After launching three smartphones in India till May this year, Chinese technology giant has unveiled the upgraded version of its last year’s phablet ‘Mi Max’.

Much like its predecessor, ‘Xiaomi Mi Max 2’ has a 6.44 screen but a bigger battery. Playing its cards on the slimmer design and a massive 5,300mAh battery, Xiaomi is looking to grab a bigger pie of the affordable phablet market.

Lets see if Rs 16,999 Mi Max 2 is able to do so.

The device is slimmer and comfortable to carry. The black metal unibody makes the phone look more premium than its predecessor. Mi Max 2 is not heavy and can be easily slid into the back pocket.

On the front, it has a 2.5D curved glass screen, featuring Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, with a 5MP camera and light sensor on the right and left sides of the earpiece. Below the display are the backlit navigation touchpads.

The volume rocker and power button ae on the right side of the device and the hybrid SIM tray on the left.

The device sports a fingerprint sensor on the back. It has 12MP camera on the top left with a dual-LED flash and 3.5mm jack on top.

The photos came out excellent in daylight. The autofocus works fairly well and the selfie shooter does good work in well-lit conditions.

‘Mi Max 2’ has narrow bezels on its 6.44-inch Full-HD display that augments the content consumption.

Another impressive feature is the earpiece which doubles up as a loudspeaker when a user watches a video in potrait mode delivering a surround-sound effect.

The octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor ensures videos and audios are played smoothly and 4GB RAM gives a lag-free experience. The device has 64GB onboard memory (expandable upto 128GB).

The device runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat operating system topped with Xiaomi’s custom MIUI 8.5 and supports the split-screen feature.

The user interface is smooth and the new theme makes the navigation toucher called “Quickball” impressive.

The USP of the device is a massive battery that, the company claims, has 31 days of standby time and 57 hours of talktime. The device claims to give a day’s power (68 per cent) in just one hour of charging.

‘Mi Max 2’ can also charge other smartphones connected to its USB Type-C port placed in between the speaker grills.

The device comes with Quick Charge 3.0 technology with parallel charging which allows fast charging while controlling temperature increase.

For a user, who plays at least two hours of games, is connected to Wi-Fi throughout the day and surfs a lot on social media, the device returned over a one-and-half day of backup.

What doesn’t work?

Given the upgrade in battery — from 4,850mAh to 5,300mAh — the device is a bit heavier and thicker than its Mi Max predecessor.

The camera quality is not that excellent when it comes to low-light conditions.

Conclusion: The device is worth buying if you are looking for a phablet and gives tough competition to Lenovo ‘Phab 2 Plus’.