Yo what's up guys, MKBHD here. So this is a fun one. A couple days ago, Xiaomi gave me a first look at a prototype smartphone that they've been working on. So similar to some things we saw at CES, this isn't a real phone with a price tag that has a shipping date or anything like that. This is just a functional prototype to show a cool idea they had. And that idea is, what would happen if you took those curved edge displays and just curve them right over the back, all the way around to the back of the phone. So you're just looking at full 110% screen. And that is how we arrived at this, the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha prototype. Also, before we get into it, shameless plug, the merch is now permanently back. So a lot of the stuff you can now just get whenever you want, which is awesome. shop.mkbhd.com, first link below the like button. That's pretty sick. All right, let's get into the phone. So this is that Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha and it doesn't look like any other phone I've ever seen before and I've seen a lot of phones. So you might remember their Mi Mix line for a while has been that line of phones where they really pushed the design to the limits. The first Mi Mix was one of my favorite phones for that reason. So that's why this one got the Mi Mix name and it's definitely no exception. The materials, the specs, and of course the display are pretty next level. So there's the frame of the phone which is this titanium alloy which is harder than stainless steel and the camera covers are all made from sapphire and the camera strip on the back here is ceramic. I don't have a Mohs pick handy or anything but I tend to believe that because this phone is heavy. Like it's clearly dense and has a lot of extra material, extra glass for the screen, etc. And the specs, not that they matter, but they are pretty high-end which shows that they didn't have to sacrifice too much to make this form factor happen. So Snapdragon 855+, 512 gigs of UFS 3.0 storage, 12 gigs of RAM, and a 4,050 mAh battery. That's pretty good. If anything, you'd maybe want to see the battery even bigger, but a lot of that space as you can tell is going to be taken up by the screen wrapping around inside the phone. And it does have 40 watt fast charging, which I will definitely get back to you in a second. So clearly the focal point of the phone here is this screen. I mean, just imagine seeing someone in person using this display where you can see it from the front, from the sides, and from the back. This is a 2088 by 2250 OLED display with a very thin top and bottom bezels that wrap around to meet the camera strip at the back, which is what I'll call it. This houses a couple of things, including the 108 megapixel primary camera, the 20 megapixel ultra-wide with macro capabilities, and the 12 megapixel telephoto camera and dual LED flash. And this phone also even has an in-display fingerprint reader, impressively, and it's 5G enabled. And there's a whole bunch of optimizations in Xiaomi's MIUI Alpha software, like the battery and status bar icons and notification counter are on the side of the phone here instead of at the top. So it kind of cleans up the top to just be a notification pull down and not have to display all that stuff all the time, which is kind of neat. And it's also just like crazy no matter what angle you look at it, it just doesn't look right. Like it doesn't look like a real phone. It looks futuristic before you even think about any of the sort of practicality trade-offs. Also, I told you I would mention the charging again. I think probably the coolest part of having a wrap around screen like this is the charging animation. So go ahead and plug this phone in with the screen off, and the whole thing lights up and animates the battery starting to fill up the whole thing like liquid, like liquid power flowing into the phone. I love this and it doesn't stay on the whole time you're charging. That would be kind of annoying at night, but it is pretty damn cool, you got to admit. And notifications will also do the same thing. They'll sort of glow all the way around the screen, which is super cool. So, seeing this phone on video is pretty sweet and that's one thing, but actually holding it in person and considering using it is a total different thing and it brings up a lot of questions. So now that I've actually held it and sort of used it, I'm here to answer those questions. So first off, number one, just what does it feel like to hold and use? And so to that, I'll say, like I mentioned earlier, it's heavy, but what's funny is it isn't as slippery as some of those other glass phones. Like it seems like my finger is grippy with the display glass better than it is with some other materials. And just overall, it feels like, well, you're holding all screen. So the immersion factor is very real. And then you might be wondering, hey, wait a second, where are the speaker and the selfie camera up at the front? Great question. Two different answers. So there's a regular speaker at the bottom of the device still, but for your phone calls, that earpiece is replaced by an electromagnetic speaker, basically that's vibrating through the glass to create sound. We've seen this in previous Mi Mix phones. And there is no selfie camera at the top. Instead, when you hit the selfie button, you then flip around the screen to take a selfie with the main 108 megapixel camera. Now, weirdly, the selfie mode doesn't let you switch to ultra wide or do nearly as many things as the main camera modes, which is a bummer, but in theory, this whole flip action takes your selfies to the next level because they're coming from the high-end main camera. So, all right then, how good are those virtual side buttons on the screen? Okay, I'll preface this by saying it's a prototype, but they're pretty bad. I mean, the idea is fine in theory. So there's a power button and a volume button on the right hand side of the screen on the side. And when you hit that volume button and you get it just right while it's rejecting the palm