Xiaomi is ploughing ahead with yet another smartphone release – and potentially a claim to a new device form factor. Not content with its previous near-bezelless designs, teasers for the upcoming Mi Mix Alpha claim there are no bezels whatsoever.
Pictures posted to Weibo tease a 24 September event where a phone with 100% screen to body ratio will apparently appear. This is the Mi Mix Alpha, which in another image is shown on a bookshelf with a wraparound spine design like the folding display on the Huawei Mate X.
But the Mi Mix Alpha will not be a foldable phone and the display probably won’t wrap all the way round to the rear of the phone. According to rumours it’s a fully realised waterfall design where the display curves down the walls of the phone, topping the screen seen on the Vivo NEX 3 by being able to claim 100% coverage of the front of the body.
Further leaks show a phone that looks a lot like the Mate X when folded, with a black bar housing the cameras being the only interruption to a device that has a full display all the way round its body. Whatever the Mi Mix Alpha turns out to be, it’s going to be a cutting edge design.
A wraparound display that doesn’t fold out has less utility though, and is more engineering for the sake of it.
The teaser posters also name a Mi 9 Pro phone that will launch alongside the Mi Mix Alpha, and it looks like both phones will be 5G compatible. Xiaomi has launched a mad number of phones in the Mi 9 line, and the Pro looks set to be the next.
You can watch the Mi Mix Alpha and Mi 9 Pro launch live stream right here.
We review nearly every Xiaomi phone that comes out and you can be sure we’re eager to get our hands on these next two – particularly the Mi Mix Alpha.