Xiaomi's new smartphone concept has a screen that wraps almost all the way around the phone's body, and it makes even brand-new smartphones look old-fashioned

Antonio Villas-Boas

Sep 24, 2019, 23:07 IST

Xiaomi/Twitter

The Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha.

Xiaomi's Mi Mix Alpha concept smartphone has a screen that almost wraps around the entirety of the phone's body.
As far as the Mi Mix Alpha's body is concerned, it's only a thin ceramic strip where the phone's triple-camera system is seated.
It's just a concept so far, but Xiaomi has apparently thought about some of the concerns we already have, like scratching the screen when we put in down on a surface. Xiaomi says the Mi Mix Alpha's screen would be made of sapphire glass, which is extremely scratch-resistant.
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Chinese tech giant Xiaomi just revealed on Tuesday a new 5G concept smartphone called the Mi Mix Alpha. It has a screen that wraps almost all the way around the phone, and it looks utterly incredible.

The only thing preventing the screen from wrapping around the phone entirely is a thin ceramic strip along the back where the Mi Mix Alpha's triple-lens camera system is seated.

The Mi Mix Alpha doesn't look like a phone you'd ever want to put down on any surface for the fear of scratching it. But that's fine, because it's just a concept that no one can buy or use right now.

However, Xiaomi appears to have thought of that, even for the concept. The company said the Mi Mix Alpha's glass is 2.88g sapphire. To be honest, I'm not sure that that means, but I do know that sapphire is designed to be extremely scratch-resistant.

Oh, and the Mi Mix Alpha's frame would be made of "TC4 aerospace-grade titanium alloy" that Xiaomi says is three times as strong as steel. Casual.

There's no telling how much this marvel costs, or even if it'll ever make it to store shelves. After all, Xiaomi itself said it's a concept. Either way, it should be a hint to all smartphone makers for what to do in the next few years. I am ready for it.

Check out the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha:

The Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha is essentially a phone that's almost entirely made of screen. It has a 180.6% screen-to-body ratio, Xiaomi said.

There's only a thin strip of ceramic down the back of the phone for the cameras. Otherwise, the screen wraps around the side and all the way to the thin cameras strip.

If this phone ever makes it past the concept stage, there would be three cameras on the back, including:

A 108-megapixel primary camera
A 20-megapixel ultra-wide-lens
A 12-megapixel telephoto zoomed lens.

The Mi Mix Alpha looks better while charging than any other smartphone.

I'd imagine that the Mi Mix Alpha's charging animation might take up a considerable amount of power on its own. As amazing as this looks, the animation might be better as an option for those who don't mind slower charging speeds.

Even when it's telling you that you have a notification, it looks better than any other smartphone.

A lot of Android phone makers these days are ditching the signature Android notification light. Xiaomi is bringing it back in a very, very big way on the Mi Mix Alpha. Although, remember, the Mi Mix Alpha is still a concept, so this might never see the light of day.

The sides have pressure-sensitive sensors, presumably for the power and volume buttons.

With a pressure sensitive screen wrapped around the edge, it's not outlandish to think that you could set a variety of functions for the Mi Mix Alpha's edges, like app shortcuts and camera buttons.

via Gfycat

It simply looks better than any other smartphone, period.

Xiaomi said the Mi Mix Alpha will have "mis-touch detection" so that it doesn't register false touches when you hold it.

What Xiaomi didn't say is when, or if, the Mi Mix Alpha would be released, and how much it would cost, but I'd estimate a phone like the Mi Mix Alpha would cost well over the $1,000 mark.