touch all over the rest of the screen, but it's realizing that you hit the volume button, it pops up this slider and then you can adjust the volume on the front, no problem by sliding. But it really only works for me sometimes. Like maybe there's a trick to holding it just right where you learn over time how to get familiar with the palm rejection, whatever it is, but I didn't arrive at this, so this was a bummer. But then there's the power button on the side that literally just puts it to sleep. That one worked more often for me, which is nice. And there's also still a physical circular power button at the top of the phone for sleep/wake. That one always works, but it's also more of a reach since it's way up at the top of the phone. Okay, so how good is the palm rejection or recognition on a crazy screen like this? It's hit or miss as you might expect. So Xiaomi dropped off a little info sheet with this phone and on it, they say they're using a combination of accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure sensors, and software algorithms to be able to tell when you're holding it versus when you're actually using it and to properly do palm rejection. To me, this seems like the biggest challenge for a phone with a wrap around screen. There were definitely times that it impressively worked just fine, but I also in tons of other times using the phone had tons of accidental presses, not including that software volume button. So it's hit or miss. It's impressive when it works, but it's really annoying when it doesn't. And then, what's the back display even good for? What's the point? Well, they've so far come up with a couple cool things. Number one is the charging animation that I told you guys about already. I think that's pretty sweet. Maybe the number one cool factor. And then there's the fact that it takes the stuff from up in the top bar where it typically is and puts it on the sides to keep the front looking even more clean at the top. That's all right. The camera viewfinder is also a legitimate benefit. So we've seen it before that using the main camera as your selfie camera typically gives you better selfies. So you still get that benefit. And then there's the special software mode where it detects when you flip over the phone and it activates this panel with some widgets that are a sort of a quick access type of thing. So there's a timer in there, the weather, stuff like that. That's pretty cool too. And then just looking cool. Like that's that's mainly it. It's just it's pretty sweet to look at. Oh, also another question, is there a case for it? Yes, there is. I forgot to take video of it, but I can show you this photo. It literally only has a camera strip to anchor on and then it sort of protects the outside, but not really. I don't even know why you would put this phone in a case to be honest. Just accept that you have a super delicate phone. And then I want to point out that this display isn't flawless. Not to be a downer, but just like when you're working with a prototype, you naturally find a lot of things that could be improved. And this was the biggest illusion breaker of the whole thing was the the edges of the display. So right at the apex of those sides where it's rounding over the side, there's a gap in the cover glass. So it's not all one curved piece of glass. There's actually three pieces that sort of connect together. But when you run your finger over that apex, you can feel it. So it's not perfectly smooth. And then from certain angles, it even catches the light and rainbows a bit and you can really see it. So that definitely takes away from the wrap around display illusion. And there's also a fair bit of yellowing at the very edges that you can sometimes notice if you're looking for it. The camera doesn't pick it up as well as your eyes. And also this sucker wobbles like crazy on a desk. But that's I guess unavoidable. There's no other place for it to lie flat. The camera bump is literally just a stripe down the middle. Overall though, I got to say, I'm very impressed by this functional prototype. A lot of the the numbers on paper, I don't know if I can really give them full credit. Like they say it's a 180.6% screen to body ratio, but there's still bezels at the top and the bottom, 2.15 millimeters to be exact. So I don't know if just because you wrap it around the sides, you can say it's over 100% screen to body ratio. And also, what's funny is on paper, this spec sheet again, they mention, they say it's a 7.9 inch diagonal screen, but it's not that big. They're measuring it from around the back corner to corner of the display. But really, it's more like the size of a Pixel 4 or an iPhone 11 Pro Max. But yeah, that's about it. In this world where we have crazy concept cars, I'm glad that we also get to have these wild form over function concept smartphones and maybe that idea turns into something someday. So let me know what you think of the wrap around display concept in the comment section below. Would you grab something like this? Would you want a phone that's that crazy or is this completely over the moon, form over function, no reason to exist? Let me know what you think. Thanks for watching. Catch you guys in the next one. Peace.
An animated logo appears on a white dotted background, then transitions to a man walking into a studio.
Setting: tech studio — bright, even studio lighting
People (1):
• walking, wearing black t-shirt and light gray pants, short, black, styled hair — neutral expression
The man sits down in a chair and begins speaking directly to the camera.
"Yo what's up guys, MKBHD here. So this is a fun one. A couple days ago, Xiaomi gave me a first look at a prototype smartphone that they've been working on."
Setting: tech studio — bright, even studio lighting
People (1):
• sitting, leaning forward, wearing black t-shirt with 'MATTE BLACK EVERYTHING' text and light gray pants, short, black, styled high-top fade hair — smiling, engaged expression
Text: "Xiaomi"
The man continues to speak, using hand gestures to explain the concept of a prototype phone.
