New Delhi, July 18 (IANS): With the India launch of Mi Max 2 device that sports 6.44-inch screen and is powered by a massive 5,300mAh battery, Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi on Tuesday took a step further to establish market dominance in the 6-inch and above segment.

At first look, the device appears decent with matte black finish -- the only colour that the device has been launched in for the consumers here.

Mi Max 2 is not heavy and can be slid into the back pocket easily. The device has a full-metal, unibody design and rounded edges for a better feel. 

On the front, it has a 2.5D curved glass screen featuring Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, with 5MP camera and light sensor on the right and left sides of the earpiece. Below the display are the backlit navigation touchpads.

You can find the volume rocker and power button on the right side of the device and the hybrid SIM tray on the left. The device sports a fingerprint sensor on the back. It has 12MP camera on the top left with a dual-LED flash. The device has 3.5mm jack on top.

The device has an infra-red blaster that enables the device to be used as a remote for household electronics like TV.

Priced at Rs 16,999, Mi Max 2's USP is its massive battery that, the company claims, has 31 days of standby time and 57 hours of talktime. 

The device claims to give a day's power (68 per cent) in just one hour of charging. 'Mi Max 2' can also charge other smartphones connected to its USB Type-C port placed in between the speaker grills.

Given the upgrade in battery -- from 4,850mAh to 5,300mAh -- the device is a bit heavier and thicker than its predecessor Mi Max that was launched last year.

As compared to Mi Max's 203-gram weight and 7.5mm thickness, Mi Max 2 weighs 211 grams and is 7.6 mm thick. 

The device comes with Quick Charge 3.0 technology with parallel charging which allows fast charging while controlling temperature increase. 

The device runs on Android Nougat 7.1.1 operating system and supports the split-screen feature.

The Android device comes modified with Xiaomi's own custom user interface called MIUI and the company has added a new theme this year. Xiaomi promised to update to MIUI 9 soon.

The user interface is smooth and the new theme makes the navigation toucher called "Quickball" impressive. 

In other words, the "Quickball" in the new theme seems to be on steroids due to the availability of multiple app shortcuts. 

Overall, a disruptive device in the Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 segment.