Xiaomi has announced the Mi Mix Alpha, which rocks 5G connectivity and a 108MP camera. Surprisingly, though, those somehow aren't even the most interesting features on this phone.
Nope, the craziest thing about the Alpha is its fully wraparound screen. It has a 180% screen-to-body ratio, since there's literally only a sliver of non-display on the back for the cameras.
No phone, all screen
Xiaomi calls this a Surround Screen, since the display covers pretty much all of the front, but also the sides and most of the back of the phone, too. They've trimmed up the top and bottom bezels, and done away completely with physical buttons on the side of the phone.
Like some other phones, it also utilizes a speaker crafted from the display itself, instead of a physical speaker in the earpiece.
Software will most likely make or break this phone. Having screen everywhere you touch is great, but it's going to need some seriously intelligent palm rejection to keep it usable. Obviously you don't want the sides and back of the phone activated while you're browsing reddit, but you do want them to activate if you need to turn the volume down; you'll also struggle to find volume and power buttons by feel, since it'll just be screen like the rest of your device. Hopefully Xiaomi has a solution for that.
Mega-megapixels
Aside from the Surround Screen, the Mi Mix Alpha is a pretty serious contender otherwise, too. You're getting a Snapdragon 855+ CPU, plus a 5G modem for advanced connectivity that works on the three major carriers in China. Everything's paired with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.0 storage.
The camera comes in at 108MP, which is just insane. We've heard some rumors about these new cameras, but this is the first modern Android smartphone with that sensor. It snaps photos in 12032 x 9024 resolution, and can also use that enormous sensor's four-in-one Super Pixel tech to take better low-light photos. It's paired with an ultrawide lens and telephoto lens, too, which is pretty standard, but we're most excited for that main camera.
Xiaomi says the phone will be available at the end of December for RMB19,999, which converts to about $2800 USD. Cool phone, but ouch at that price tag.
Read more: Xiaomi
