Xiaomi launches the insane-looking Mi Mix Alpha

We literally haven’t seen anything like this before. Xiaomi showcased today a concept smartphone that’s made almost entirely of a display. No, that’s not an exaggeration. It’s called the Mi Mix Alpha.

The screen on the Alpha wraps around the device. Xiaomi is calling it the surround display. This makes for an absolutely insane 180.6% screen-t0-body ratio. That’s unheard of. Xiaomi says they used aerospace-grade titanium alloy together with a single piece of sapphire glass embedded in high-precision ceramics to pull-off this design.

Having a device like this means there are no physical buttons. Instead, the sides of the device — which are still made of the display — are pressure sensitive. A linear motor simulates physical touch to still give you that feel.

While we just recently saw the Vivo NEX 3 and the Huawei Mate 30 Pro push limits on the display with similar implementations of no physical buttons, what Xiaomi has done here is pushing things even further.

The display only really stops right around the camera module on its back. Status icons are displayed on the side and having a screen on its back means you don’t need a front-facing camera. You simply flip the phone over and use the display on its back as a monitor while still using the rear camera module.

Insane cameras

Speaking of the cameras, the Mi Mix Alpha has a triple camera module. It’s home to an even more insane 108MP primary lens, a 20MP ultra wide angle camera, and a 12MP telephoto camera that also supports 2X optical zoom and Dual PD focus.

Xiaomi shared a photo on their official Twitter account to showcase the Alpha’s camera capability. The photo below showcases how you don’t lose detail even after zooming the photo up to eight times.

With the 108MP camera of #MiMIXAlpha, you will look crystal clear even at 8x zoom. pic.twitter.com/vAW1du8wp0

— Xiaomi #FortuneGlobal500 (@Xiaomi) September 24, 2019

Another shot shows off its wide-angle prowess.

Incredible shot of Shanghai. #ShotByMi with #MiMIXAlpha pic.twitter.com/EATsRSEzNH

— Xiaomi #FortuneGlobal500 (@Xiaomi) September 24, 2019

Top-of-the-line specs

A phone that looks this exceptional has to also perform exceptionally. To do that, Xiaomi put a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ SoC on the Alpha to go along with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage. It’s also equipped with a 4050mAh battery that supports 40W wired fast charging.

Other announcements: Mi 9 Pro 5G, MIUI 11, and Mi Full Screen TV Pro

Also announced during the event is a 5G variant of the Mi 9 Pro. This is Xiaomi’s second 5G smartphone. It’s seven-antenna design allows it to get a download speed of up to 2.02Gbps (lab) and 1.78Gbps (field test). Xiaomi says this is 10 times faster than the standard Mi 9. The device will come in Dynamic White and Titanium Black.

The Mi 9 Pro 5G will alunch with MIUI 11. It features new always-on display effects, dynamic font-scaling, among other things. This is launching on closed beta today for Chinese users via WeChat. The open beta will be available on September 27 on 17 Chinese devices. There are no confirmed dates yet for global users.

Lastly, Xiaomi also launched the Mi Full Screen TV Pro. It’s a 4K UHD Smart TV that supports 8K video playback. It’s available in three sizes: 43”, 55” and 65”.