ill see you around.