"So similar to some things we saw at CES, this isn't a real phone with a price tag that has a shipping date or anything like that. This is just a functional prototype to show a cool idea they had."
Setting: tech studio — bright, even studio lighting
People (1):
• sitting, leaning forward, wearing black t-shirt with 'MATTE BLACK EVERYTHING' text, short, black, styled high-top fade hair — focused, explanatory expression
The man uses wide, sweeping hand gestures to illustrate the concept of a screen wrapping all the way around a phone.
"And that idea is, what would happen if you took those curved edge displays and just curve them right over the back, all the way around to the back of the phone. So you're just looking at full 110% screen."
Setting: tech studio — bright, even studio lighting
People (1):
• sitting, very animated, wearing black t-shirt with 'MATTE BLACK EVERYTHING' text, short, black, styled high-top fade hair — animated, excited expression
A dramatic reveal sequence of the phone. An overhead shot shows the phone in hand, then it's turned to show the wraparound screen and the back camera strip.
"And that is how we arrived at this, the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha prototype."
Setting: outdoors on a balcony or patio — bright, natural light
People (1):
• standing/walking, wearing light gray long-sleeve shirt and white pants, not visible hair — not visible
The man gestures to his t-shirt and speaks enthusiastically about his merchandise.
"Also, before we get into it, shameless plug, the merch is now permanently back. So a lot of the stuff you can now just get whenever you want, which is awesome."
Setting: tech studio — bright, even studio lighting
People (1):
• sitting, wearing black t-shirt with 'MATTE BLACK EVERYTHING' text, short, black, styled high-top fade hair — smiling broadly
An overhead shot shows a pair of hands opening a large, sleek black box with 'MIX ALPHA' text.
Setting: studio — bright, even lighting
People (1):
• sitting at a table, wearing black short-sleeve shirt, not visible hair — not visible
Text: "MIX ALPHA", "α"
The hands remove the phone from the box and begin peeling off the protective plastic wrapping.
"So this is that Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha and it doesn't look like any other phone I've ever seen before and I've seen a lot of phones."
Setting: studio — bright, even lighting
People (1):
• sitting at a table, not visible hair — not visible
The phone is fully unwrapped and held up, showing its screen turning on and rotating it to show the side and back.
"So that's why this one got the Mi Mix name and it's definitely no exception. The materials, the specs, and of course the display are pretty next level."
Setting: studio — bright, even lighting
People (1):
• sitting at a table, not visible hair — not visible
Extreme close-up shots highlight different parts of the phone: the bottom edge with the USB-C port, and the back camera strip.
"So there's the frame of the phone which is this titanium alloy which is harder than stainless steel and the the camera covers are all made from sapphire and the camera strip on the back here is ceramic."
Setting: studio — bright, focused lighting
People (1):
•
A person holds the phone, turning it over in their hands to show the front, side, and back, emphasizing its solid build.
"Like it's clearly dense and has a lot of extra material, extra glass for the screen, etc."
Setting: studio office — soft, diffused light
People (1):
• sitting at a desk, not visible hair — not visible
A high-angle shot shows a hand holding the phone, which is displaying its home screen. Text overlays list the phone's key specifications.
"So Snapdragon 855+, 512 gigs of UFS 3.0 storage, 12 gigs of RAM, and a 4,050 mAh battery."
Setting: studio — bright, even light
People (1):
• sitting, wearing light gray long-sleeve shirt, not visible hair — not visible
Text: "Snapdragon 855+", "512GB UFS 3.0", "12GB RAM", "4050mAh"
A hand holds the phone and swipes through the home screen, then rotates it to show the screen wrapping around the side and onto the back.
"So clearly the focal point of the phone here is this screen. I mean, just imagine seeing someone in person using this display where you can see it from the front, from the sides, and from the back."
Setting: studio — bright, even light
People (1):
• sitting, wearing light gray long-sleeve shirt, not visible hair — not visible
The phone is lying on a desk, showing its vibrant screen. Text appears on screen indicating the resolution.
"This is a 2088 by 2250 OLED display with a very thin top and bottom bezels that wrap around to meet the camera strip at the back, which is what I'll call it."
Setting: desk setup — bright, clean lighting
Text: "2088 x 2250"
A close-up shot of the back of the phone, with fingers pointing to the different camera lenses on the vertical strip.
"This houses a couple of things, including the 108 megapixel primary camera, the 20 megapixel ultra-wide with macro capabilities, and the 12 megapixel telephoto camera and dual LED flash."
Setting: studio — bright, even lighting
People (1):
•
The phone is standing upright on a desk, showcasing its home screen. The camera pans slightly.
"And there's a whole bunch of optimizations in Xiaomi's MIUI Alpha software, like the battery and status bar icons and notification counter are on the side of the phone here instead of at the top."
