The 'Apple of China' has unveiled its bezel-free Mi Mix 2 a day before the iPhone 8 launch

Mi Mix 2 [1]

Xiaomi announced the Mi Mix 2, its latest flagship smartphone, at an event in China earlier today.

The device is the sequel to the original Mi Mix, which was first launched in China last year as a result of the collaboration between Xiaomi and legendary French designer Philippe Starck.

It used premium materials like ceramic — later seen in phones like Andy Rubin's Essential Phone — and, most of all, featured a screen that occupied almost the entirety of the phone's front.

That's also one of the main rumoured features of Apple's "iPhone X," which is due to launch tomorrow.

The Mi Mix 2 is strikingly similar to its predecessor — it still sports a full-ceramic body, once again designed with Starck — but features some tweaks that might make it appealing outside of China.

Mi Mix 2 [2]

For one, it features 42 LTE bands, which means it can support the vast majority of carriers' networks across critical markets such as Europe and the United States.

The rest is heavily borrowed from the original device, but with upgraded internals like Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 835 processor, coupled with 6 or 8GB of RAM, and a 6-inch Full HD display with an elongated 18:9 aspect ratio. There's also a hefty 3400mAh battery, as well as 64, 128, and 256GB storage options.

There is a single camera on the back — bucking the dual-camera trend most other flagship smartphones have embraced — that measures in at 12MP and features 4-axis optical image stabilisation (OIS), but the lens isn't particularly wide at f/2.0 aperture.

Mi Mix 2 [3]

Unfortunately, it doesn't have a headphone jack, but Xiaomi did include the more modern USB-C port, in addition to a fingerprint scanner on the back. The software running is Android Nougat, with Xiaomi's proprietary MIUI 9 skin on top.

You will be able to buy the Mi Mix 2 directly from Xiaomi's website, at 3299, 3599, and 3999 yuan ($500/£380, $550/£415, $610/£460) for the three models respectively. There is also a special edition version that comes with 126GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, and will cost 4699 yuan ($720/£545).

You can watch the handset's full presentation at the video here below: