The pixel smasher - Mi Mix Alpha launched + Mi 9 Pro release

[williamcll]

While top brands around fiddling with foldable phones, XiaoMi has taken an approach that is similar to ones made by ZTE and Vivo: a dual screen phone. What this stands out other than its ludicrous price tag of 2800 is the fact that its body to screen ratio is 180% where the monitor seamless wrap around the body itself as well as using the 108 megapixel camera mentioned in a thread a month ago.

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Xiaomi has revealed a new phone that may have come from its efforts to develop a foldable prototype. It's called the Mi Mix Alpha, and it's one-upping the first Mi Mix by having a "Surround Screen" that literally wraps around its body. The Beijing-based tech company says its screen-to-body ratio is 180.6 percent, and the parts not covered by a display -- the top and the bottom of the phone, in other words -- are made of aero-grade titanium that's apparently lighter than stainless steel.

 

While the phone's defining characteristic is its wrap-around screen, it has another standout feature: a 108-megapixel camera that can capture photos with a 12,032 x 9,024 pixel resolution. It also has a 20-megapixel ultra-wide camera with 1.5cm super macro photography capabilities, as well as a 12-megapixel telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom and dual PD focus. But it doesn't have your standard front-facing camera, because it doesn't need one -- its rear camera is still in front of a screen, after all. The tradeoff is a black band where the camera is mounted that runs vertically across the device, making the backside's screen a bit smaller than the front.

 

 

Since the phone is almost all-screen, it also doesn't come with physical buttons (other than the power button at the top) and has pressure-sensitive sides instead. Its other components are hidden underneath the display, as well, including the fingerprint reader and an acoustic technology that replaces the typical earpiece and speaker. And like its predecessor, the Mi Mix, Alpha also uses ultrasound for proximity sensing.

 

Inside the device, you'll find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ chipset, 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. It already has 5G radio bands for all three major carriers in China and comes with a 4,050mAh battery with 40W fast charging capability. While Mi Mix Alpha may seem like a concept or a prototype at most, Xiaomi says it's already in "small-scale production" and that it's launching in December, though it's unclear if it'll be available outside China at the same time.

 

You may want to ready your wallet if you're interested, because it has a rather hefty 19,999 yuan (or about $2,810) price tag, making it even more expensive than the Samsung Galaxy Fold. Aside from the components themselves, its pricing likely came from its complex assembly method. It requires the manufacturer to place each layer on top of the other one by one, starting with its internal assembly, then its laminating display, its touch panel and a tough protection layer.

 

At the same time, the Mi 9 has also received a refresh with a 855+ chipset, a 30W wireless charging (40W wired charge and 10W phone to phone charge) and 5G connectivity. The price of this is around 5 times cheaper than the alpha while having the same performance (mind you the 855+ still outpace the Huawei Kirin 990 5G since they share the same architecture but different clocks)

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Xiaomi has also announced the Mi 9 Pro 5G, which is the world's first phone with 30W fast wireless charging capability. That apparently means you can wirelessly charge the device to 100 percent in just 69 minutes. Pretty cool, especially since it supports 10W wireless reverse charging, so you can use it to power up Qi-compatible devices like headphones and toothbrushes. Prices for the Mi 9 Pro range from 3,699 yuan or about $520 for 8GB RAM and 128GB storage to 4,299 yuan or about $605 for 12GB RAM and 512GB storage, making it one of the cheapest (if not the cheapest) 5G flagships.

 

Thoughts: And you thought the galaxy fold was expensive. The mi 9 pro however is a fantastic deal in comparison to Korean 5G phones.

 

 

Source: For Mix Alpha

https://www.mi.com/mixalpha

https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi_mix_alpha-9893.php

https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/24/xiaomi-mi-mix-alpha-price-launch-date/

https://www.cnet.com/news/xiaomis-mi-mix-alpha-is-180-percent-screen-and-its-crazy/

 

For Mi 9 Pro 5G:

https://www.mi.com/mi9pro

[Orangeator]

Looks super interesting! Just curious as to what the functionality will be for the "backside" of the phone...?

[williamcll]

12 minutes ago, Orangeator said:

Looks super interesting! Just curious as to what the functionality will be for the "backside" of the phone...?

Mostly notifications or info cards you normally see on phones when you swipe to the left on the home screen.

[Curufinwe_wins]

Yeah, so other than requring only a single camera assembly, there is literally 0 benefit to this and tons of downsides. 

