In that location are enough of large phones to choose from these days: the iPhone seven Plus, the Galaxy Annotation 7, the OnePlus 3, and many others that feature displays at least 5.v-inches in size, which can make them a bit cumbersome to employ in i hand.

But cipher compares to the Xiaomi Mi Max, a gigantic half-dozen.4-inch smartphone/phablet that dwarfs what virtually people carry with them. This telephone is, quite simply, ridiculously large.

While this handset's size will suit only a small fraction of telephone buyers, there's actually a lot to like about the hardware within. For just nether $250 from Gearbest, who helped us acquire this phone for testing, yous're getting a massive display, a metal body with a fingerprint sensor, a xvi-megapixel rear camera, and a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 SoC. The bombardment inside is just equally enormous as the handset, at 4,850 mAh.

Having now used (or, rather, struggled to use) the Xiaomi Mi Max for the last couple of weeks, I've learned a lot near what is physically required to operate a 6.4-inch handset on a daily footing. At $250 the Mi Max'southward price point is very attractive, only does the whole package evangelize to earn our recommendation? Permit's find out.

Clearly the half dozen.44-inch display makes this device significantly larger than anything else I've used for years. It'southward roughly as thick as the iPhone 6s at 7.5mm, just it'due south 15mm taller and a whopping ten.4mm wider. Width is the key dimension for determining one-handed usability, and any increases on the already-wide iPhone 6s Plus can make a phone hard to operate.

The Xiaomi Mi Max (left) next to the 5.0-inch Huawei P9

The Mi Max compares even less favorably to the Samsung Galaxy Note seven, which packs a 5.7-inch display in a about bezel-gratis body. Here the Mi Max is nearly 20mm taller and 15mm wider, leading to a phone that'southward 35% larger than an already-big device. Even with a screen-to-body ratio of approximately 75%, the size of this brandish introduces a number of complications during regular usage.

In curt, the Xiaomi Mi Max requires 2 hands to use.

It's incommunicable to employ the Mi Max in i hand. I don't have particularly large hands, but even with some serious acrobatic work my fingers are at least an inch from reaching the upper left corner of the display. Reaching the same corner on my 5.7-inch Nexus 6P is relatively easy in comparison, and that'south a phone that most people think is reasonably big. The actress screen real estate effectively works against the Mi Max in this regard.

Beingness able to reach each corner of the display is critical as many smartphone applications place navigation elements or other buttons in these locations. In Gmail, for example, I am simply unable to hit the hamburger carte icon in the elevation left without performing a gymnastics routine with my fingers to appropriately position and grip the smartphone. While typing, attempting to hitting the q, w or a keys gives my thumb a workout with all the stretching that is required.

To brand matters worse, the capacitive navigation buttons below the brandish are difficult to hitting with one paw, peculiarly the app switching push button on the far left side.

Alternatively, left-handers volition struggle to striking the important dorsum button, which unremarkably I'd criticize for existence in the wrong location, only on this phone I'1000 glad it'due south the closest to my hand.

In short, the Xiaomi Mi Max requires two easily to utilize. This sounds relatively niggling, just it'southward not until you lot're trying to use the phone on a regular basis that y'all discover how annoying information technology is. Carrying some shopping bags habitation from the shop in one hand? Forget using the Mi Max in your other mitt. Want to quickly send a bulletin to a co-worker while sipping your morning time coffee? No chance.

If y'all're comfortable using such a massive handset and don't heed being restricted to two-handed use, there's actually a lot to similar about the Mi Max'southward design. The phone features an excellent metal back panel that curves around the left and right edges, which makes the handset expect just every bit proficient as some flagships of the past few years. The metal build likewise feels great in the mitt, and provides good durability: for such a large phone there is barely whatever flex in the body.

The design is hampered somewhat by plastic sections to a higher place and below the metal. These sections attempt to imitate the color and cease of the metal but don't look nearly every bit skilful. Luckily they are the only downside to an otherwise great mid-range smartphone design.

I appreciate the precision of the Mi Max'due south pattern, which includes properly aligned elements such as the front camera and sensor array, and the two speaker grills along the bottom border. I was disappointed, nonetheless, that the Mi Max doesn't include front-facing stereo speakers, which would complement the large, media-friendly display. The speakers on this phone are okay, only their positioning could be better.

On the dorsum of the Mi Max is a circular fingerprint sensor that'south reminiscent of the sensor on the latest Nexus smartphones. It's positioned slightly besides loftier for comfortable use on such a massive smartphone, though it's reasonably fast and accurate. We're not seeing fingerprint sensors on all $250 devices just yet, so it'south a feature that makes the Mi Max stand out from the oversupply in some respects.

The Mi Max includes a micro-USB port on the bottom edge, and a iii.5mm headphone jack on the meridian. You'll as well notice an infrared emitter along the top, which tin can transform this device into a universal remote. On the right hand edge are both the power and volume buttons in a comfortable location.

There's a single removable tray on the Mi Max that can slot a micro-SIM and a nano-SIM for dual-SIM functionality, or a micro-SIM and microSD menu for expandable storage. It would take been overnice to encounter three tray spots so both dual-SIM and expandable storage functionality could be used simultaneously, but it'southward overnice to see Xiaomi is all the same thinking about actress features similar this.