ΜAs the screen size increases and the rest of the frame shrinks, it becomes increasingly difficult to equip our favorite smartphones with antennas that are able to keep the signal strong and stable. This problem was then exacerbated by the large amount of 4G (and soon 5G) frequencies that the various terminals have to support.
The most famous case of smartphones with connectivity problems is probably for the iPhone 4, where many users actually had difficulty maintaining a consistent line, especially during calls. Then, Apple's response to this criticism of iPhone owners, became almost a "joke" in the world of electronics, with the company accusing users of holding the iPhone 4 in their hand in the wrong way. We are talking about the distant 2010, and since then many smartphone manufacturers have started working to avoid this problem, and not only that.
The company that has pledged to solve this problem is Xiaomi, as with the Mi MIX 3 it had to face many obstacles, as the high screen / body ratio significantly reduced the space available for the antennas, it is able to support more 4G networks , and finally the sliding mechanism with magnets which obviously causes slight interference.
To address these issues, Xiaomi has adopted 3 countermeasures:
1. Usage simulation
Even before the actual prototypes of the device were created, Xiaomi had used a simulator to figure out how the Mi MIX 3 would behave in various usage scenarios: When in a horizontal position, when held upright, with the camera slider open or closed, and more.
So through the simulator, Xiaomi engineers, have accumulated all the data and modified the design accordingly, to have the best performance.
2. Automatic antenna switch
With a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor and AI (Artificial Intelligence), the Xiaomi Mi MIX 3, is able to figure out where the smartphone is at any time, and automatically change the antenna set it uses, to ensure a more stable signal .
3. Sensoristics
The processor does not understand on its own how to mount the smartphone without the presence of optimized sensors for this task. These sensors signal to the processor how the smartphone is held, and whether it is open or closed at the moment, so that the processor can act accordingly.
To get an idea of how this system works in the real world, Xiaomi compares the Mi MIX 3 to one of the best smartphones on the market, whether it costs at least twice as much as the Mi Mix 3, and of course we are talking about the iPhone XS Max.
As we can see in the first image, with outdoor and free outdoor testing, the Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 can receive a -68dBm signal (smaller -dBm = better signal), compared to the -79dBm of the iPhone XS Max. So we started with a slight difference in favor of the Mi MIX 3. The same goes for the download speed of up to 102Mbps for the Mi MIX 3 compared to the 50.3Mbps of the iPhone XS Max, while we have 44.9Mbps (Mi Mix 3) & 43.3Mbps (iPhone XS Max) as Upload speeds.
With indoor traffic, especially in a mall, the results change a lot, but the Mi MIX 3 remains at the top. The signal drops to -81dBm for the Xiaomi smartphone, while the latest Apple jewelry drops to -84dBm, while for download and upload speeds we have 41,5 / 11,3 Mbps for the Mi MIX 3 and 24,5 / 7,0, XNUMX Mbps for Apple XS Max.
Finally, if we move the appliances underground in a garage, and there is a significant difference here as well. We move on to its -86dbm price for the Mi MIX 3 and up to -104dBm for the iPhone XS Max, which is a pretty significant difference. Download speeds then drop by half for the iPhone, with the Mi Mix 3 reaching 57Mbps, compared to Apple's 27.2Mbps XS Max.
The same goes for Upload, since we have close to 16.5Mbps for XS Max and 19.8Mbps for Mi Mix 3.
In short, Xiaomi's Mi MIX 3, with one of its most innovative designs, always manages to have a better signal than one of the most expensive smartphones on the market. I would say that we can not really complain about what Xiaomi has achieved in this area!
