Xiaomi Unveils 'World's First' 6.4-inch Phone With Edgeless Display

[H2SO4]

"Concept phone" roughly translates to "can't blame us if this thing doesn't work".

Apple will test and release products when they're ready.

Except when they call it a hobby, (ATV I’m looking at you), or a beta, (What’s that you say Siri?), when it suits them. They can then blag that there are reasons for a less polished performance right?
They should have called Siri an Alpha. That’s A for amateur.

 

[Rogifan]

Because they're a Chinese company and Google is blocked in China. There's not reason to compare it to any Google product. If anything, they would compare it to Oppo R9 which is the best selling premium Android phone in China right now.

That screen shot was comparing screen to body ratio. The Pixel has iPhone 7 like bezels. Let's see those numbers.

 

[cicalinarrot]

Here someone who bought a Mi4 months ago, for $160 (Long story short, mostly impressed despite obvious things):
1) Increedible (just incredible) build quality.
2) Good software, fits the hardware much better than 90% Android devices. Old, "slow" phone, still gives smooth experience.
...both 1) and 2) still worse than iPhones. Any iPhone.
3) Had problems but always related to third party modifications of the software for usage in Europe.
4) They want to be Apple and do properly most of the job... but you understand that if they had to develop everything they just imitate (mostly steal), the phone would cost like an iPhone.

This is their first original move. I'm not saying it will affect Apple but just don't take it as irrelevant. Even if you don't like them, when you know what they can do and for what price, you're curious about their future.

 

[x0vash0x]

I agree it looks good, but I don't think it's practical. If I look at my 6S as I am typing this, the fingers that hold it wrap around the edge almost exactly to the edge of the display.
Why would I want the display to extend to potentially obscured space? It cannot really be used anyway.

Edit: talking about left and right edges

I think the issue is having the edges be capacitive buttons for multitouch controls. For example, slide your finger up the side of the device to increase volume, down to lower. Double tap to mute. Things like that. You're gaining usable input space. Your fingers would be providing input.

 

[otternonsense]

Nice, but still a concept

A concept that will actually go on sale soon.

 

[0004838]

Apple has a major iPhone redesign planned for 2017, with a glass body and edge-to-edge OLED display that includes an integrated Touch ID fingerprint sensor and front-facing camera.

Please tell me that's a typo, and it's supposed to read microLED. My personal experience of OLED has been that it's not a suitable product for a premium device, not without significant improvements.

 

[ghost187]

The real trick would be to get rid of the bottom bezel. Sharp had a real phone like this sold for sprint in the United States years ago. If iPhone 8 actually accomplishes 100% screen to body ratio, I'll actually camp out in front of the Apple Store to get this day one.

 

[Rogifan]

It says this phone starts selling 4 November, that makes it a real device, despite its 'concept' name.

Let's see how many of these they can produce in a quarter. It's easy to release stuff like this when you're not shipping in the volumes Apple and Samsung do.

 

[x0vash0x]

That screen shot was comparing screen to body ratio. The Pixel has iPhone 7 like bezels. Let's see those numbers.

The original question was why not compare it to the Pixel. My reply: why compare it to a produce the vast majority of your target audience can't even buy and will never buy? Everyone knows the iPhone 7 in China. Not everyone knows the Pixel. It was a marketing decision based on who the device is going to be sold to.

 

[raybo]

I've got a bit of an edge, and I like my phone to have one as well...

 

[LatinaC09]

I had the Galaxy S7 Edge for a few months.....it was a beautiful phone but the Edgeless display really didn't serve any purpose other than looking cool and putting a case on made it irrelevant. I didn't utilize the Edge notification bar as much as I thought I would. Of course, that was my experience. YMMV

 

[iGMX]

Seriously...have you actually handled one of their phones. They have a long way to go before their is any comparison to Apple or any top supplier.

Oppo on the other hand probably makes some of the best hardware in the world......

WTH are you talking about? Their phones are built real well. My RN4 is sturdier and arguably better looking than my iPhone 6s. :/ Don't hate until you've actually owned at least one of their mid-range phones.

 

[naujoks]

Amazing! They've done it! They've come up with something nobody else has. Go, Xiaomi, go!

 

[Kiro]

I want a see-through-phone! (again)

 

[Rogifan]

The original question was why not compare it to the Pixel. My reply: why compare it to a produce the vast majority of your target audience can't even buy and will never buy? Everyone knows the iPhone 7 in China. Not everyone knows the Pixel. It was a marketing decision based on who the device is going to be sold to.

You know dang good and well it was also for the US tech press, who will now conveniently forget that the Pixel even exists (at least when it comes to bezels) even though just a week or two ago the Pixel was just as good or better than iPhone.

 

[Te0SX]

The Apple of China. I like that.

Yes, they do cost half as much. The reasons are almost immediately apparent when you use one.

It's clear that you've never owned one Xiaomi device. Buy one, get into miui communites, put the right rom and then compare it to any other android phone.

 

[Km133]

Potentially silly question:

Where have they put the earpiece / speaker? Intrigued to know... it had always struck me as one of the challenges of making an edge-to-edge display that you can't hide a speaker behind the glass. Or can you? Surely if it's at the top or sides it will leak sound when you're on a call to someone?

 

[Kiro]

Amazing! They've done it! They've come up with something nobody else has. Go, Xiaomi, go!

Wrong. See https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...edgeless-display.2009103/page-2#post-23776484

 

[brianvictor7]

Looks cool!

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

Lower ppi than iPhone plus models. I think it'd look far more aesthetically pleasing and organic/inviting if the corners were a bit more rounded, and if all controls are on screen there's no need to not hide the chin. But then that'd require more effort in the engineering dept. and this company just steals ideas from others, packages them up with cheap components and rakes in billions. Bastards.

 

[manu chao]

Let's see how many of these they can produce in a quarter. It's easy to release stuff like this when you're not shipping in the volumes Apple and Samsung do.

That I agree with. I am particularly curious in what numbers they can produce the ceramic case given recent reports about how much more time goes into producing a ceramic case vs an aluminium one.

 

[simonmet]

Too big.

Ceramic is nice though.

 

[Rocketman]

It has a chin.

 

[kazmac]

That's a lovely looking phone. I was pretty skeptical on the whole to the edge look, but that is quite nice.

 

[Rogifan]

Their slide says it's a ceramic body. What happens if you drop the phone? Doesn't ceramic shatter?