Xiaomi is no stranger to concept phones. In a new teaser, the Chinese phone manufacturer is pushing things to the limit with a concept handset with waterfall edges that wrap around all four sides of the unit.
Apparently the concept is so futuristic that Xiaomi couldn’t even give it a real name, but in many ways it represents an evolution of it Mi Mix Alpha concept from 2019. Xiaomi claims that the curved glass, which bends down 88 degrees on each side of the phone, “has practically broken the technological limits of glass production”. While that claim certainly sounds impressive, it might be a little stretchy. The sides of the phone have nice rounded edges, but it seems like Xiaomi couldn’t wrap glass around the corners of the phone, resulting in tiny diagonal cutouts in each corner of the screen.
Another impact of those waterfall edges is that because there is glass all over the place, there isn’t really room for ports, so Xiaomi hasn’t included one. Instead, Xiaomi says the traditional volume rocker, earphone speaker and power button can be replaced with new innovations such as a built-in pressure sensor, flexible acoustic film and ultra-thin piezoelectric ceramic.
With this concept Xiaomi is really pushing the idea of a port-free, unibody phone, and while it’s a bit of a foregone conclusion that the industry will get there someday, I don’t think people are ready for portless phones– now or even in the years to come. In addition to portable phones being a major problem when it comes to repairability, they also need a new generation of accessories to keep them going. Which include Xiaomi’s luxury long range wireless charger, which the company claims can boot devices from a few feet away (rather than millimeters like we have now). But the problem is that Xiaomi’s long range wireless charger is huge and can currently only deliver about 5 watts of power compared to the 15 watts or more we get from Qi wireless chargers.
G / O Media can receive a commission
One thing I do like though, is the way Xiaomi uses the curved glass and screen to display notifications, battery levels and signal strength on the side of the device. Not only does it look pretty slick, but if you’re going to go through the trouble of bending glass this way, you damn better use the added real estate for something. It’s a bold statement from Xiaomi at a time when Samsung – which was previously one of the biggest proponents of a curved glass screen – has recently moved to flat screens with the Galaxy S21 and S21 +.
Xiaomi claims this concept is the result of 46 different patents, so it’s clear the company is thinking big with its latest concept phone. And while so many concept devices only exist as render, according to Xiaomi PR, there is at least one working prototype of this phone, suggesting it may be for sale one day.