Setting: desk setup — bright, colorful ambient light from the monitor
A close-up shot of the side of the phone, showing the time, date, and a YouTube notification icon on the curved edge of the screen.
"So it kind of cleans up the top to just be a notification pull down and not have to display all that stuff all the time, which is kind of neat."
Setting: desk setup — soft, ambient light
People (1):
•
Text: "10:06 PM"
The man points a finger up and speaks directly to the camera, looking excited to share a cool feature.
"Also, I told you I would mention the charging again. I think probably the coolest part of having a wrap around screen like this is the charging animation."
Setting: tech studio — bright, even studio lighting
People (1):
• sitting, wearing black t-shirt with 'MATTE BLACK EVERYTHING' text, short, black, styled high-top fade hair — smiling, anticipatory expression
A hand plugs a white USB-C cable into the bottom of the phone. The entire screen then illuminates with a green, liquid-like animation that fills up from the bottom, displaying the battery percentage.
"So go ahead and plug this phone in with the screen off, and the whole thing lights up and animates the battery starting to fill up the whole thing like liquid, like liquid power flowing into the phone."
Setting: desk setup — bright, clean lighting
People (1):
• , not visible hair — not visible
Text: "65%"
The man speaks to the camera, posing a question about the phone's ergonomics.
"So first off, number one, just what does it feel like to hold and use?"
Setting: tech studio — bright, even studio lighting
People (1):
• sitting, wearing black t-shirt with 'MATTE BLACK EVERYTHING' text, short, black, styled high-top fade hair — serious, thoughtful expression
A close-up shot of the bottom of the phone, showing the speaker grills and USB-C port.
"Great question. Two different answers. So there's a regular speaker at the bottom of the device still, uh, but for your phone calls, that earpiece is replaced by an electromagnetic speaker, basically that's vibrating through the glass to create sound."
Setting: studio — bright, clean studio light
A person holds the phone, taps the selfie icon, then physically flips the phone over. The back portion of the screen becomes a selfie viewfinder.
"Instead, when you hit the selfie button, you then flip around the screen to take a selfie with the main 108 megapixel camera."
Setting: studio office — soft, diffused light
People (1):
• sitting at a desk, short, black hair — briefly visible in the selfie viewfinder
A hand holds the phone and demonstrates trying to use the virtual volume slider on the side of the screen, which appears and disappears.
"But it really only works for me sometimes. Like maybe there's a trick to holding it just right where you learn over time how to get familiar with the palm rejection, whatever it is, uh, but I didn't arrive at this, so this was a bummer."
Setting: studio — bright, even light
People (1):
•
A person flips the phone over in their hands, revealing a special widget screen on the back display.
"And then, what's the back display even good for? What's the point? Well, they've so far come up with a couple cool things that number one is the charging animation that I told you guys about already."
Setting: desk setup — bright, clean lighting
People (1):
• sitting at a desk, not visible hair — not visible
A still photo is shown of the phone with a black protective case on it. The case covers the camera strip and has a frame around the edges.
"Oh, also another question, is there a case for it? Yes, there is. I forgot to take video of it, but I can show you this photo."
Setting: studio — indoor lighting
People (1):
• , wearing white shirt, not visible hair — not visible
An extreme close-up shot where a finger traces the curved edge of the phone, highlighting a visible seam or gap in the glass.
"So right at the apex of those sides where it's rounding over the side, there's a gap in the cover glass. So it's not all one curved piece of glass. There's actually three pieces that sort of connect together."
Setting: studio — bright, focused light
People (1):
•
A split screen shows the phone on the left and the man speaking on the right. He makes quotation marks with his fingers while questioning the screen-to-body ratio.
"A lot of the the numbers on paper, I don't know if I can really give them full credit. Like they say it's a 180.6% screen to body ratio, but there's still bezels at the top and the bottom, 2.15 millimeters to be exact."
Setting: studio — bright studio lighting
People (1):
• sitting, wearing black t-shirt, short, black, styled high-top fade hair — skeptical expression
Text: "180.6%"
The man holds the phone horizontally and looks into the camera lens on the back strip, as if taking a photo.
"In this world where we have crazy concept cars, I'm glad that we also get to have these wild form over function concept smartphones and maybe that idea turns into something someday."
Setting: studio — bright, natural backlight
People (1):
• sitting, wearing black t-shirt, short, black, styled high-top fade hair — focused expression, looking at the phone's camera
The man smiles, gives a peace sign, and the video ends.
"Thanks for watching. Catch you guys in the next one. Peace."
Setting: tech studio — bright, even studio lighting
People (1):
• sitting, wearing black t-shirt with 'MATTE BLACK EVERYTHING' text, short, black, styled high-top fade hair — smiling