Now Xiaomi Mi Note 2 costs approximately $500. Just think! 500 bucks and Xiaomi - and all this in one sentence. Lived up! Whatever it was, we have a real flagship. Uber design, the most advanced features, worthy replacement deceased us samsung galaxy Note 7. Or not? Now let's figure it out.

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Options or where is the premium?

Do you think you will expect some kind of premium packaging, since you spent as much as $ 500 on a smartphone? No matter how! Before us is the same box that we have already met in. That smartphone, by the way, costs about $160. I don't think comments are needed here.

Inside, in addition to the power supply (5-12 V and 1.5-2.5 A) and USB cable Type-C found a simple plastic case. It is exactly the same quality as the regular case in the case of .

Suitable only for the first time, flimsy and very quickly scratched. Look at the photo below. This scratch appeared 30 seconds after I peeled off the factory films from the case.

The scratch appeared after 30 seconds!

All "iPhones" design

Well, it's just wow! Xiaomi Mi Note 2 is awesome.

From this point of view, this is the best device that I have held this year. Here's the best one! Yes.

Neither the iPhone 7 Plus (I have not tried Jet Black, to be honest), nor the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, nor any other devices caught me as much as the appearance of this pepper.

Smooth, big, nice to the touch, brushed metal on the sides, gently curved glass front and back, the main camera looks at you like a Canon 1D X Mark II lens - all this is our hero.

The smartphone looks really expensive and status.

It is hard to imagine that it was created not in Cupertino or not in Samsung laboratories on the 78th floor underground, but somewhere in China and a company that is not even among the top five smartphone suppliers. It is even more difficult to imagine that there are people who do not know and have never heard of Xiaomi. After such an apparatus?

You turn on your smartphone and the magic continues.

It seems that screens without an air gap have been used for a long time. They are closest to protective glass, so it feels like you touch your finger directly to the icons, to the menu items, touch the text and so on. So, if you have already experienced this, then Xiaomi Mi Note 2 will prove to you that no, you have not experienced it. It is on the example of this device that you rediscover the mobile display.

It sounds loud, but that's how my acquaintance with the device went. The screen here seems to be printed on the front panel and neatly fits on the rounded sides.

The manufacturer made a black welcome screen and rightly so!

If you are indoors, then its boundaries are not visible. They imperceptibly pass into the glass case of the smartphone, the smooth edges of which nobly reflect the incident light. It's just space!

Hence immediately a fair remark about the colors of the case. Should I take an alternative color - silver-blue? Not! Just forget about it. Black and only black!

In general, I am not a supporter of dark smartphones, because it's boring. Most users have just such devices, so I want a sip fresh air, colors and life among the gloomy "variety" of smartphone colors. However, not in the case of Mi Note 2.

For such appearance smartphone wants to forgive everything. And you believe, he has something to forgive.

Below the screen is a physical home button. Thanks Xiaomi! Thank you for not putting those miserable crutches that we saw in your flagship. For our hero, the physical Home key with a built-in fingerprint scanner works exactly the same as on Mi 5. And there the button was good.

On the sides are neat dots of backlighting of the touch keys. They look decent too.

You get even more imbued with quality when you transfer your attention from glass to a metal frame. Brushed metal, perfectly beveled corners, no gaps and backlashes - the assembly is as monolithic as possible.

The only thing is that, as always, the volume buttons and the screen turn on are slightly backlashed. However, this is completely normal and occurs in all modern devices.

The peephole of the main camera sticks out quite a bit above the surface of the rear window. I don't think it's critical. At least I didn't get offended by it.

The device is really large, but if it were smaller, I think it was perceived a little differently. Large, wide, black, male smartphone.

	Length	Width	Thickness	The weight
Xiaomi Mi Note 2 5.7	156,2	77,3
iPhone 7 Plus 5.5	158,2	77,9
Xiaomi Mi5S Plus 5.7	154,6	77,7	7,95
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL 5.5	152,6	77,4	7,69
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	150,9	72,6

It is slightly larger than the Mi5S Plus, but due to sharply beveled corners in front and behind it lies better in the hand.

Of course he's slippery. Be careful when using it and especially when taking pictures. The side ends are thin, they do not particularly rest against the palms, and therefore the phone can easily slip out of the hands.

Also, do not place the device on an uneven surface. He will definitely leave her to meet the floor.

And there will be no one to blame but yourself. Screen repair in the same iPhone is expensive, but it is at least possible to implement, which cannot be said about our character. Where can it be repaired?

The glossy surfaces of Mi Note 2 also have a downside - prints. Yes, the glasses here have a high-quality oleophobic coating, but no one has canceled physics, so traces of use still remain. Yes, they are easily removed, but they are there and will constantly haunt the device.

Should I wear my device in a case? It's a matter of preference. Personally, I am against it, because the smartphone must be used exactly in the form in which the manufacturer invented it. With all its advantages, edges, glasses and, most importantly, thickness. Especially when it comes to such a unit.

To hide such beauty in a case, and even with a miserable flip? Well then take better samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. It is better to use a case there, because the original appearance is so ... South Korean.

In general, I give the design of Xiaomi Mi Note 2 five plus, because this device evokes really strong emotions. At the same time, I had Mi5S Plus (), LeEco Le 3 Pro (there will be a review), Asus Zenfone 3 () on the test, and after the second "mi-note" they are all kind of faded. Asus, admittedly, is also all so glossy and iridescent, but still it's not that. It's not like that anymore.

Fingerprint scanner and button

The most important thing is that here we have a normal, physical button that needs to be pressed. It has a built-in fingerprint sensor, respectively, there is a touch pad. Touched - a step back, pushed - went out on main screen. Of course, there is also a hold function, but it is additionally configured in the menu. Optional.

On one forum, someone complained that she was tight. By the way, maybe. On the other hand, its course is very clear, with a characteristic click, which is nice.

The recognition itself is fast and confident. There are no problems with him.

Not at all the fear that was in. There is no scanner, because it is impossible to use it.

There is additional functionality. You can block not only the device itself, but also individual applications. In principle, this is a standard functionality for Xiaomi devices.

Separately, I want to talk about the vibration of Haptic feedback while typing on the keyboard. It's thin, soft, and probably the closest thing I've ever tried to Apple's Taptic Engine. Believe me, this is praise, because in and 7 vibration feedback is simply fabulous.

The most important thing is that such a response works not only with a proprietary keyboard that is unsuitable for a Russian person, but also with a solution from Google. And there is a language familiar to us, chips that have long been familiar to us, and so on. If the device is black, puts dark theme design. How else?!

Not a display, but trouble

If the screen is curved, and we have it just like that, then this is most likely an OLED matrix. This rule also applies in our case. True, there is a South Korean development POLED (Flex series from LG), but everything is completely scary there. We won't go into details.

• diagonal 5.7 inches
• resolution 1920 x 1080 pixels
• pixel density 386 ppi
• contrast ratio 100000:1
• 110% NTSC color matching

The figures are, of course, good, but they are not the only happiness. Many will probably be confused by some kind of Full HD in the flagship, but I personally think that Quad HD is completely unnecessary in devices with a display diagonal of up to 6 inches. Extra load on the processor and power consumption to nowhere.

But to install a high-quality, beautiful screen in Mi Note 2, at the level of some IPS, it would be very nice from Xiaomi. But it didn't happen.

The display of Xiaomi Mi Note 2 is just a failure.

First, PenTile. These halos, friability of the text and other "charms". Mmmm!..

Let's go further. Only at an absolutely right angle the picture remains normal for perception. How to say? It turns green, which is typical for Samsung flagship matrices from 2012-2013. There are no natural flowers here and this is very sad.

It is worth at least a little deviate to the side and the colors floated.

There is not just an inversion here, the colors shimmer two or three times from the bottom edge to the top.

Xiaomi Mi Note 2 (top) and Xiaomi Mi5s Plus (bottom) 2

You open a white picture, deviate, for example, by 120 degrees and observe the next “beauty”. The upper third is normal, it seems to be white. The middle is either pink or green, but the lower third is distinctly green, and maybe it gives off blue - something in between.

You deviate towards the transverse axis, the screen becomes blue. In general, a rare horror.

Xiaomi Mi Note 2 (top) and Xiaomi Mi5s Plus (bottom)

Even a smartphone that costs half the price ( Xiaomi Redmi Pro) panel is much better. There are bright, contrasting and very saturated colors. Let me remind you that OLED-matrix is ​​also used there.

