DxOMark: The $500 Mi Mix 3's cameras are every bit as good as any on the market right now

Xiaomi released the much-awaited Mi Mix 3 last week. The company’s Mix series premiered back in 2016 and has become Xiaomi’s line of flagships dedicated to showcasing the company’s innovations. The Mi Mix 3 is no different, as it brings a number of new features to the table, most notable being a slider. While the slider may be the biggest attraction, Xiaomi almost managed to deliver its most impressive set of cameras with the Mix 3, if DxOMark’s review is anything to go by.

The Mix 3 sports two 12 MP rear cameras, the main one with OIS and an f/1.8 aperture, and the secondary one being a telephoto camera with an f/2.4 aperture. The cameras impressed on DxOMark, earning an overall score of 103, on par with devices like the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, HTC U12+, and Huawei P20.

In the still photography department, the Mi Mix 3 achieved a score of 108. This is in the same ballpark as devices like the iPhone XS Max, Samsung Galaxy Note 9, and the regular Huawei P20. Notable weaknesses included noise in high-contrast scenes, and inconsistent bokeh. Indeed, bokeh is a relative weakness here, as the Mix 3 doesn’t perform as well as the iPhone XS Max, Galaxy Note 9, or P20 in that department. It also showed notably worse zoom abilities than the iPhone and Galaxy Note. 

In the video category, the Mi Mix 3 earned a score of 93. That’s on par with devices like the Huawei P20, Galaxy Note 9, and Google Pixel 2. Notable weaknesses included visible noise in low light and autofocus errors during scene changes. The Mi Mix 3’s video stabilization is on par with all the major current-gen flagships and has no standout weaknesses when compared to others in its class. 

While DxOMark scores are not to be considered gospel, the Mi Mix 3 performance is undoubtedly impressive—by the website’s standards. The base model of the Mix 3 starts at around $500 and delivering this kind of camera performance is truly worthy of accolades, especially as the flagship manages to compete effectively with devices twice its price.