Xiaomi is no stranger to remote concept phones. In a new teaser, the Chinese phone maker is taking things to the extreme a telephone concept which includes waterfall edges surrounding the four sides of the device.
Apparently, the concept is so futuristic that Xiaomi might not even give it a name of its own, but in many ways it represents an evolution of the Concept My Mix Alpha of 2019. Xiaomi claims that the curved glass, which bends 88 degrees on each side of the phone, has “virtually broken the technological limits of glass production.” While this statement certainly sounds impressive, it can be a bit stretched. The sides of the phone have nice rounded edges, but it looks like Xiaomi failed to wrap glass around the corners of the phone, resulting in small diagonal cuts at each corner of the screen.
Another impact of these waterfall edges is that because there is glass everywhere, there is actually no space for ports, so Xiaomi didn’t include any. Instead, Xiaomi says the traditional volume rocker, headset speaker and power button can be replaced with new innovations such as an integrated pressure sensor, flexible acoustic film and ultra-thin piezoelectric ceramic.
With this concept, Xiaomi is really pushing the idea of a portless unibody phone and while it’s a somewhat lost conclusion that the industry will get there at some point, i don’t think people are ready for cell phones without laptops—Now or even in the next few years. In addition to doorless phones that are a big problem when it comes to repair, they will also need a new generation of accessories to keep them running. These include Xiaomi’s powerful wireless charger, which the company claims can turn on devices within a few meters (instead of millimeters like now). But the problem is that Xiaomi’s long-range wireless charger is huge and can currently only produce around 5 watts of power compared to the 15 watts or more we get from Qi wireless chargers.
G / O Media may receive a commission
However, one thing I like is the way Xiaomi uses curved glass and screen to display notifications, battery levels, and signal strength on the side of the device. Not only does it look sleek enough, but if you’re having trouble bending glass like that, it’s best to use the added properties for something. It’s a bold statement from Xiaomi at a time when Samsung – which was previously one of the biggest proponents of the curved glass screen – has recently returned to flat screens with the Galaxy S21 and S21 +.
Xiaomi claims that this concept is the result of 46 different patents, so it is clear that the company is thinking big with its latest phone concept. And while there are so many conceptual devices only as renderings, according to Xiaomi PR, there is at least one working prototype of this phone, which suggests that it might actually be available one day.