 

You want to share your notifications with the world? Can't put a case on it, cant repair it under any circumstance, don't even get a usable screen experience. Lock screens already just show notifications when on a table, and the type of person who flips their phone face down isn't doing it so that they can be shown yet another display.

 

This is dumb, and they should feel bad. The true edge display/notification is less dumb, bit I'm not a believer.

 

(BTW, I actually like folding screen concepts and there a second display like the fold makes a TON of sense. This one. Does not.

[kelvinhall05]

2 minutes ago, Curufinwe_wins said:

Yeah, so other than requring only a single camera assembly, there is literally 0 benefit to this and tons of downsides. 

 

You want to share your notifications with the world? Can't put a case on it, cant repair it under any circumstance, don't even get a usable screen experience. Lock screens already just show notifications when on a table, and the type of person who flips their phone face down isn't doing it so that they can be shown yet another display.

 

This is dumb, and they should feel bad. The true edge display/notification is less dumb, bit I'm not a believer.

 

(BTW, I actually like folding screen concepts and there a second display like the fold makes a TON of sense. This one. Does not.

It's a concept lol. It's just meant to show off what can be done, not what should/will be done.

 

 

 

I for one actually think it's very cool kek

[Curufinwe_wins]

12 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

It's a concept lol. It's just meant to show off what can be done, not what should/will be done.

 

 

 

I for one actually think it's very cool kek

"Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should".

 

And it's for sale, so it's well worth criticizing the sheer impracticality of it. I mean the privacy concerns alone... **shivers**

[TheRandomness]

50 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

It's a concept lol. It's just meant to show off what can be done, not what should/will be done.

 

 

 

I for one actually think it's very cool kek

According to engadget's article the thing is in small scale production and is due to maybe be released in December. I call bullshit, but whatever.

Word cannot describe how much I want one though, I love my gimmicky phones and this one takes the cake.

[estcethomas]

There are obviously a lot of issues raised with such a design but if you look at it purely as a concept, it raises a lot of good-ish ideas that are gonna be upfront with future smartphone designs and foldable devices :

 

- No front camera, just flip the phone for superior-quality selfies from the main camera lenses and enjoy the back screen viewport

- Dual application usage : one side map app and one side messaging app, or one side music app and one side reddit or whatever

And tons of other good ideas !

 

There are obvious big worrisome drawbacks and concerns, battery life first and foremost, but I'm pretty sure they'd have some sort of system to automatically turn off the screen you're not facing, and turn it on as you flip the device ? I'm just trying to find excuses for this unpractical hell at this point but oh boy does it look good, in my opinion.

 

I mean look at the charging animation !!!

 

[Nowak]

"Our phone is 180% screen and 200% gonna break as soon as you drop it!"

[SenKa]

The alpha looks like something futurama would have made a joke out of poking fun at early 2000's feature phones.

 

Boy do I want one. I want two, so I can have one pristine I can appreciate for all of time.

[suicidalfranco]

it looks astonishing enough to make me want one

i mean look at this

 

i don't see how this kind of use case makes sense but boi am i watering right now  

[The King of the Undead]

I would love it but I have no money.

[rawrdaysgoby]

Impractical as it may be, it sure is one hell of a sexy phone you all gotta admit to that

[7nationarmy]

Car manufacturers do limited run one-off concepts all the time, which are sold for seemingly absurd prices to those who can afford it. Why is it any different for phone manufacturers? It's more of a tech/art showpiece anyway.

 

13 hours ago, Curufinwe_wins said:

"Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should".

 

And it's for sale, so it's well worth criticizing the sheer impracticality of it. I mean the privacy concerns alone... **shivers**

 

[LeSheen]

Looking forward to the iFixit tear down. Guess repair-ability will be close to zero tho.

[Bananasplit_00]

this is peak anti-repair, im sure Apple will be right on it

[Doobeedoo]

Cool and all but seems quite unnecessary really. Full front display with all under the display tech with proper quality when it matures will be amazing. New type of battery is what's needed it's quite stagnated part. 

[Devin92]

I think it's a pretty fun design concept. The ideal use case imo is the back is only activated when you taking a selfie. The side only activate when the phone is locked so notification bar is on the side. And majority of the time, only the front is activated so no accidental touch from other places.

ofc there a lots of things that will make this phone unpractical, but the concept is pretty appealing.

Won't buy it tho, just like i won't buy a concept car.

 

 

[mosin40]

The back side has a "contextual interface" that uses its AI and it analyzes what we're doing