Xiaomi Mi Note 2 (left) and Xiaomi Mi5s Plus (right)

Moreover, such a screen curved at the edges has a reverse side. Two luminous strips rounded on the sides are constantly visible. On a white background, they cast a bluish tint and even with a certain mirror effect. In the photo below, I tried to reflect this. He marked the beginning of this "disgrace" with a red line.

Fortunately, after a couple of days of use, you do not pay attention to it.

The matrix has one single advantage - the display of black.

It is as deep as possible, the screen seems to be turned off, and it is really difficult for IPS panels to compete with this (and only this) IPS panels.

Specifications Xiaomi Mi Note 2

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, four Kryo cores with a frequency of 2.35 GHz
• video chip Adreno 530
• RAM 4 (after reboot free 2380 MB) or 6 GB type LPDDR4
• built-in memory 64 (actually available 55.20 GB) or 128 GB UFS 2.0 standard
• Micro SD cards are not supported
• 5.7" Curved Edge OLED Display (True 3D Glass), 1920 x 1080 Pixels, 386 PPI, 100000:1 Contrast Ratio, 110% NTSC Color Gamut
• 22.56MP rear camera (1/2.6” Sony IMX318 sensor, f/2.0 aperture, 80-degree, 6-element lens, electronic stabilization, 4K video recording)
• 8MP front camera (f/2.0, 76-degree lens, autofocus, Beautify 3.0 face enhancement technology, Full HD recording, 15fps)
• battery 4 070 mAh with fast charging QC 3.0 (9V, 2A)
• OS Android 6.0.1 (upgrade to 7.0 will be)
• proprietary shell MIUI 8.0.12.0 Stable
• ports: USB Type-C (OTG supported), 3.5 mm headphone jack
• sensors: accelerometer, light and proximity sensor, gyroscope, infrared port, fingerprint scanner, Hall sensor (for cover), electronic compass, barometer
• dimensions: 156.2 x 77.3 x 7.6 mm
• weight 166 grams

Wireless Features:

• 2G, 3G, 4G+ (Cat. 13 up to 600 Mbps)
• Wi-Fi (802.11 ac), Bluetooth 4.2, NFC (full functionality)
• support for two Nano SIM cards
• GPS, Glonass, Beidou

An important clarification needs to be made here. In nature, there are two versions of a smartphone, or rather, even three.

The first is the standard model. It will be sold only in China, 4 + 64 GB of memory is installed inside. I have it on my test.

This inscription means that the model for China

The second is premium. Here we have 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory. This modification is also sold only in China.

The third is a global modification. She has only 6 and 128 GB of memory on board, there will be no other editions. In addition, only this model can boast support for the following LTE frequencies: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 38, 39, 40, 41.

Chinese models can only work in the following 4G bands: 1, 3, 5, 7, 38, 39, 40, 41.

If you ordered a smartphone from China without specifying that this is the global version, then you will receive a smartphone designed for China, that is, without support for the 20th band. It has this inscription on the box.

The forums are wondering if it will be possible to unlock the 20th band after the release of the global firmware. I think it will work, because there were similar precedents on other models. Yes, and I doubt that Xiaomi produces two different phones in terms of hardware. It's easier to "block" unnecessary functionality programmatically.

Powerful but stupid

Definitely not something to complain about here. The smartphone is just reactive. Despite the fact that the product was released quite recently, the system is perfectly optimized. Nothing slows down, does not lag, does not upset the psyche.

Despite the fact that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 is about 5-10 percent faster than its 820 predecessor, it is this moment remains the top solution on the market from the Android camp. While it is not completely clear what kind of solution this is Huawei Mate 9 (Kirin 960), wait and see.

The chipset will remain relevant until the spring of 2017, when the Samsung Galaxy S8 will be released on the Snapdragon 835 processor. Qualcomm has already shared information that the new product will overtake the previous generation by 30%. Does that mean it's all gone? By no means!

The “stone” contains an excellent margin of safety, which will definitely be enough for two years ahead. Thus, having bought Mi Note 2 now, you can score on updating your little animal for the same period.

But in terms of work random access memory it's not all that rosy.

I opened 5 tabs ( , one of my reviews, the site of a Russian newspaper, tapes and film search). After that, I opened in turn each application that was on the main screen. CPU-Z showed that there was about 1,400 MB of RAM left, but when I returned to Chrome, I found that each (!) Tab reloaded.

I do not think that 6 GB of RAM will somehow change the picture much. The point is in the system, in the optimization of MIUI, which, in terms of the distribution of “RAM”, leaves much to be desired.

The other day I did exactly the same trick on LeEco Le 3 Pro (QS821, 4 GB of RAM). So there the tabs did not reload after I sequentially opened about 40 applications! The system cunningly unloaded utilities that were open earlier than others, but the tabs in Chrome kept to the last - up to 750 MB of free RAM. So that!

In addition, there are some childhood diseases with navigation.

Maps from Google either cannot detect the location of the device for a long time, or simply go astray and I suddenly start walking not along the street, but, for example, along the roof of houses. Interestingly, there is no such problem with Yandex.Maps in principle.

By the way, the always-on screen and cross-country navigation can “eat up” the entire battery charge in about 3-4 hours. Be careful.

The novelty from the Chinese manufacturer boasts the latest hardware. The characteristics of the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 phablet are really exciting as it received the flagship Snapdragon processor 821 from Qualcomm, aided by powerful graphics chipset Adreno 530. The 64 GB model gets 4 GB of RAM, and together with 128 GB of internal memory, you get 6 GB of RAM. The front panel is covered with durable Corning Gorilla Glass with a 2.5D effect, and under it hides an incredibly clear, bright and contrasting 5.7-inch 2K screen, which also has curved side panels.

Interestingly, this device is equipped not only with a fingerprint sensor, but also with an iris scanner, like on Samsung Galaxy Note 7. Also on the front is an 8-megapixel front camera, and on the back is the main camera with two lenses. The main one received a 23-megapixel sensor from Sony, and the additional one - 12-megapixel. Here, of course, there is quite a good flash.

Despite the rich functionality and excellent hardware platform, the price of Mi Note 2 does not scare away. For a model with 64 GB of internal memory and 4 GB of permanent memory, you will have to pay almost 30 thousand rubles. The cost of competing smartphones reaches 60 thousand rubles, so this is really a good offer. 128 GB variant permanent memory costs a little more, but you get a lot more in return, including 6 GB of RAM. Whatever model you choose, in any case, you get a powerful 4100 mAh battery.

Introduction.

Galaxy Note 7 explodes, as a result, the production of this smartphone is suspended. Cunning Chinese release Alternative option Mi Note 2 and collect all the cream from the pie in the Chinese market. All those who think that such an option is possible - you are deeply mistaken. In this article, I will explain why.

Design and ergonomics.

Why is everyone talking about Galaxy Note 7 when they talk about Mi Note 2? It's simple - due to the slightly curved display around the edges. But if the Galaxy can use these edges for its intended purpose, then the Mi Note 2 is simply a design feature, at least until the release of MiUI 9, according to the media. God forbid if all Chinese manufacturers and not only pick up this trend. This is the same if everyone stops installing a standard jack in their smart phones, because it's cool. We are pleased with the appearance of an IR port on the top end.

Appearance.

In general, the device looks very stylish and at first glance the materials of its case seem expensive. But all this until the moment when we do not touch on practical use. The glass both on the front panel and on the back is very easily soiled, so you can't do without a cover. In addition, the device is very slippery.

I was pleased with the implementation of the mechanical Home button. Its performance is really high-quality, and it looks solid, even when compared with the S7 Edge. It does not protrude above the case, therefore, if you put the smartphone on any surface with the front panel, it should not be scratched. The camera eye on the rear panel also pleased in this regard. He barely speaks, i.e. we put on a protective bumper and as a result it remains unscathed.

The assembly can be called excellent, nothing dangles, the smartphone does not emit any extra sounds during operation. The thickness of the body and overall dimensions can be called acceptable. A little more than the usual 5.5”, but you can use it, of course, using both hands. Due to the rounded edges, Mi Note 2 does not cut into the hand much, without creating discomfort during prolonged use, and thanks to the presence of frames on the front panel, you will never have problems with phantom clicks.

Summing up regarding the appearance of the smartphone: it looks spectacular, the assembly is solid, but in practice it is hardly possible to do without protection.

 Display.

