Lifestyle

Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 Review: More than just a fidget spinner phone?

Yes and no

Published

January 30, 2019

Let’s get right into it and say good bye to awkward selfies! The biggest and most welcomed change that the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 has over its predecessors is the magnetic slider that reveals the now properly positioned selfie camera at the top of the phone. Hallelujah!

Having used the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 in the past, I can attest to how much of a hassle it was trying to shoot an IG story from the horrible upward-facing angle.

No notch and all screen!

Xiaomi’s new approach to maintaining the near-borderless look and eradicating the poor selfie camera placement is the magnetic slider that some might call a gimmick, but it’s so much fun to play with! I will admit that the novelty does go away, but it is by far my favorite execution of a near-borderless display. All that screen is awesome!

At the end of last year, I picked the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 as “the phone I’d rather be using” because I thought that the fidget spinner-like qualities of the phone would be such a blast. And it was in the beginning. I don’t even know how many times I would play with the slider just because it was fun. I realize now that I used the slider more as a fidget spinner than a way to reveal the cameras to take a selfie.

It did become a neat party favor asking friends to guess how to take selfies with the phone. Out of five friends, only one was able to correctly guess how to operate the magnetic slider without me teaching them how to do it. But once the novelty wore off, I found myself going days without ever sliding out the camera.

Our review unit is the 6GB RAM model powered by the Snapdragon 845 chipset, and personally when it comes to performance, no news is good news. Nothing to report on lag or stutters from the roughly three weeks I spent with the phone. So speed was not an issue.

One little software hiccup

When you buy a phone, especially a flagship phone, you expect everything to just work. Unfortunately, that was not the case in my experience, as my messaging app of choice, Telegram, was not notifying me when messages would come in. Even after double-checking that all the right notification settings were turned on, I wasn’t receiving any notifications from the app.

After a quick Google search, I found that I wasn’t the only one experiencing this error. Needless to say this was annoying, but it simply meant having to use another messaging app. Hopefully this can be fixed with a software update.

Hello, Netflix!

It is worth noting that in the past, Netflix wasn’t available on the Play Store when I used the Mi Mix 2. I’m happy to report that it’s there now, so no worries if you’re looking to take advantage of the near-borderless display with some binge watching. And if there’s anything this phone is good for, it’s watching videos. This was by far my favorite thing about the phone. It really felt like I was holding all screen and it was awesome!

Battery life was a bit of a disappointment having come from the Huawei Mate 20 and its massive 4000mAh and two-day battery life. With the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3’s 3200mAh battery, I’d start my day at roughly 9am and find myself reaching for a charger by around 8pm. Mind you, that ain’t too shabby if you think about it, but for comparison, I was spoiled by my experience with the Mate 20.

Let’s take these cameras for a spin!

When it comes to taking photos, it’s easy to focus on the selfie cameras, but the dual 12-megapixel cameras on the rear do a good job, too. Here are some samples:

But of course, we can’t leave out samples of the selfie cameras, and while I may not take a lot of selfies, I can not stress how happy I was to have the cameras in the proper position. No more having to flip the phone upside down to take a photo and IG Stories work the way they should:

Is this your GadgetMatch?

While I love the implementation of the magnetic slider, this phone is so much more than just a fidget spinner. This phone is great for media consumption above anything else in my book. But everything else that comes with all that screen is nothing to complain about. The flagship specs in this relatively affordable price tag is nice to see in a day wherein phones are priced by as much as US$ 1,000.

Related Topics:featured Mi Mix 3 Xiaomi Xiaomi Mi Mix 3

Apps

The No-Nonsense guide to mid-year shopping

Let AI do the heavy lifting for you this Lazada 6.6 Super WOW Sale

Published

June 5, 2026

MJ Jucutan

The mid-year sale season is here, but the days of mindless impulse buying are over.

Shoppers are shifting toward intentional, value-driven decisions, focusing on quality, authenticity, and actual utility over flashy, low-quality gimmicks.

From 8:00 PM on June 5 until 11:59 PM on June 8, 2026, the Lazada 6.6 Super WOW Sale is dropping major discounts. But the real win is using the platform’s tools to maximize your budget.

Lock in the baseline discounts

Before diving into specific items, map out how to stack the core offers.

