This Futuristic All-Screen Phone Just Beat iPhone 8 to Punch
If you're curious what next year's iPhone 8 might look like with an all-screen design, look no further than Xiaomi's Mi Mix.
This jaw-dropping "concept" phone (which already has a price and release date in China) features a ceramic design and virtually edgeless display that make it look like something flung out of the far future.
The Mi Mix's front panel consists almost entirely of a seamless 6.4-inch, 2040 x 1080 display — no physical buttons or thick bezels in sight. In fact, the phone is a whopping 91.3 percent screen, with just a small sliver below the display that houses the camera and speaker.
MORE: Here Are the 10 Best Smartphones Available
The handset's all-ceramic design was made in partnership with well-known designer Philippe Starck, and lacks any unsightly stripes or camera bumps. Using special acoustic technology, Xiaomi even ditches the traditional top-facing earpiece found on most phones and created a module that lets you hear calls right through the screen.
Xiaomi Mi Mix
To get rid of that earpiece, Xiaomi teamed up with Elliptic Labs, which has developed technology to replace the proximity sensor used by most phones with ultrasound software. Elliptic unveiled the technology earlier this year, modifying it for Xiaomi's phone so that the speaker can be located behind the glass to allows for the expanded display. Angelo Assimakopoulos, vice president of global sales and business development for Elliptical, told Tom's Guide, that the ultrasound technology is available to other phone makers, meaning that future phones could follow the Mi Mix's design lead.
Speaking of the Mi Mix, the phone's internals are almost equally lustworthy, with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 821 CPU, 4GB of RAM, a hearty 4,400-mAh battery and a 16-MP rear camera. The phone is NFC-ready, and supports rich 24-bit audio.
While it's being described as a concept phone, the Mi Mix is actually going on sale in November. The device will start at the equivalent of $516, with a $590 option that features 18-karat gold accents. As with most Xiaomi phones, there's no word on a U.S. release, though the company could be bringing its devices stateside sooner than later.
See also : Best Galaxy Note 7 Alternatives
