Brace yourselves, for this gadget is in that no man's land between a smartphone and a tablet. It's larger than the usual 'phablet' and half an inch more would make it a 7-inch tablet. At 6.44 inches, Xiaomi's Mi Max is meant for a specific customer who is looking for two things — screen real-estate with which to do more and battery life to support those activities. Xiaomi has had a Mi Max for a while now but recently upgraded the RAM onboard to 4GB and the processor from a Snapdragon 650 to a 652 and 128GB internal storage and slipped in the new Mi Max Prime into the market during Diwali.

No lightweight

To be sure the Max, is not easy to hold and although light for its size, not light altogether. Making calls with it held to the ear will look odd, but the general public has long since become accustomed to that sight. It's not an easy device to quickly whip out of a pocket (where it may not fit in the first place) or out of a bag to receive a call. All the same, this giant of a phone quickly grows on the user. I found myself using it rather a lot for several months and was eventually sad to bid it goodbye. The Max's 1080x1920 screen is comfortable to see but I found both the regular Mi Max and Max Prime had some screen sensitivity issues. Unlike other phones that run away before you barely touch them, this one needs to be tapped firmly and sometimes in a particular way.

Long playing battery

But the big selling point on this phone is also its 4,850 battery which, if you use the phone moderately, can last days. In my weeks spent with the device, I don't actually remember running out of battery.

I often just get tired waiting for it to be done and charge it anyway. It does, of course take a while to charge and is a good candidate for overnight charging. No fast charger included.

Price: ₹19,999

Love: Battery life, roomy screen

Hate: Low touch sensitivity

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