You can stretch your money by hunting down LazFlash Deals for up to 90% off, collecting up to PhP 3,000 in stackable vouchers, and ensuring every order qualifies for the free shipping offers available throughout the event.

True value comes from combining these three layers of savings on things you already need.

Jisulife: One of the participating, trusted brands you can get from LazMall

Filter for authentic value

Shopping smart means avoiding the trap of “too good to be true” counterfeits that end up in the trash.

Data shows a massive consumer shift toward trusted quality, with LazMall growth vastly outperforming standard listings during major sales.

To ensure your money goes toward genuine products with real warranties, restrict your browsing to official, brand-certified stores.

If you are upgrading your tech, parenting gear, or wardrobe, look to trusted names anchoring the sale like UGREEN, JisuLife, ANTA, Maserati Watches, Momcozy, and O.TWO.O.

UGREEN: One of the participating, trusted brands you can get from LazMall

Outsmart the noise with built-in tech

Don’t waste hours scrolling through endless listings or guessing which product is better.

The smartest way to navigate a massive mid-year event is to let the platform’s built-in features cut through choice paralysis.

Tools like AI Lazzie and AI Picks allow you to instantly compare similar items, analyze prices, and get personalized recommendations based on actual data rather than generic marketing hype.

Smart Shopper Tip: True value is a mix of the right price, verified authenticity, and a seamless return policy. Use this sale period to stock up on everyday essentials and high-quality upgrades rather than panic-buying items you’ll regret later.

Entertainment

X-Men ’97 returns to Disney+ for second season

Emmy-nominated series to continue mutant team’s story

Published

May 30, 2026

GadgetMatch

Marvel Animation’s Emmy-nominated X-Men ’97 is returning to Disney+ for a second season, starting July 1.

Along with this announcement, a trailer and poster have been made available. The first season of the animated series was one of the most-watched Disney+ originals, and a hit with fans and critics alike.

Season 2 continues with the heroic mutant team of X-Men, divided and thrown across different eras in time as they struggle to navigate their return home.

Meanwhile, back in the 1990s, suspicious foes and new strains of mutant intolerance are on the rise in the wake of the protagonists’ absence.

The second season will be comprised of nine episodes. The voice cast includes:

Ross Marquand as Professor X
Matthew Waterson as Magneto
Ray Chase as Cyclops
Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey
Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm
Cal Dodd as Wolverine
Lenore Zann as Rogue
George Buza as Beast

The series is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt, Julia Lewald, Eric Lewald, Larry Houston, and Beau DeMayo.

Jake Castorena serves as the supervising producer. Episodes were written by JB Ballard, Beau DeMayo, Bailey Moore, Antony Sellitti, Brian Ford Sullivan, and Mariah Wilson.

The episodic directors are Emmett Yonemura and Chase Conley.

Lifestyle

Next-gen Ploom AURA offers smokeless but real tobacco experience

Brand’s latest non-combustible alternative

Published

May 25, 2026

GadgetMatch

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has officially expanded its reduced-risk product portfolio with the introduction of the Ploom AURA.

The fourth-generation device marks the next phase of the company’s global rollout of non-combustible alternatives, aimed at both traditional smokers and those looking for electronic alternatives with the real taste of tobacco minus the smoke, ash, and other particles.

The Ploom AURA introduces architectural design updates and upgraded thermal engineering to the brand’s heated tobacco platform.

The system utilizes an inductive heating methodology that processes specially engineered tobacco sticks, rather than burning them.

By heating the processed tobacco leaves significantly below combustion-level temperatures, the device generates a nicotine-carrying aerosol without producing smoke, ash, or solid tar particles.

Part of the Ploom AURA’s updated design is a slimmer form factor. The more compact profile weighs just 75.5 grams.

Inside, the updated platform uses a micron-precise elliptical heating cup structure.

This deep-drawing manufacturing layout increases the contact surface area against the tobacco stick, enhancing heating efficiency and ensuring a more consistent vapor output from the first puff to the last.

As a high-tech device, the Ploom AURA even boasts of integrated Bluetooth connectivity.

This allows users to pair the device with a companion application to toggle between four distinct heating modes: Standard, Strong, Long, and Eco.

Lastly, the CleanSeal Mechanism’s interior chamber isolates the tobacco stick tip to block loose particle debris from building up. This makes the frequency of rewuired manual maintenance a lot less.