Mi MIX Alpha released: all screen, no buttons

Xiaomi just announced the release of the Mi MIX Alpha concept smartphone. It screams premium from its rather intriguing surround screen (with a screen-to-body ratio of more than 180.6%) and boasts of having the world’s first 108MP camera, and body built out of a combination of titanium alloy, ceramics, and sapphire. Now that’s something isn’t it? We have one question though—what happens when you drop it? But still, it does all sound pretty cool here’s what we know about it so far.

Xiaomi’s Mi MIX exploration began in 2016 when the company introduced the revolutionary Full Screen Display smartphone concept—an industry first. It was also Mi MIX that pioneered a smartphone screen ratio exceeding the standard 16:9 aspect ratio. Today, full screen displays have become the standard configuration of smartphones.

Screen for days

Let’s get behind the tech and engineering behind that surround screen. Unlike traditional smartphone assembly methods, the Mi MIX Alpha’s internal assembly is first carried out, while its display layer, touch panel, and protection layers are laminated one-by-one. All display component layers are compiled in that order to achieve a high curvature surround display design, so the internal stress caused by bending the display layers can be released layer by layer. To achieve a smooth and flat surface, it also uses a durable protective layer which optimizes the screen stack structure.

Considering the amount of screen we have here, the Mi MIX Alpha obviously has minimal bezels on the top and bottom. It also ditches the physical side buttons altogether. Plus, a new acoustic technology replaces the traditional earpiece receiver and proximity sensor while the device’s sides are pressure-sensitive and leverage a linear motor to simulate the touch of real buttons.

We’ll leave it up to you to decide if that’s a good thing or not.

Cover Ready

Now, let’s talk about the whopping 108MP camera with the highest resolution, highest pixel count, and the largest sensor found in any smartphone ever.

The main 108MP camera sports a 1/1.33-inch large sensor⁠—389% larger than the 48MP camera. This image sensor is capable of producing 108MP photos with a resolution of 12032 x 9024 pixels and supports four-in-one Super Pixel to produce large 1.6μm pixels under low-light conditions. The camera also supports new technologies such as ISOCELL Plus and smart ISO, and is equipped with four-axis optical image stabilization (OIS) to ensure stable videos.

In addition to the 108MP camera, it also has a 20MP ultra wide-angle camera which supports 1.5 cm super macro photography, and a 12MP telephoto camera that supports 2x optical zoom and Dual PD focus.

Glitz and Glam

If you’re looking for a statement piece, this is definitely something you can consider. The Mi MIX Alpha’s top and bottom frames are built with aerospace-grade titanium alloy. The alloy is three times stronger than stainless steel but weighs less. On its back, the entire protective cover for the camera area uses a single piece of sapphire glass, which is embedded in ceramic. Talk about glamorous.

Inside, it uses the same flagship-grade Snapdragon 855+ mobile SoC as the Mi 9 Pro 5G and supports 5G bands of the three major carriers in Mainland China. It has 12GB RAM+512GB ROM and supports UFS3.0. It is also equipped with a 4050mAh battery and comes with a standard 40W wired fast charge.

Want one? Xiaomi aims to start small-scale production for Mi MIX Alpha at the end of December and will retail at RMB 19,999 (or around PHP 1496, 940; USD 2,810).