Xiaomi's new Mi Max 2 packs a 6.44-inch display and 5,300mAh battery

A year after announcing the original Mi Max, Xiaomi unveiled its successor, the Mi Max 2. The phablet comes with the same major selling points as before, namely a huge screen and a massive battery.

The Mi Max 2 is a mid-range smartphone with a 6.44-inch display, which puts it closer to a small tablet than the average phablet, and a resolution of 1,080 by 1,920. The battery is a 6,300mAh unit, that is non-removable, with support for Qualcomm's Quick Charge 3.0 technology.

Powering the smartphone is a 2.0GHz Snapdragon 625 processor paired with 4GB of RAM. The chip was announced more than a year ago, and offers 4G LTE support, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, and Bluetooth 4.1. Together with the large battery, it should provide up to two days of runtime before needing to be charged.

In terms of imaging, Xiaomi has equipped the Mi Max 2 with a 12MP camera on the back, which features an aperture of f/2.2, and a Sony Exmore IMX386 sensor. On the front there is a 5MP camera with an f/2.0 aperture. (When it comes to apertures, the lower the number the more light the lens lets in.)

Worth mentioning is that the Mi Max 2 comes with a rear fingerprint sensor, metal design, and a microSD card slot. There is an IR blaster too on board, but no NFC. The Mi Max 2 has dual SIM support and a hybrid SIM tray.

There are two storage options available, 64GB and 128GB, and a single color -- gold. The former costs RMB1,699, which is about $245, while the latter can be had for RMB1,999, which equates to about $295.

Xiaomi says that the Mi Max 2 will go on sale on June 1, and it will be available in China first. There is no word yet on global availability, and no information regarding a "global" ROM, which would allow the device to be used without problems in other markets. (Xiaomi's Chinese ROMs have no support for Google Play, whereas their global counterparts do, among other changes.)