5.7” diagonal with FHD resolution and OLED matrix from LG. I was surprised by the fact that on the official website there is not a word about the maximum brightness of the display. After a week of use, I understood why this information was withheld from us. The maximum brightness is simply not enough, this is especially felt when using the gadget on the street in sunny weather. As for color reproduction, not everything is sweet here either. At a right angle, the display goes into a warm shade, at an inclination of approximately 150-170 degrees - into a cold one. Most likely this is a feature of OLED displays. The oleophobic coating is super, I won’t argue with that. There are also no complaints about the sensitivity of the wheelbarrow.

Interface.

The novelty out of the box runs Android 6.0.1 with a pre-installed MIUI 8.0.9 shell. Everything works smartly, 4GB of RAM, which are installed on board the basic modification, is enough to fully use the gadget. Of the many questions of interest, I can say that there is NFC on board. Awakening with a double tap is also present.

The mechanical button I mentioned earlier is a touch button. For those who do not want to waste the resource of the mechanical button, you can simply touch it in order to perform the home action. The fingerprint scanner built into it works very quickly, but one touch is not enough to activate it. You need a full press of the mechanical button. In general, I was very pleased with the performance of the scanner.

Performance, heating and benchmarks.

Xiaomi's flagship is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 821 chip
In synthetics, it shows the following points:
Antutu has about 144 thousand;
Gigbench 4 in a multi-core test - 4300 thousand, in a single-core test - about 2;
3D Mark has over 32,000 colors.
Oh well, we all know that the Snapdragon 821 is a great processor. Here, as always, the question will be to optimize the system.

To check the heating of the hull and test for throttling, tanks, as always, come to the rescue. We select ultra-high settings and begin. After half an hour of playing, we can say that the smartphone copes with the game without significant problems. But, surprisingly, in some scenes, there are subsidences up to 21-27 frames per second. And it doesn't happen as often as I would like it to. In the upper part, the temperature reaches up to 43 degrees. Throttling is also present, but insignificant. This does not affect the final performance much.

In general, everything is not that bad, just not perfect. But, on this occasion, gamers can mostly bother. Those who do not play at the moment may not be disturbed.

Cameras.

as the main Xiaomi cameras used a module from Sony IMX318 at 23MP, with phase detection autofocus and electronic image stabilization. As a front, the same module from Sony, but IMX268 at 8MP, with phase detection autofocus and a maximum aperture of f / 2.0.

The camera interface for MiUI users will be standard. In fact, nothing new was invented by Xioami for this smartphone. There is a manual mode. It is useful for those who are not satisfied with the operation of the automatic shooting mode. By the way, in poor lighting conditions, this very mode greatly raises the exposure, as a result of which a lot of noise appears in the photo. Therefore, those who do not hesitate to use manual settings- I recommend.

With sufficient lighting, the photos are pretty good, but the software potential of the sensor is not 100% revealed. This does not mean at all that the camera of the Mi Note 2 is bad, just worse than that of modern camera phones and flagships in general.

Regarding video shooting, the situation is better here. Absence optical stabilization noticeable, but the electronic copes with its task quite well. In any case, better than the younger brother Xiaomi Mi5s. But, again, it still does not work perfectly, in some moments jerks are visible. Perhaps in subsequent Xiaomi updates capture this moment.
Front-camera Mi Note 2 showed itself not from the worst side. It is much better than the Mi5s, but worse than the same Nubia Z11. There is autofocus when recording video on the front camera. Works quite well. The maximum video recording resolution is FHD. In general, we were not particularly satisfied with the Mi Note 2 camera. Considering the cost of this product, it should have been at least on a par with the Nubia Z11.

Autonomy.

Inside the smartphone, the manufacturer placed a battery with a capacity of 4070 mAh. And it seems that for Xiaomi this is already a standard, but apparently in conjunction with the OLED display, the device showed excellent results. In Antutu Batery Test with a discharge of 80%, the device showed more than 10 thousand. When watching YouTube videos continuously for at least 10 hours.

Real use guarantees 1 day of battery life with active use of the gadget. If you don’t particularly press on games, surfing the Internet, but stupidly use instant messengers and a dialer, within the limits of reason, of course, then the device will easily last 2 days. The device is charged from 0 to 100% in 1 hour 40 minutes.

Sound.

In principle, the maximum volume is enough, but there are questions about the purity of the sound. It’s not that the speaker wheezes and makes terrible sounds, it’s just that in my opinion a modern flagship should sound better. In comparison, the speaker in Nubia Z11, One Plus 3 impressed me more.

Regarding the sound in the headphones, there are no third-party audio chips in the smartphone, only the base one from Qualcomm. He copes with his task quite well, so the average user will be satisfied with the sound.

Connection.

To the operation of the microphone and conversational dynamics There are no complaints, as well as to receive a wifi signal and mobile networks. There are no problems with connecting and working with GPS and Glonass satellites.

Well, it's time to determine the pros and cons of the smartphone.

Pros:
1) Spectacular design and build quality
2) Operation of the fingerprint scanner
3) Autonomy p

Minuses:
1) Very easily soiled and slippery
2) The camera could be better for a flagship
3) The display is not impressive

Summing up, I would like to say that I tried to evaluate this flagship as objectively as possible, given its, in my opinion, exorbitant cost. When buying Mi Note 2, do not think that you are saving somewhere by buying chinese smartphone. Its price is not at all spherical, this is evidenced by a bunch of shortcomings that we found.

In general, those for whom the design and, so to speak, the effectiveness of the gadget play a major role will be satisfied.

Where could I buy

At the time of this review, the most low prices on the Xiaomi smartphone Mi Note 2 were:

Junior modification (4/64 GB): Carryit Technology Co store on Aliexpress.com https://goo.gl/0EbMqE - $539.99;

And modification (6/128 GB); Carryit Technology Co store on Aliexpress.com https://goo.gl/cwcXuJ - $629.99;

Video review

Specifications

• Body materials: aluminum alloy, glass;
• Colour: black/silver;
• Operating system: MIUI 8 on Android based 6.0 Marshmallow;
• Processor: 2x 2.35Ghz Kryo, 2x 2.0 Ghz Kryo, 4 cores, 14nm;
• Video accelerator: Qualcomm Andreno 530 653 MHz;
• RAM: 4 GB, LPDDR4, 1866 MHz;
• Built-in storage: 64 GB;
• Display: 5.7 inches, 1080x1920 (1080p, Full HD), 386 ppi, OLED, contrast ratio 10000:1, 110% NTSC;
• Built-in cameras:
  • Primary - 22.57 MP Sony IMX318 Exmor RS, F/2.0;
  • Front - 7.99 MP Sony IMX268 Exmor RS, F/2.0;
• Battery: 4070 mAh, Li-Pol, non-removable, fast charging (5V/2.5A);
• Supported networks frequencies:
  • GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz;
  • WCDMA: 850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz);
  • CDMA: 800 MHz;
  • FDD-LTE: 850/900/1800/2100/2600 MHz;
  • TDD-LTE: 1900/2300/2500/2600 MHz;
• Interfaces: Type-C, USB host / OTG, 3.5 mm audio jack, 2 Nano-Sim;
• Communications: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, GLONASS;
• Dimensions and weight: 156.2x77.3x7.6 mm, 166 grams.

Does anyone remember what compact digital cameras are, or, as they were also called, “digital cameras”? This type of photographic equipment was very popular until quite recently, but nowadays “soap dishes” are confidently replaced by smartphones, which today even primary school students carry in their pockets; smart phones are capable of taking photos and shooting videos with a quality that only a couple of years ago was available only to serious photographic equipment. There have been attempts to combine a computer, phone and camera in one compact case before, everyone probably knows about advanced Android smart cameras from Samsung, but for some reason these experiments were not widely used, and we don’t see such cameras on the market today. But now everyone takes pictures with smartphones, and such a thing as mobilography is becoming a thing of the past - try to understand what technique this or that photo was taken with, a mobile device or an amateur camera.

What prevents a smartphone from shooting in the same way as DSLRs and mirrorless cameras do? After all, a powerful mini-computer, a sensitive high-resolution matrix, a large bright display with multi-touch, a capacious battery, and fast flash memory can fit into the smart case. There is only one limitation - in a compact body it will not be possible to place high-aperture optics, especially a lens with an optical zoom and a stabilizer. However, technology does not stand still, and today the tiny eye of a smartphone camera is able to take great pictures, and even blur to some extent. the background, models with an optical stub appear, smartphones with a dual main camera have become widespread, or it will still be in a couple of years.

