Xiaomi Mi Max Vs Mi Max 2: Every difference that you wanted to know

he Mi Max 2, just like the Mi Max before it, is a super-sized 6.44-inch phone with a monster of a battery inside it. The Mi Max 2, just like its predecessor, is a niche phone designed first and foremost for multimedia consumption for people who don't want to invest in tablets which on most occasions lack voice calling. 

Xiaomi Mi Max 2: The good, the bad and the ugly

The Mi Max 2, just like last year's Mi Max, looks very promising, at least on paper. But, is it any different from the Max? Is it any better?

1. Just like the original Mi Max, the Mi Max 2 also boasts of a full-metal body. But, while in the case of the Mi Max, the antenna lines were a clear eye-soar differentiating the middle (all-metal) portion with the (plastic with brushed metal finish) top and bottom, the Mi Max 2 has re-positioned antenna lines. These have been pushed towards the extreme edges - like in the iPhone 7 -- so the Mi Max 2, in fact, looks like it has been carved out of a single slab of metal. It certainly looks strikingly better then the Mi Max, particularly from the behind.
2. The front is meanwhile, the same as the Mi Max. So is the fingerprint scanner placement. The Mi Max 2 has a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and curved 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass (unspecified) on the front with backlit capacitive keys. Just like the Mi Max, the Mi Max 2 also has an impressive screen-to-body ratio giving you ample real estate, literally as well as figuratively.
3. Xiaomi has again, managed to somehow keep its internal proportions -- girth and weight -- in check. It weighs just 211 gram and measures only 7.6 mm in line with the original Mi Max. Mind you, it also has a bigger 5,300mAh (over the Mi Max's 4,850mAh) battery inside. It's, still pretty much, a giant that's surprisingly super light on its feet.
4. Xiaomi has again used a full-HD (1080x1920 pixels which roughly translates to 342 pixels per inch) IPS panel in the Mi Max 2. Now, a 6.44-inch screen and a 1080p resolution may not add up. Or at least that is what you will think. The Mi Max did not have a breathtaking display, but, the colours that it produced were spot on. The Mi Max handled -- and reproduced -- colours so well you didn't mind that it wasn't as bright as the company's other premium phones. It's the same story with the Mi Max 2 as well and although having more pixels - courtesy a higher resolution display - doesn't necessarily guarantee an outstanding display, you can't help but crib what if the Mi Max 2 had more pixels? Also, 1080p screens are kind of staple for Xiaomi but the company is able to somehow pull this off in its more premium offerings like the Mi 5 and Mi 6 leading us to believe that it makes use of a higher standard/higher quality display panel in its flagships.
5. The Mi Max 2 runs Android Nougat-based MIUI 8 out-of-the-box. As always, latest software iteration does not necessarily translate to drastic changes in Xiaomi's interface. The MIUI 8 in the Mi Max 2 looks almost exactly (save some exceptions) like MIUI 7 in last year's Mi Max. There are notable changes in the software on-board the Mi Max 2 however, according to Xiaomi. The Mi Max 2 comes with improved one-handed usage features (including a one-handed mode and a shortcut menu) according to Xiaomi, and would be getting a split-screen multitasking feature in the days to come. A split screen multitasking feature -- which was absent in the Mi Max -- will indeed make a lot of sense on a 6.44-inch phablet. Question is why the feature isn't available in the Mi Max 2 out-of-the-box in the first place because one of the headlining features of Android Nougat is split-screen multi-tasking. Still, the Xiaomi phone running Android Nougat-based software doesn't ship with the feature out-of-the-box.
6. The Mi Max 2 is powered by a 2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor clubbed with Adreno 506 GPU. The company seems to have hit the sweet spot with this mobile processor. The Snapdragon 625 is notably the first 600-series chipset to be built on the power-efficient 14nm finfet process. The technology essentially allows a processor -- the Snapdragon 625 in this case -- with multiple cores to hit higher clock speeds without overheating and draining the battery quickly. As opposed to the Mi Max which was gunning for raw power courtesy the Snapdragon 650, the Mi Max 2 is all about power saving and thermal efficiency courtesy the Snapdragon 625. But, there's a catch. The Adreno 506 GPU (inside the Mi Max 2) is good, just not better than the Adreno 510 inside last year's Mi Max, meaning, although the Mi Max 2 should handle basic games well, GPU-intensive games would still leave you a something to be desired.
7. The Mi Max 2, unlike the Mi Max, will be available in only one 4GB RAM and 64GB storage variant in India for now. It supports expandable storage of up to 128GB via a hybrid micro-SD card slot. It further supports dual-SIM, 4G LTE (VoLTE-ready) and USB Type-C (as opposed to micro-USB 2.0 in the Mi Max) for charging and data syncing. There's also an IR blaster that can be used in tandem with the Mi Home app to control smart home appliances. The biggest highlight of the Mi Max 2 is, perhaps, the fact that it supports stereo speakers making it quite a steal for multimedia junkies. Xiaomi has a 4GB RAM/128GB storage version of the Mi Max 2 also that it sells in China, but because the price of that version may touch Rs 20,000 in INR, chances are Xiaomi may not launch it in India.
8. The Mi Max 2 sports a 12-megapixel camera on the rear with f/2.2 aperture, Phase Detection Autofocus and a dual-LED (dual-tone) flash. Interestingly, the Mi Max 2 comes with the same Sony IMX 386 image sensor as the one on-board the company's flagship Mi 6. The Mi Max 2 will be capable of recording 4K videos as well. On the front, the Mi Max 2 comes with a 5-megapixel camera with f/2.0 aperture. The original Mi Max came with a 16-megapixel camera on the rear with f/2.0 aperture, Phase Detection Autofocus and dual-LED (dual-tone) flash along with a 5-megapixel camera on the front with f/2.0 aperture.
9. The Mi Max 2 is backed by a massive 5,300mAh battery which is rated to deliver up to 2 days of battery life on regular usage. The Mi Max 2, according to Xiaomi, can offer two times more talk-time than the Nokia 3310 (2017). In comparison with the Nokia 3310 (2017) feature phone which offers 22 hours of talk-time, the Mi Max 2 can apparently offer up to 57 hours on single charge, claims Xiaomi. The Mi Max 2, at the same time, can offer up to 31 days of stand-by, just like the Nokia 3310 (2017), according to Xiaomi.
10. The Mi Max 2 also supports Qualcomm's Quick Charge 3.0 -- can charge by up to 68 per cent in 1 hour according to Xiaomi -- and Parallel Charging which means that you can continue to use the device even while charging.

Xiaomi Mi Max review: A giant that's surprisingly light on its feet

Pricing and availability: The 4GB RAM and 64GB storage version of the Mi Max 2 has been launched in India at a price of Rs 16,999. It will be available for buying from both online (Flipkart, Amazon India and Mi.com/in) and offline (Mi Home stores in Bengaluru) channels.