Smartphone displays are doing crazy things lately, including curving over the edges of a device and folding in half. Now Xiaomi has introduce a phone with a screen that wraps around its entire body.
The Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha has a wraparound Surround Display that offers a screen-to-body ratio of 180.6%. There are slim bezels at the top and bottom of the screen, and since there aren't any side buttons because there are no sides, Xiaomi has made the sides of the screen pressure-sensitive and is using a linear motor to make touching them feel like physical buttons.
When assembling the Mi Mix Alpha, Xiaomi explains that it completes the internal structure first and then laminates the display layer, touch panel, and protection layers in that order. This is to help release the stress of bending the display layers.
That wraparound screen isn't the only crazy feature of the Mi Mix Alpha. The phone also packs a 108MP camera with 1/1.33-inch sensor. That cam can produce photos with a resolution of 12032x904 and also supports four-in-one Super Pixel tech to put out 1.6μm pixels for better low light photos. There are 20MP ultra wide angle and 12MP telephoto cameras on the Mi Mix Alpha, too.
Inside the Mi Mix Alpha is a Snapdragon 855+ processor along with support for 5G. There's 12GB of RAM and 512GB of built-in storage, too, along with a 4050mAh battery and support for 40W fast charging. The body is made of premium materials that include titanium alloy on the top and bottom of the phone as well as a ceramic strip on the back where the cameras are, which is then covered with sapphire glass.
Flip over #MiMIXAlpha and check out what happens. pic.twitter.com/q1wQNu4jnC
— Xiaomi #MiMIXAlpha (@Xiaomi) September 24, 2019
Because it's such a high-end device with a wraparound screen, Xiaomi is calling the Mi Mix Alpha a concept device and saying that it'll only get "small-scale production" that will begin in December. Pricing will be set at 19,999 RMB ($2,811 USD).
The Surround Display of the Mi Mix Alpha is pretty nuts, taking curved edge screens to the extreme and just curving the display around the entire body. Because the screen does wrap around the entire body, though, we're also interested in seeing how well the Mi Mix Alpha can reject accidental touches and app launches on the parts of the screen that you're not actively using, like the back. Still, it definitely looks cool, and we definitely want to try one.
What do you think of the Mi Mix Alpha and its wraparound display?
