Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 takes page out of Find X playbook, employs sliding selfie camera

TIONS

Though it arguably kicked off the current bezel-free smartphone craze with its original Mi Mix handset, Xiaomi seems to be taking a page out of Oppo's design playbook with a Find X-style sliding selfie camera on its newly announced Mi Mix 3 device.

Posted by Xiaomi president Lin Bin on the company's Weibo page along with a proposed October release date, the Mi MIx 3 image shows a camera that's hidden behind an almost completely bezel-free display. 

Previous Mi Mix devices, like the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, awkwardly placed the selfie camera at the bottom of the phone's face, forcing the user to either turn the handset upside down, or take self portraits from an especially unflattering angle. 

If you look closely at the bottom left corner of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3, you'll notice that unlike the Oppo Find X, the entire back part of the device slides – not just the top section. 

Ticket to slide

This unique approach leads us to believe that instead of the camera popping up, the Mi Mix 3's display may actually slide down. Could this mean that the Mi Mix 3's sliding mechanism is not motorized like the Find X, but rather a manual implementation that would see the user simply flick the screen down when they want to take a selfie?

It would make sense for Xiaomi to go with a non-mechanical approach – while a very impressive device in its own right, the Oppo Find X's motorized pop-up camera feels like something that's destined for an eventual breakdown.  

Unfortunately, it's all just guesswork at this stage, with absolutely no information on the Mi Mix 3's specs offered at this time. Stay tuned for more information in the lead up to the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3's (likely China-only) October release.

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Related product: Xiaomi Mi 3

OUR VERDICT:

☆☆☆

A unique design and brilliant performance, made all the better by the polished and comprehensive MIUI interface. A budget winner, if you can find one outside of China.

 FOR

• Superb power for the price
• Impressive camera
• Good battery life

 AGAINST

• Only available via import
• Base speaker easily muffled
• Some Chinese text