Today we will test the capabilities of taking photos and videos with the camera of an advanced modern smartphone - the flagship of the Chinese company Xiaomi called Mi Note 2. We want to check whether this smartphone can replace an amateur camera, whether it shoots well, whether it can be used in amateur photography, in creative or even professional purposes. We are primarily interested in the capabilities of the front and main cameras of the smartphone, enough has already been said about ergonomics and other functions of the phone, you can easily find such information if you wish.

So, let's start with the technical parameters of the cameras, what does the flagship from Xiaomi offer us?

Test Methodology

All test shots for this review were shot by us on a smartphone Xiaomi Mi Note 2, 4/64GB, operating system Android 6.0.1 MXB48T, shell MIUI Global 8.0 Stable 8.0.8.0. In most cases, we used a regular photo program. All frames are shown without artistic processing, as they were shot on a smartphone, the minimum necessary retouching was carried out for portraits. Along with the smartphone, we ordered a stylish black bumper, which not only helps to confidently hold the phone in your hand and protects the case from scratches, but is also very useful when mounting the device on a tripod.

Technical parameters of smartphone cameras

Main camera

Main camera- Sony IMX319, it has a resolution of 22.56 megapixels, a lens consists of 6 elements, aperture F / 2.0, an angle of view of 80 degrees, it is equipped with fast hybrid (phase and contrast) autofocus (0.03 sec focusing speed) with face detection function. The camera allows you to shoot 4K video at a frame density of 30 fps, as well as FullHD with the possibility of slow motion at 120 fps. For video, 3-axis electronic image stabilization based on gyroscope data works. There is a dual-tone flash, high-speed mode, HDR and auto panorama function.

The smartphone does not allow shooting in RAW format, however, the camera sensor produces Bayer RAW data, so in theory it is possible to support RAW here, this is definitely a matter electronic firmware smartphone.

Front-camera

Front-camera- Sony IMX268, has a resolution of 8 megapixels (3840 x 2160), it is also equipped with a hybrid autofocus with face detection function, the lens consists of 6 elements, the aperture is also F/2.0, the viewing angle is 76 degrees. Allows you to shoot video with autofocus in FullHD resolution, frame density 30 fps, audio 48 kHz, stereo. For selfies, there is Beautify 3.0 technology and a group selfie mode.

If the extended specifications of the IMX318 main camera module are widely presented on the official website of Sony, then we could not find any information about the IMX268 front camera module. This is probably a module that Sony developed specifically for LG and Xiaomi, and there is very little information about it.

Regular camera control program

The regular camera control program does not have a well-thought-out interface, it is not very convenient to manage it and change settings, but you can get used to it over time. Most users will likely shoot in auto mode.

Of course, any photographer who gets a smartphone like the Mi Note 2 into their hands will be delighted with the presence of manual camera control in it. There's a fully manual mode called "M Control" that lets you control white balance, focus, shutter speed, and ISO sensitivity. Interestingly, the button to exit manual mode is called "Disable Manual". Of course, you cannot change the aperture value, since it is constant in the camera lens - F / 2.0.

When shooting in manual mode, there is one unpleasant moment: the result of changing the shutter speed is not displayed on the screen in real time. In other words, if we fixed the ISO (for example, set ISO 100) and select the shutter speed, then first we take a frame, then evaluate the result, then change the shutter speed again, take a frame, evaluate the result, and so on. In the case of ISO selection, history repeats itself. On the screen in real time, only the change in white balance and manual focus are well displayed. You can use manual mode only if you really want to take a picture in this way.

But not everything is so bad - the standard program for shooting the main camera has a number of interesting features: a timer for setting a shutter delay, voice shutter release, equalization, enhancement, square, night mode, panorama, tilt shift and group portrait. Various processing filters are also available, such as Lomo, Pastoral, Retro, B&W, Drawing and many more. Some of these features will be explored in detail during testing.

Portrait

Most often, with our smartphones, we shoot portraits of relatives and friends, as well as portraits of ourselves - just selfies or in company. And both cameras of the Mi Note 2 smartphone do an excellent job with all these tasks.

At the word “aperture 2.0”, any photographer immediately rubs his hands in anticipation of a beautiful blurred background in portraits. Such a wide aperture is not available to amateur DSLRs with whale lenses - whale optics, as a rule, provide F / 3.5-5.6. For portraits with beautiful bokeh, owners of budget DSLRs use either portrait fixes, for example, we recently tested an excellent inexpensive fifty dollars, or old manual optics through an adapter, or they get expensive professional high-aperture lenses somewhere. In the Mi Note 2 smartphone, the aperture is 2.0, and in both cameras, so the first thing I want to check is how this optics can blur the background in portraits.

We decided to carry out comparison test and took two shots from the same point on a Mi Note 2 and a Canon 5D Mark II with a fifty-fifty Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 STM. Shooting options - auto white balance, ISO 200, f/2.0

Mi Note 2	Canon 5D Mark II + Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 STM

In this case, we absolutely do not want to compare the quality of photographs, detailing and color reproduction, as it is clear that a professional full-frame camera with good optics is capable of shooting professionally. This example only illustrates what a portrait with an aperture of F / 2.0 is. Alas, so far, beautifully blurred backgrounds in portraits should not be expected from modern smartphones, despite the fast optics.

But what works great in a smartphone is autofocus - it confidently recognizes a face in the frame, even when shooting in full growth, and even when a person is in profile:

In the shop window light:

Flash portrait

The flash in Mi Note 2 is double - it has a warm and cold light, and the flash has no settings, and it will not be possible to highlight the object with warm or cold light of your choice. The flash can only be turned on or off, or set to auto; in video mode, it turns into a flashlight. Generally speaking, its two-color nature is not described in any way in the documentation, and one can only speculate about the operation of this function.

However, in conditions where there is not enough light, you can easily use the flash.

Twilight portrait without flash	Twilight portrait with flash
Evening portrait without flash	Evening flash portrait
Indoor portrait without flash	Indoor portrait with flash

To our surprise, the flash works very delicately, without overexposing the face, the frames are quite nice.

Here are some more examples of indoor portrait photography. In our case, there was complex lighting - daylight from the window, candle flame and backlights inside the cafe. Smartphone automation confidently coped with its task - the colors in the photo look quite reliable.

Selfie

The front camera in Mi Note 2 is comparable in its characteristics to the main cameras of many smartphones, it allows you to take cool detailed autofocus selfies, not only of yourself, but also in the company.

Beautify 3.0 technology works for selfies, and smoothing can be controlled: in the right upper corner there is an icon, by clicking on which you can either disable this function altogether, or select the "Smart" or "Pro" modes, which provides a different degree of smoothing. Let's look at the various options for how this technology works.

According to our observations, "smart" anti-aliasing works quite strongly, while pro mode does not blur details so aggressively, namely the mode Pro is better and use if you want to apply anti-aliasing at all.

While taking selfies, of course, face recognition works, as well as autofocus. An interesting feature - a smartphone can display the approximate age of the person being portrayed near the frame, for example, he dropped me as much as 11 years :-)

group selfie

Mi Note 2 is just a godsend for a group of friends, as the smartphone, when shooting with the front camera, confidently recognizes all the faces in the frame and highlights them with a frame, adjusting the exposure so that all the portraits turn out well. There were 5 people in our company, and the smartphone perfectly recognized everyone:

We noticed a fairly large drop in sharpness on the left side of the frame, an effect that appears in all photos and videos taken with the smartphone's front camera. It is difficult to say that this is a defect of this particular smartphone or software firmware. If you have the opportunity to check the operation of the camera before buying, take a horizontal photo with the front camera and pay attention to the sharpness throughout the frame.

Voice shutter

Quite an interesting function: when it is activated, the smartphone waits for a command from the user by voice, for example, you can loudly say “Frame!” - the program will count 3 seconds, while showing on the screen beautiful animation, and take a picture.

Landscape

During a walk, the smartphone is always in your pocket: we saw an interesting story - we took a picture, and the smartphone shoots landscapes in good light perfectly. The detailing of night shots was a little disappointing, here the smartphone cannot yet compete with cameras.

Tilt-shift

Tilt-shift - initially the so-called lenses that are able to change the inclination of the optical axis and shift it. In Mi Note 2, this is the name of a special effect that blurs the edges of the photo with a gradient towards the center, in theory creating an imitation of toy photos. The smartphone allows you to set either blur in a circle or linear, but we can’t adjust the blur settings in any way, for example, for a linear program, it blurs only the areas on the right and left of the photo.

