Xiaomi is no stranger to distant concept phones. In a new preview, the Chinese phone maker pushes things to the extreme with a concept device with waterfall edges rotating around all four sides of the device.
Apparently the concept is so futuristic, Xiaomi could not even give it a proper name, but in many ways it represents an evolution of the Mi Mix Alpha concept from 2019. Xiaomi claims that the curved glass, which bends 88 degrees along each side of the phone, “virtually broke through the technological limits of glass production.” While the claim certainly sounds impressive, it can be a bit of a stretch. The sides of the phone have nicely rounded edges, but it looks like Xiaomi can’t turn glass around the corners of the phone, resulting in small diagonal cutouts in every corner of the screen.
Another impact of the waterfall edges is that there is glass everywhere, that there is not really room for ports, so Xiaomi did not include. Instead, Xiaomi says that the traditional volume rocker, speaker and on / off button can be replaced with new innovations such as a built-in pressure sensor, flexible acoustic film and ultra-thin piezoelectric ceramics.
With this concept, Xiaomi is pushing for the idea of a port-free, unibody phone, and while it’s somewhat of a foregone conclusion that the industry will get there someday, do not think people are still ready for portless phones—Now or even in the next few years. In addition to the portable phones which are a major issue in terms of repairability, they also need a new generation of accessories to keep it going. This includes Xiaomi’s Luxury Long Distance Wireless Charger, which according to the company can turn on devices from a few meters away (instead of millimeters as we have now). But the problem there is that Xiaomi’s long distance wireless charger is large and currently can only supply about 5 watts of power compared to the 15 watts or more we get from Qi wireless chargers.
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One thing I like, though, is the way Xiaomi uses the curved glass and screen to display notifications, batteries, and signal strength on the side of the device. Not only does it look pretty, but if you’re going to have to bend glass like that, you better use the added real estate to use something. This is a bold statement from Xiaomi at a time when Samsung, formerly one of the biggest proponents of a curved glass cloth, recently moved back 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 concept phone. And although so many concept devices exist only as versions, according to Xiaomi PR, there is at least one working prototype of this phone that indicates that it may one day be available for purchase.