MWC19 | Xiaomi upgrades the Mi Mix 3 with a Snapdragon 855 and 5G connectivity for €599

Xiaomi took to the stage at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona today to unveil an upgraded version of the Mi Mix 3. The Mi Mix 3 was Xiaomi's first slider phone and was originally powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC. Xiaomi has given the new version an upgrade to the 7 nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 and and has also added 5G connectivity.

SoC and connectivity upgrades aside, nothing much has changed with the phone itself. You get the same 6.36-inch 2,340x1,080 AMOLED screen, a 24 MP + 2 MP front camera setup, and 12 MP + 12 MP dual rear cameras. MIUI 10 based on Android 9.0 Pie keeps things rolling on the software side.

5G connectivity is facilitated by the Snapdragon X50 modem. Xiaomi says the modem can offer theoretical download speeds up to 2 Gbps over 5G. Xiaomi hasn't explicitly stated whether both mmWave or sub-6 GHz frequencies are enabled for 5G, but we've seen the company testing the Mix 3 last year on the 800 MHz mmWave n257 (26.5-29.5 GHz) band. Therefore, at least theoretically, the phone should be compatible with US frequencies.

Xiaomi has also retained the ceramic body and the magnetic slider mechanism characteristic of the original Mi Mix 3 thus enabling a full screen experience without any notches or punch-holes. The slider mechanism itself was found to be pretty durable compared to similar implementations from other Chinese OEMs.

In our review of the original Mi Mix 3, we did notice the phone throttling under load although, the temperatures themselves weren't too high. In the new version, Xiaomi is introducing a hybrid cooling system to keep the thermals under check and minimize throttling. The new Mi Mix 3 is also being endowed with a larger battery (3,800 mAh) compared to the older version (3,200 mAh). Fast charging is supported via Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+.

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 will be available worldwide in Onyx Black and Sapphire Blue starting from €599 (~US$680). The Mi Mix 3 can be purchased via Mi.com, Mi Stores, and other standard retail channels starting sometime in May. Carrier support in Europe includes Three, Orange, Sunrise, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, Vodafone, etc. US availability is still a question, though. Xiaomi had the 6 GB RAM/128 GB storage version on display. Other RAM and storage variants will also be made available closer to availability.

We look forward to reviewing the new Mi Mix 3 upon availability. In the meantime, check out our hands-on images of the device below.