For vertical photos, this looks ugly, and for horizontal photos it looks even uglier, since in the case of landscapes, if you blur it, then you need to do it from above and below, and not at all from the right and left. The strength of the blur, of course, is not regulated in any way, generally speaking, this effect greatly spoils the photo and is clearly underdeveloped.

ISO sensitivity test

When shooting an ISO test on classic cameras in aperture priority mode, we set F / 8, after which we systematically change the sensitivity value, and the camera itself automatically adjusts the shutter speed for each new frame to obtain the correct exposure, so when shooting with cameras, all frames are approximately the same in illumination, and in this case, you can compare each with each other and evaluate the digital noise.

In the Mi Note 2 smartphone, automatic in manual mode does not work at all - if you leave all exposure parameters in auto and change only ISO, the camera for some reason does not want to set a shutter speed longer than 1/7 second, and shots at dusk with ISO 100 and 200 come out dark. Although in theory the camera application allows you to set the shutter speed to a very long one, for example 1/2, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and even 32 seconds.

ISO 100
ISO 200
ISO 400
ISO 800
ISO 1600
ISO 3200

At dusk, when shooting at high ISOs, it’s not the digital noise that upsets, but the extremely low detail of the picture, and the detail is low at all ISOs, even at 100 and 200, and the values ​​​​of 1600 and 3200 differ slightly from each other. It is a pity that there is no shooting in RAW here, since we have a suspicion that there is an aggressive work of the JPEG compression algorithm and noise reduction, which, of course, we cannot interfere with in any way.

From our ISO test, two conclusions can be drawn:

1. For serious creative photography in low light conditions, the Mi Note 2 smartphone is not suitable, any amateur DSLR or mirrorless camera produces a much more interesting result.
2. Manual control for most scenes it practically does not make any sense, you can safely shoot in full automatic mode. An exception may be, perhaps, work with shutter speed, when you need to intentionally freeze the movement in the frame.

Shooting video

4K video on the main camera

The Mi Note 2 is capable of shooting 4K (QFHD 3840 x 2160 pixels) electronically stabilized video at 30 fps. Today, not every DSLR allows you to shoot with such a resolution, but every day there are more and more various 4K devices; probably very soon this format will firmly enter our lives. For example, we shot a short 4K evening sketch (backstage from our photo shoot), here the smartphone is mounted on a small pocket tripod, which the operator holds in his hand:

Why might you need a 4K video shooting mode, if basically all videos are made up in FullHD? Firstly, for smooth approaches to an object without quality loss, and secondly, you can simulate the effect of shooting with two cameras, at the right time increasing video fragments by 2 times. Of course, shooting with a second camera from a different angle will give a more professional result, but when shooting with a single smartphone, this chip can and should be used. And thirdly, if you have a 4K TV, it is better to shoot videos for the family archive in this format - watching 4K videos on a large TV is impressive.

When shooting in 4K, you should not forget about the size of the files - the built-in memory of the smartphone is clogged instantly. We have only 64 GB of permanent memory on board, there is no flash card, and in the case of 4K video format, the epithet “total” fits perfectly. Of course, videographers can recommend the more expensive model Mi Note 2, which has 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory.

FullHD video on the main camera

If the task is to shoot a video for a blog or a report, in which there will be no zoom effects, and which will be typeset in FullHD, then there is no point in shooting in 4K - the quality will not get better, and the files take up 2 times more space, time to work with they also need much more, and a computer for layout will need a more powerful one.

If the standard program provides for a manual shooting mode for a photo, then the smartphone allows you to shoot video only in auto mode - in the settings we can specify only the quality (4K, FullHD, HD, SD) and the focus mode (automatic or by touching the screen). Thus, we will not be able to accurately set the white balance to a certain value by synchronizing several cameras by color temperature. Therefore, the regular program will not allow you to professionally use a smartphone for shooting with multiple cameras.

While shooting a video, you can make smooth zooms using the volume keys - in this case, we will get a digital zoom of the picture, a magnification factor of up to 8x. We tried this function once in business and never used it again.

For FullHD it is possible to make slow motion at 120 frames per second.

Cinema FV-5 Application

You can shoot videos using third-party applications such as Cinema FV-5. The application is paid (106 rubles at the time of purchase), there is a free truncated version.

The Cinema FV-5 application allows you to more flexibly control the video shooting parameters, namely, specify the autofocus, exposure metering, ISO operation mode, as well as select the white balance, but the miracle did not happen: you cannot set a custom white balance in Kelvin. The application allows you to select either auto or one of the preset presets. Apparently, the developers have agreed, and stubbornly do not want you and me to use a smartphone for professional video.

3-axis image stabilization when shooting video

The smartphone has 3-axis electronic stabilization for video, it does not turn off and is not configured in any way, stabilization is always on both for shooting in 4K and FullHD. Since the stub cannot be turned off, we were not able to fully evaluate its work, we can only compare the picture of Mi Note 2 with the picture taken by other smartphones. Electronic stabilization works the same for both 4K and FullHD. 3-axis electronic stabilization works only for the main camera, as it is part of the Exmor RS™ IMX318 module and is designed for video shooting only.

When shooting while walking, we get a more or less stable picture, which, however, still twitches, although there is no “jelly” effect, which is very pleasing. For example, we shot two fragments - in the first case, the cameraman is moving backwards, not seeing where he is going at all, the second is a regular walk along the embankment, where the cameraman is already walking forward. Oddly enough, the picture turned out to be more stable when he shoots and moves back at the same time, apparently, the speed of movement was less.

Recording sound when shooting video

The built-in microphone records sound with acceptable quality, you can use an external microphone, such as BOYA M1, to record a blog.

The quality and level of audio recording on the built-in microphone will differ when shooting on the main camera and on the front. The microphone is positioned in such a way that it captures the voice better when the smartphone is turned to the speaking screen, that is, when recording on the front camera, the voice will be louder. By the way, when speaking to the camera, you should not look at your image on the screen, but looking into the front camera eye. The difference in distance is small, but when watching the video, the view of the presenter past the audience is clearly visible.

Object shooting

Shooting various objects with a smartphone is one of the most requested functions, perhaps, after shooting portraits and selfies. It can be like copies of some business papers and documents, price tags in a store, a favorite dish in a restaurant, and even artistic still photography for a catalog or company website. An indisputable plus - we always have a smartphone with a high-quality camera in our pocket, we need to take a picture - once, and it's ready. At the same time, on big screen smartphone in real time, the future frame is clearly visible, and the quality is quite enough even for offset printing in a booklet.

The minimum focusing distance to the object is not indicated in the documentation, according to our tests, it turns out to focus from about 12-15 centimeters away.

Image processing right on your smartphone

Any picture after shooting can be processed to your taste, and in this component the regular program showed itself in all its glory. It makes no sense to talk in detail about all the processing functions, we hope that our readers will easily deal with this simple task, especially since the program interface is perfectly translated into Russian - everything is clear, logical and understandable.

For example, we cropped the still life into a square, after which we added a little saturation, then applied the “Retro” effect, and finally drew a heart with the “Pen” tool. Upon completion of processing, the original remains in place, the program writes the processed version to a new file.

Saturation	Retro	pen drawing

HDR

The regular smartphone program is capable of taking HDR shots, but this is not a classic HDR with exposure bracketing - the standard application does not allow you to adjust bracketing and save a series of frames to the phone's memory for subsequent HDR self-gluing. The app takes more HDR-style shots, showing some detail in the shadows and highlights, and there are two settings - "Auto" and "Enabled".

According to our observations, the HDR "Auto" mode itself decides whether to expand the dynamic range in each specific case, or not, since often the photos taken in this mode did not differ much from ordinary photos. But the “On” mode forcibly lifts up the contrast, showing details in the highlights and shadows.

Another example of the operation of the "On" mode:

We decided to test not only the standard function in action, but also to shoot a classic series using the application Camera FV-5 and glue HDR on your computer in Lightroom. The Camera FV-5 application is paid (140.42 rubles at the time of purchase), it has a fairly rich functionality, including the ability to adjust shooting with exposure bracketing with a +-2EV bracket, recording individual exposures in a folder, which is what we needed.

