[Review] Global LTE Xiaomi Mi Note 2 review

[tibcsi0407]

Xiaomi Mi Note 2 review



I would like to share my experience about the latest flagship from Xiaomi, the Mi Note 2 , which was introduced by Xiaomi this October.
I got the phone from SPEmall for review, so first I would like to say thanks for providing me this beautiful phone so fast! Actually the device is still hard to get outside of China, because the flash sales on Mi.com are usually taking about 2-3 seconds.
So, let's start with the specifications:
Specifications

Connectivity:

Global version

FDD-LTE: B1 / B2 / B3 / B4 / B5 / B7 / B8 / B12 / B13
/ B17 / B18 / B19 / B20 / B25 / B26 / B28 / B29 / B30
TDD-LTE: B38 / B39 / B40 / B41
TD-SCDMA: B34 / B39
WCDMA: B1 / B2 / B4 / B5 / B8
GSM: B2 / B3 / B5 / B8
CDMA: BC0 / B1 / B10 / B15

Standard version

FDD-LTE: B1 / B3 / B5 / B7
TDD-LTE: B38 / B39 / B40 / B41
TD-SCDMA: B34 / B39
WCDMA: B1 / B2 / B5 / B8
GSM: B2 / B3 / B5 / B8
CDMA: BC0

Announced: 2016 October

Size: 156.2 x 77.3 x 7.6 mm (6.15 x 3.04 x 0.30 in)
Weight: 166 g (5.86 oz)
SIM: Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
Screen: AMOLED edge screen, 110% NTSC color gamut, 100000:1 contrast ratio
Méret: 5.7" (~74.2% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution: 1080 x 1920 pixel (~386 ppi )

OS: MIUI 8.0 Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
SoC: Qualcomm MSM8996 SD821 CPU quad core(2x2.35 GHz Kryo & 2x1.6 GHz Kryo) GPU Adreno 530
Storage/RAM: 64 GB UFS 2.0/4 GB DDR4 RAM or 128 GB UFS 2.0/6 GB DDR4 RAM
Camera:
Rear: Sony IMX318 Exmor RS 22.5 MP, f/2.0, EIS (gyro), phase detection autofocus, dual-LED flash
1/2.6" sensor, 1 µm pixel size, geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR, panorama
Video 2160p@30fps, 1080p@30fps
Front: 8 MP, f/2.0, autofocus

Wireless: WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Bluetooth v4.2, A2DP, LE
GPS: GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
NFC: Yes
Infra: Yes

USB: Type-C

Battery: Li-Ion 4070 mAh built-in
Available colors: Black, Silver
The design



Source: MI.com
We all know, that the Samsung Note 7 how beautyful device, but the Samsung made a big mistake in the design or in production, so the phones are exploded or just smoked.
The best design aspect in Note 7 was the edge screen in my opinion.
Many of the phone companies wanted to use this unfortunate situation of Samsung to boost their sales and started to announce dual curved phones. For instance: Xiaomi, Huawei, Vivo, and according to the rumors the edge screened HTC is also in the works.
From the phones above, I would like to show you the Mi Note 2. The phone sports with top specifications and it's still much cheaper the brands above.
You can get this phone abou 530 USD which is a very great price for the value.




The phone comes in a white box, nothing special to say about. It looks simple and good.



After opening the box, you will see the phone with some protections films on the front and also on the back, which can be easily removed.
After removing the paper under the phone you will see all the accesories:
- charger
- Type-C cable
- Back cover
- some paperwork and SIM key




The front and the back made from glass, but I have no exact information about the protection. The frame is metal, painted to dark grey.
The device is very beautiful and very comfortable to use it and hold in the hand, I am very impressed also about the thickness, which is only 7.6 mm. I think it's a nice value with the big battery inside.
On the right you will find the power button and the volume rockers, on the left side we have only the SIM door.
On the bottom we have the type-C port and two speaker grills, but only one of them hides a speaker.
On the top you will see the 3.5 jack, the IR and a secondary microphone.










The front panel is 3D curved and it's beautiful. Under the screen we have the home button, with fingerprint sensor inside and on both sides of the button you will find the hidden capacitive buttons, which is backlit.
Above the screen we have the front camera, the phonespeaker, the sensors and also the hidden RGB notification LED light, which has pretty strong light.







The back is made from glass. It likes to collect the fingerprints, but still it looks awesome!
You will find the camera and the dual-LED flash on the back.


The screen is a curved AMOLED technology panel, I have no exact information about the manufacturer.
The resolution is FullHD, which is still acceptable on 5.7” size, at least I have no problems with reading the small text ont he screen.
The colors are very nice, the black is black like on every AMOLED screen. The viewing angles are very okey, you won’t find any issue with the screen., The brightness is very good, and also in low light situation it is very comfortable to see that.




Camera, audio

Most of the phones from China has some problem with the pictures made in low light situations.
We are lucky with the Note 2 because it shows a big improvement in this. The pictures are very sharp and detailed, also the colors are very natural, so you will be very satisfied with the overall quality.















I think the pictures above are great, so for an average user this is more than enough.
The speaker is very loud, you will have nice sound quality, actually I was really impressed how the one speaker can do that.

MIUI

I think I don't have to introduce how the MIUI works, also how multifunctional system is that.
You will be very satisfied with the system speed and with the plenty of functions provided by the MIUI.



Hardware

You will find the exact specification of the phone on the top of the article, so I wouldn’t like to detail it again. The heart of the phone is the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC, called 821. This is the slightly improved version of the 820 which was introduced on the beginning of this year.
It got some overclocking and also some optimization which helps to reduce the consumption of the system.
The phone is fast in every situation, also it doesn’t heat up, after a lot of benchmarks.


Antutu 6.2.6
Geekbench 4.0
Epic Citadel
GFX Bench
Vellamo Browser
Vellamo Metal
Vellamo Multicore








Battery life

The phone ships with the with a huge 4070mAh battery that performs very well. I could get over 6.5 hours of screen-on time on a mixed use which is a very good result.
Communnication, conclusion

The global version supports all the available LTE bands in the world, even the LTE B20 which is a dealbreaker for many Europian buyers.
Dual-Band Wifi (AC), Bluetooth 4.2 and everything what you need for a modern flagship phone.
Built-in sensors list:




The GPS is pretty accurate even with Wifi and data turned off. It finds signal very fast and it hold's it accurately.




We can say, that Xiaomi did it again! They made a very good phone for reasonable price compared to the other flagships.
I would say, I would buy this phone instead of a top Samsung, or Apple, because you will get almost the same experience and quality for half price!
What we get for our money?

Top hardware
Edge screen
Very good support
Perfect build quality
Very good camera in this price segment
A beautiful design

The phone is really recommended
You can get the phone from SPEmall, they have very good prices and the shipping is fast, also you can trust in this shop.
[Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]
[Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]

You can get 3% off with the Coupon UTSPE3%