It's thank you, next for foldable displays, Xiaomi seems to be declaring. Wrap-around displays are the next big thing in smartphones.
That is, of course, if Xiaomi's latest concept gets any significant traction. Meet the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha, surely one of the most jaw-dropping concept phones released in recent years. Instead of a foldable display, it's got a wrap-around display, which means, as the name suggests, its entire body is covered with a screen. Almost.
Understandably, there's a pretty considerable camera bump on the back, which breaks off the display's continuity, but other than that, the phone looks gorgeous.
Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha Concept Phone
Xiaomi coming up with a concept like this should perhaps come as no surprise. The Chinese manufacturer has been moving the needle when it comes to what's acceptable in terms of design. Its original Xiaomi Mi Mix is one of the handsets that popularized bezel-less designs, in fact. This time, it's the "surround screen," as The Verge coins it. The effect is a phone that's almost entirely screen — yes, even the sides. In fact, that's where the status icons such as network signal and battery level are located. Xiaomi claims the phone has a 180 percent screen-to-body ratio.
As for the cameras, the Mi Mix Alpha is using Samsung's new 108-megapixel sensor, which was developed in partnership with Xiaomi. Like many of Samsung's recent sensors, the pixels are combined into two by two squares for better low light sensitivity. In this case, that means the camera will output 27-megapixel images.
Because the screen flows into the back of the phone, there's no need for a selfie camera. Just turn the camera around and use the back panel as a viewfinder. This comes as yet another ingenious solution to getting rid of the front-facing camera, a feat manufacturers all have different solutions for just so their phones can have notch-less designs.
Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha Specs
Things are more traditional when it comes to the phone's specs. There's a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ chip, 5G, 12 GB of RAM, 512 GB of storage, 40 W wired fast charging, and a pretty sizable 4,050 mAh battery. Bear in mind that though that seems large, the phone's screen will likely eat up more charge.
Ultimately, though, the keyword here is "concept." That means Xiaomi has no plans to mass-produce this phone anytime soon, but the phone will go into small-scale production this year and sell for CYN 19,999, about $2,800.
Concept or not, the Mi Mix Alpha looks radical, and though its design seems impractical now, it's much better than most phones today that only follow trends instead of trying to start them. Xiaomi deserves credit for at least trying something new, even if it may not ever hit mainstream.