A scene already familiar to us, shot with the Camera FV-5 and stitched together by hand:

-2EV	0EV	+2EV

Camera FV-5 settings and appearance:

Here are some more examples of HDR shot with Camera FV-5 and stitched together by hand. At twilight, when the lights of buildings have just come on, shooting with bracketing gives an interesting result:

-1.8EV	0EV	+1.8EV

In the evening, at dusk, without lights, the result is not so interesting. The scene below can be shot without any bracketing, HDR is useless here:

-1.8EV	0EV	+1.8EV

Don't forget about digital noise. The next plot came out pretty well, but when merging three noisy frames, it is difficult to get a frame without artifacts:

-1.8EV	0EV	+1.8EV

The Camera FV-5 application has a number of significant glitches:

1. The application flips the captured images upside down from time to time (see screenshot below).
2. For some reason, when building a frame and preparing for shooting, the image on the screen is slightly enlarged (see the screenshot below), and it is not possible to carefully compose the composition. However, as a result, the frame will be taken as expected, without enlargement. You have to make adjustments for this increase all the time and check how the frame came out in the end.
3. Shooting with bracketing at dusk is possible only with auto ISO, the smartphone does not allow exposure bracketing using too slow shutter speeds for fixed ISO values. For example, we shot at ISO 100 and got three identical dark frames.

panoramas

The regular panorama function allows you to shoot only in the vertical position of the smartphone, which is not entirely logical, although it should be noted that, for example, the regular iOS program takes a panorama in the same way. The panorama will be taken with a width of 180 degrees, and if you want to shoot only some narrower fragment of the panorama, you still need to shoot all 180 degrees, and then crop the unnecessary in the phone's graphics editor or on a computer.

The panorama is taken only in automatic mode, its parameters cannot be adjusted in any way. You need to direct the smartphone to the starting point, press the button, and then drive it strictly horizontally to end point- the program will independently remove and glue the panorama. Of course, moving objects will double, the fusion program cannot deal with this - in our examples, you can see clones of people and cars. Clones, if desired, are quite easy to retouch, but we did not retouch, but left it as it is for clarity.

Examples of shooting a panorama in automatic mode:

An evening panorama cannot be captured well with the help of automation, since there is not enough light, and as a result of a longer shutter speed and the movement of the smartphone, a blur is obtained:

Since the smartphone has a manual mode M, we took a panorama of 5 frames in the horizontal position of the smartphone. Of course, for shooting in manual mode, you need to turn off all the automation so that the captured frames stick together well on the computer, without jumps in brightness. M mode, ISO 100, shutter speed 1/4 sec, while we chose the shutter speed empirically, since, again, the result of changing the shutter speed is not displayed on the screen. Fusion in Lightroom:

Timelapse

Regular function of interval shooting TimeLapse

The smartphone has a regular TimeLapse interval shooting function, its settings are very limited. For example, if you want to shoot with an interval of exactly 5 seconds, the smartphone will shoot only 150 frames, while the number of frames is not configured in any way.

To shoot TimeLapse, you need to go to video mode, select "Modes" and then "TimeLapse". We set the interval to 1 frame per 5 seconds and clicked the video recording start button. Of course, the smartphone must be mounted on a tripod or fixed in some way. After shooting, the smartphone will record the finished video in the gallery.

Lapse It App for Android

For more flexible TimeLapse settings, you can use third-party applications. Many bloggers who specialize in TimeLapse recommend Lapse It for Android, the application is paid (211.22 rubles at the time of purchase), by the way, it is also available for iOS. Free version is also available, but with its help it will not be possible to shoot in high resolution. Lapse It allows you not only to create ready-made TimeLapse movies in MP4 format, but also to take a series of pictures, adding files to the phone's memory for subsequent self-gluing on a computer.

The Lapse It application offers a lot of settings: for example, you can lock the white balance and exposure so that these parameters do not float throughout the video. You can also set the focus to infinity, adjust the output folder, file size, and a dozen more parameters, the purpose of which can only be found out by scientific poke.

We filmed a small example using the Lapse It program. Since we were filming through a window, towards the end of the video, there are glare on the left side of the frame - this is not a program glitch, just glass glare :-)

If you do not fix the exposure, the smartphone will adjust the brightness on its own during the shooting, as it happened in our case: it was getting dark outside, and the picture in the video almost does not change in terms of illumination, at first it even becomes a little lighter. In general, we liked the Lapse It app, but we still recommend that all new users try its free version before buying.

GPS

Global positioning in modern smartphone- one of the most requested features; in importance, it is perhaps second only to the actual phone for talking, as well as the Internet and the camera. Many people use their smartphone as a navigator, and when traveling, not only the navigator is very useful, but also the function of linking the captured photos to the map.

Navigation

We tested the navigation function in action. We first included Mobile Internet and GPS, after which we drove along the navigator to the destination using google maps. The smartphone worked perfectly, GPS works flawlessly, and on a huge screen it is very convenient to view the route and navigate.

Surely all travelers know that in a distant country you want to have a navigator without the Internet, that is, not to use mobile data. By the way, this is very useful not only for motorists, but also for hikers. We tested how the smartphone works with only one GPS, without the Internet, we were helped by the Maps.ME program, which we installed and downloaded the necessary maps. And in this case, the smartphone also worked flawlessly.

no internet	Maps.ME - route	Maps.ME - navigator, we go

Photo on the map

Geotags can be recorded in the EXIF ​​information of the image, and this or that frame can be instantly displayed on the map. This is very convenient for bloggers, journalists, as well as anyone who would like to know exactly where he has been and what he has seen :-) Sometimes it happens that it is easier to take a photo of the first object that comes across on the spot than to write down the name of a settlement or a specific place in a notebook , which must be remembered, and, for example, in the mountains it is not always clear where we are at the moment :-)

To save location information, you need to enable this function in the camera settings, and also activate GPS. Of course, GPS will consume battery power, here you really need to choose what is more important at the moment. But if you go and periodically take pictures of objects around, you can then easily see your route on the map, and even with pictures. The regular function of recording a track in text file not here, however, if desired, this can be easily solved using third-party applications. We tried to shoot with the GPS turned on, and without turning on this function, we did not feel the difference in the rate of charge drop.

Battery

The smartphone has a non-removable 4000 mAh battery (4040 according to the specification), and given the fact that this is not only a camera, but also a phone, moreover, with a large 5.7-inch screen, the battery capacity does not seem so huge and sufficient for a whole day filming. However, do not forget that the heart of the smartphone is the Snapdragon 821 processor, which, according to the manufacturer, is not only powerful and fast, but also energy efficient, so you can count on more long work phone.

On a walk during a photo session on a smartphone, you can unload all background applications, in addition, fast Charging Quick Charge 3 - a smartphone can be fed up to 60% in just 15 minutes, but this is the case if you find a 220-volt outlet and have a charger with you. For shooting in the open air and long walks away from outlets, it is convenient to have a power bank with you, for example, from the same Xiaomi or any other.

Video shooting is especially willing to drain the battery, as well as shooting in real frost (we shot in the Gulf of Finland at -20 ° C, see photo above), but in warmer weather you can spend the whole day and enjoy photography.

conclusions

Pros of Xiaomi Mi Note 2

• The quality of amateur photos and videos is at a very high level
• 4K video shooting mode with electronic stabilization
• Good job electronic stabilizer for video
• Good work of automation in determining the exposure in almost all standard scenes
• Fast and accurate autofocus performance - during our photo shoots, the focus never missed
• Confident face recognition with both cameras, both main and front
• Convenient photo editing program right in your smartphone
• A stunning huge screen with which to take pictures and edit photos is a pleasure

Cons of Xiaomi Mi Note 2

• No support for RAW format
• No option to use additional memory card
• Shooting video only in auto mode, no white balance settings
• With this firmware, the camera cannot be called stable - the regular application is sometimes buggy
• Frustrates the detail of photos and videos when shooting in low light conditions
• Non-obvious work of automation when shooting in manual mode M. Manual mode overall very raw
• Decreased sharpness on the left side of the frame when shooting with the front camera
• Some of our purchased shooting applications, namely Camera FV-5 and Cinema FV-5, did not work as we expected. This, however, is not a disadvantage of the smartphone.

Overall assessment of the photo and video capabilities of Xiaomi Mi Note 2 on a 10-point scale from Fotoexperts

1. Ergonomics - 7
2. Settings menu - 7
3. Case quality - 10
4. Shooting a photo - 7
5. Shooting video - 6
6. Optics - 7
7. Screen - 10
8. Autofocus operation - 10
9. High ISO shooting - 2
10. Accumulator - 10

Total: 76%. The smartphone allows you to take excellent amateur photos and videos, most of the shortcomings are not related to hardware, but to the software part. Please note that only the ability to shoot photos and videos was evaluated, and not the operation of the smartphone as a whole. Fans of creative photography and videographers are advised to pay attention to traditional cameras and camcorders, which allow to reveal the creative idea to a greater extent. If there is an intention to shoot creatively with a smartphone, you can continue your search among other brands.

