In what's become the year of the notch, Xiaomi is offering a different take: the Mi Mix 3 hides the front-facing cameras, revealed by using the phone's sliding design.

It's not the first slider phone we've seen in 2018, but it does do things differently to the first to launch, the Oppo Find X. That uses a mechanical pop-up mechanism, while the Mi Mix 3 uses a magnetic system instead.

The full front and back section of the phone moves – not just a small top component.  Xiaomi says this manual motion is good for 300,000 cycles, which is three times that of its competitors. So there's less chance of failure.

It's a spec powerhouse, too, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor at its core and up to 10GB of RAM. However, the standard 128GB storage model is 6GB, while 8GB versions will be available in 128/256GB capacities. The 10GB model is a special edition Palace Museum model, in collaboration with the Forbidden City, Beijing, where the phone's launch event was held on 25 October 2018.

Available in Onyx Black, Sapphire Blue, and a Jade Green finish in ceramic from 1 November, the Mi Mix 3 is certainly a colourful and attractive device. There's no white version unlike the Mi Mix 2 and 2S though.

In addition, the Mi Mix 3 comes 5G ready, where it'll be compatible with European networks from the first quarter of 2019.

And the asking price? In China, it will begin at ¥3,299, which equates to £368/€415/$475. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, it probably is, as that rate won't stick when the device launches into wider markets.