4 GB ROM 64 GB Memory cards Not supported networks Cellular networks 4 G (TDD-LTE, FDD-LTE), 3 G (WCDMA) 2 G (GSM) Bluetooth Yes, 4.2 HID WLAN 802.11a/b/g/n/ac NFC Yes Screen Diagonal 5.7 inches Type of OLED Permission 1920x1080 pixels Color gamut 110% NTSC Front-camera Model Sony IMX268 Permission 8.0 MP autofocus Yes, hybrid Anti-aliasing for selfies Beauty 3.0 Main camera Model Sony Exmor RS IMX318 Permission 22.5 MP 5488 x 4112 pixels Sensor size 6.858mm (Type 1/2.6) Pixel size 1.00 x 1.00 µm Video

• 4K (3840 x 2160) - 30fps
• 1080p - 120fps
• 720p - 240fps

Peculiarities

• 3-axis stabilization for video
• HDR Mode
• Lens distortion correction
• Highlight Correction Mode

autofocus Hybrid autofocus (phase / contrast) Other Sensors

• infrared sensor
• Gyroscope
• Accelerometer
• Proximity sensor
• Light sensor

© Konstantin Birzhakov, January 2017
All rights reserved.
All pictures in this article were taken by the author.
All prices for used paid Android applications are informational and are given at the time of writing the review.
It is forbidden to copy any part of this review in any media without the written permission of the authors.
Article test is protected by "Yandex-original texts"

Information about the make, model, and alternative names of a particular device, if any.

Design

Information about the dimensions and weight of the device, presented in different units of measurement. Used materials, suggested colors, certificates.

Width Width information refers to the horizontal side of the device in its standard orientation during use.	77.3 mm (millimeters) 7.73 cm (centimeters) 0.25ft 3.04in
Height Height information refers to the vertical side of the device in its standard orientation during use.	156.2 mm (millimeters) 15.62 cm (centimeters) 0.51 ft 6.15in
Thickness Information about the thickness of the device in different units measurements.	7.6 mm (millimeters) 0.76 cm (centimeters) 0.02 ft 0.3in
The weight Information about the weight of the device in different units of measurement.	166 g (grams) 0.37 lbs 5.86oz
Volume Approximate volume of the device, calculated from dimensions provided by the manufacturer. Refers to devices with the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped.	91.76 cm³ (cubic centimeters) 5.57 in³ (cubic inches)
Colors Information about the colors in which this device is offered for sale.	The black Silver Grey
Housing materials The materials used to make the body of the device.	Aluminium alloy Glass

SIM card

The SIM card is used in mobile devices to store data that certifies the authenticity of mobile service subscribers.

Mobile networks

A mobile network is a radio system that allows multiple mobile devices to communicate with each other.

GSM GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) is designed to replace the analogue mobile network (1G). For this reason, GSM is often referred to as a 2G mobile network. It is enhanced by the addition of GPRS (General Packet Radio Services) and later EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) technologies.	GSM 850 MHz GSM 900 MHz GSM 1800 MHz GSM 1900 MHz
CDMA CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access) is a channel access method used in communications in mobile networks. Compared with other 2G and 2.5G standards like GSM and TDMA, it provides more high speeds data transfer and the ability to connect more consumers at the same time.	CDMA 800 MHz CDMA 1900 MHz
TD-SCDMA TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) is a 3G standard for mobile networks. It is also called UTRA/UMTS-TDD LCR. It is developed as an alternative to the W-CDMA standard in China by the China Academy of Telecommunication Technology, Datang Telecom and Siemens. TD-SCDMA combines TDMA and CDMA.	TD-SCDMA 1880-1920 MHz TD-SCDMA 2010-2025 MHz
UMTS UMTS is short for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System. It is based on the GSM standard and belongs to 3G mobile networks. Developed by 3GPP and its biggest advantage is to provide more speed and spectral efficiency with W-CDMA technology.	UMTS 850 MHz UMTS 900 MHz UMTS 1700/2100 MHz UMTS 1900 MHz UMTS 2100 MHz
LTE LTE (Long Term Evolution) is defined as a technology fourth generation(4G). It is developed by 3GPP based on GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA to increase the capacity and speed of wireless mobile networks. The subsequent development of technologies is called LTE Advanced.	LTE 700 MHz Class 13 LTE 700 MHz Class 17 LTE 800 MHz LTE 850 MHz LTE 900 MHz LTE 1700/2100 MHz LTE 1800 MHz LTE 1900 MHz LTE 2100 MHz LTE 2600 MHz LTE-TDD 1900 MHz (B39) LTE-TDD 2300 MHz (B40) LTE-TDD 2500 MHz (B41) LTE-TDD 2600 MHz (B38) LTE 850 MHz (B26) LTE 1900 MHz (B25) LTE 700 MHz (B12) LTE 800 MHz (B18) LTE 800 MHz (B19) LTE 700 MHz (B28) LTE 700 MHz (B29) LTE 2300 MHz (B30)

Mobile technologies and data rates

Communication between devices in mobile networks is carried out through technologies that provide different data transfer rates.

Operating system

The operating system is the system software that manages and coordinates the operation of the hardware components in the device.

SoC (System on a Chip)

System on a chip (SoC) includes all the most important hardware components of a mobile device in one chip.

SoC (System on a Chip) A system on a chip (SoC) integrates various hardware components such as a processor, graphics processor, memory, peripherals, interfaces, etc., as well as the software necessary for their operation.	Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro
Technological process Information about the technological process by which the chip is made. The value in nanometers measures half the distance between the elements in the processor.	14 nm (nanometers)
Processor (CPU) The main function of the processor (CPU) of a mobile device is the interpretation and execution of instructions contained in software applications.	2x 2.35 GHz Kryo, 2x 2.0 GHz Kryo
Processor bit depth The bit depth (bits) of a processor is determined by the size (in bits) of registers, address buses, and data buses. 64-bit processors have higher performance than 32-bit processors, which, in turn, are more productive than 16-bit processors.	64 bit
Instruction Set Architecture Instructions are commands by which the software sets/controls the operation of the processor. Information about the instruction set (ISA) that the processor can execute.	ARMv8-A
First level cache (L1) Cache memory is used by the processor to reduce access time to more frequently accessed data and instructions. L1 (level 1) cache is small and much faster than system memory, and other cache levels. If the processor does not find the requested data in L1, it continues to look for them in the L2 cache. With some processors, this search is performed simultaneously in L1 and L2.	32 kB + 32 kB (kilobytes)
Second level cache (L2) L2 (level 2) cache is slower than L1, but in return it has a larger capacity, allowing more data to be cached. It, like L1, is much faster than system memory (RAM). If the processor does not find the requested data in L2, it continues to look for it in the L3 cache (if available) or RAM.	1536 KB (kilobytes) 1.5 MB (megabytes)
Number of processor cores The processor core executes program instructions. There are processors with one, two or more cores. Having more cores increases performance by allowing many instructions to be executed in parallel.	4
Processor clock speed The clock speed of a processor describes its speed in terms of cycles per second. It is measured in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz).	2350 MHz (megahertz)
Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) handles calculations for various 2D/3D graphic applications. AT mobile devices ah it is used most often by games, consumer interface, video applications, etc.	Qualcomm Adreno 530
Clock frequency GPU Speed ​​is the clock speed of the GPU and is measured in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz).	653 MHz (megahertz)
The amount of random access memory (RAM) Random access memory (RAM) used operating system and all installed applications. Data stored in RAM is lost when the device is turned off or restarted.	6 GB (gigabytes)
Type of random access memory (RAM) Information about the type of random access memory (RAM) used by the device.	LPDDR4
Number of RAM channels Information about the number of RAM channels that are integrated into the SoC. More channels means higher data rates.	dual channel
RAM frequency The frequency of RAM determines its speed, more specifically, the speed of reading / writing data.	1866 MHz (megahertz)

Built-in memory

Each mobile device has a built-in (non-removable) memory with a fixed amount.

Screen

The screen of a mobile device is characterized by its technology, resolution, pixel density, diagonal length, color depth, etc.

Type/technology One of the main characteristics of the screen is the technology by which it is made and on which the image quality of information directly depends.	OLED
Diagonal For mobile devices, the screen size is expressed in terms of its diagonal length, measured in inches.	5.7in 144.78 mm (millimeters) 14.48 cm (centimeters)
Width Approximate Screen Width	2.79in 70.98 mm (millimeters) 7.1 cm (centimeters)
Height Approximate Screen Height	4.97in 126.19 mm (millimeters) 12.62 cm (centimeters)
Aspect Ratio The ratio of the dimensions of the long side of the screen to its short side	1.778:1 16:9
Permission Screen resolution indicates the number of pixels vertically and horizontally on the screen. More a high resolution means sharper image detail.	1080 x 1920 pixels
Pixel Density Information about the number of pixels per centimeter or inch of the screen. Higher density allows information to be shown on the screen in clearer detail.	386 ppi (pixels per inch) 151ppm (pixels per centimeter)
Color depth Screen color depth reflects the total number of bits used for the color components in a single pixel. Information about the maximum number of colors the screen can display.	24 bit 16777216 flowers
Screen area Approximate percentage of screen space on the front of the device.	74.42% (percentage)
Other characteristics Information about other functions and features of the screen.	capacitive Multitouch Scratch resistance
	dual edge display 100000:1 contrast ratio 110% NTSC

Sensors

Different sensors perform different quantitative measurements and convert physical indicators into signals that are recognized by the mobile device.

Main camera

The main camera of a mobile device is usually located on the back of the case and is used for taking photos and videos.

Sensor Model	Sony IMX318 Exmor RS
Sensor type
Sensor size	5.49 x 4.11 mm (millimeters) 0.27in
Pixel size	1 µm (micrometers) 0.001 mm (millimeters)
crop factor	6.31
Diaphragm	f/2
Focal length	4.06 mm (millimeters) 25.61 mm (millimeters) *(35 mm / full frame)
Flash type The most common types of flashes in mobile devices cameras are LED and xenon flashes. LED flashes give a softer light and, unlike brighter xenon flashes, are also used for video shooting.	Double LED
Image Resolution One of the main characteristics of mobile device cameras is their resolution, which indicates the number of pixels in the horizontal and vertical direction of an image.	5488 x 4112 pixels 22.57 MP (megapixels)
Video resolution Information about the maximum supported resolution for video recording by the device.	3840 x 2160 pixels 8.29 MP (megapixels)
Information about the maximum number of frames per second (fps) supported by the device when shooting video at the maximum resolution. Some of the main standard shooting and video playback speeds are 24p, 25p, 30p, 60p.	30 fps (frames per second)
Characteristics Information about other software and hardware features related to the main camera and improving its functionality.	autofocus Burst shooting digital zoom Digital Image Stabilization geo tags panoramic shooting HDR shooting Touch focus Face recognition Adjusting the white balance ISO setting Exposure compensation Self-timer Scene Selection Mode
	Phase detection 6-element lens Angle of view - 80° 720p@120fps

Additional camera

Additional cameras are usually mounted above the screen of the device and are mainly used for video calls, gesture recognition, etc.

Sensor Model Information about the manufacturer and model of the photo sensor used in the device's camera.	Sony IMX268 Exmor RS
Sensor type Digital cameras use photo sensors to take pictures. The sensor, as well as the optics, is one of the main factors in the quality of a camera in a mobile device.	CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor)
Sensor size Information about the size of the photosensor used in the device. Typically, cameras with a larger sensor and lower pixel density offer better image quality despite lower resolution.	4.54 x 3.42 mm (millimeters) 0.22in
Pixel size The smaller pixel size of the photosensor allows more pixels to be used per unit area, thus increasing resolution. On the other hand, smaller size pixel may have a negative impact on image quality when high levels light sensitivity (ISO).	1.391 µm (micrometers) 0.001391 mm (millimeters)
crop factor The crop factor is the ratio between the size of a full-frame sensor (36 x 24mm, equivalent to a frame of standard 35mm film) and the size of the device's photosensor. The number shown is the diagonal ratio of the full-frame sensor (43.3 mm) and the photosensor specific device.	7.61
Diaphragm Aperture (f-number) is the size of the aperture opening that controls the amount of light reaching the photosensor. A lower f-number means the aperture is larger.	f/2
Focal length Focal length is the distance in millimeters from the photosensor to the optical center of the lens. There is also an equivalent focal length that provides the same field of view with a full frame camera.	3.14 mm (millimeters) 23.9 mm (millimeters) *(35 mm / full frame)
Image Resolution Information about the maximum resolution of the secondary camera when shooting. In most cases, the resolution of the secondary camera is lower than that of the main camera.	3264 x 2448 pixels 7.99 MP (megapixels)
Video resolution Information about the maximum resolution supported when shooting video with the optional camera.	1920 x 1080 pixels 2.07 MP (megapixels)
Video - frame rate/frames per second. Information about the maximum number of frames per second (fps) supported by the optional camera when shooting video at the maximum resolution.	30 fps (frames per second)
	auto focus 5-element lens Angle of view - 76°

Audio

Information about the type of speakers and audio technologies supported by the device.

Radio

The radio of the mobile device is a built-in FM receiver.

Location determination

Information about navigation and location technologies supported by the device.

WiFi

Wi-Fi is a technology that provides wireless communication for short distance data transmission between different devices.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a standard for secure wireless data transfer between different types of devices over short distances.

USB

USB (Universal Serial Bus) is an industry standard that allows different electronic devices to communicate.

Headphone jack

This is an audio connector, which is also called an audio jack. The most widely used standard in mobile devices is the 3.5mm headphone jack.

Connecting devices

Information about other important connection technologies supported by the device.

Browser

A web browser is a software application for accessing and viewing information on the Internet.

Browser Information about some of the key features and standards supported by the device's browser.

HTML HTML5 CSS 3

Audio file formats/codecs

Mobile devices support various audio file formats and codecs that store and encode/decode digital audio data, respectively.

Video file formats/codecs

Mobile devices support various video file formats and codecs, which store and encode/decode digital video data, respectively.

Battery

Mobile device batteries differ from each other in their capacity and technology. They provide the electrical charge they need to function.

Capacity The capacity of a battery indicates the maximum charge it can store, measured in milliamp-hours.	4070 mAh (milliamp-hours)
Type of The type of battery is determined by its structure and, more specifically, by the chemicals used. Exist different types batteries, with lithium-ion and lithium-ion polymer batteries most commonly used in mobile devices.	Li-polymer (Li-polymer)
Talk time 2G Talk time in 2G is the period of time during which the battery is completely discharged during a continuous conversation in a 2G network.	46 h (hours) 2760 min (minutes) 1.9 days
2G standby time The 2G standby time is the amount of time it takes for the battery to fully discharge when the device is in stand-by mode and connected to a 2G network.	240 h (hours) 14400 min (minutes) 10 days
3G talk time Talk time in 3G is the period of time during which the battery is completely discharged during a continuous conversation in a 3G network.	46 h (hours) 2760 min (minutes) 1.9 days
3G standby time The 3G standby time is the amount of time it takes for the battery to fully discharge when the device is in stand-by mode and connected to a 3G network.	240 h (hours) 14400 min (minutes) 10 days
Adapter output power Strength Information electric current(measured in amps) and electrical voltage(measured in volts) that supplies Charger(output power). Higher power output ensures faster battery charging.	5 V (volts) / 2.5 A (amps) 9 V (volts) / 2 A (amps) 12 V (volts) / 1.5 A (amps)
Fast charging technology Fast charging technologies differ from each other in terms of energy efficiency, maintained output power, control over the charging process, temperature, etc. The device, battery and charger must be compatible with fast charging technology.	Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0
Characteristics Information about some additional features device battery.	fast charging Fixed

Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)

SAR levels refer to the amount of electromagnetic radiation absorbed by the human body while using a mobile device.

SAR level for head (EU) The SAR level indicates maximum amount electromagnetic radiation that the human body is exposed to when holding a mobile device next to the ear in a conversation position. In Europe, the maximum permissible value The SAR for mobile devices is limited to 2 W/kg per 10 grams of human tissue. This standard has been established by CENELEC in accordance with IEC standards following the 1998 ICNIRP guidelines.

0.784 W/kg (watt per kilogram)

Body SAR (EU) The SAR level indicates the maximum amount of electromagnetic radiation that the human body is exposed to when holding a mobile device at hip level. The maximum allowed SAR value for mobile devices in Europe is 2 W/kg per 10 grams of human tissue. This standard has been established by CENELEC following the 1998 ICNIRP guidelines and IEC standards.

1.381 W/kg (watt per kilogram)