Perhaps avid fans of the brand Xiaomi will immediately want to go swear in the comments and accuse me of being biased towards the brand, but listen to what I have to say. A year and a half ago I bought myself a Sharp Aquos Crystal smartphone. And not just bought, but ordered a Japanese device for a lot of money and an additional unlock for it in order to be able to use a smartphone with a SIM card, and not just as a 'tablet'. And I used it for about two months. Why buy? Firstly, at that time it was the world's first 'frameless' smartphone and, believe me, the 'live' smartphone looks even better and more spectacular than in photographs and renders. Secondly, it implements a new technology for transmitting sound to the middle ear using special screen vibrations. Thirdly, this is a Japanese device made for the Japanese market, in a word – exotic 'But, to be honest, I took Sharp because it just looked cosmic. I now see about the same in the first reviews and reactions of people to the announcement of a frameless smartphone from the company Xiaomi – Mi Mix.
Review of the Japanese smartphone Sharp Aquos Crystal (305SH)
And there are several important things here that I would like to say.
1. Traditionally for Xiaomi, a new smartphone in renderings and a new smartphone in reality are two completely different things. In graphic images, the device has a minimum frame less than a millimeter thick (by eye) along the left, right and top edges of the case. In reality, the thickness of the frames in a smartphone is about 2-3 millimeters. That is, on the one hand, this is a really serious progress compared to what the Xiaomi has now with their false frames, on the other hand, this device still cannot be called frameless in the sense that each of us would like to invest in this definition. For example, in Sharp Aquos Crystal, the frameless effect was achieved due to beveled glass along the edges, the light was refracted along with the image and it seemed to you that there were no frames at all, although, of course, they were. Xiaomi Mi Mix has a frame, the light is not refracted here, it's just that the frame is very thin and neat. By the way, the smartphone looks stunning and cool – it's silly to argue with that.
Render
Reality
2. The voice transmission system used in Sharp Aquos Crystal is innovative and, apparently, is used in Mi Mix. However, in terms of the quality and loudness of speech transmission, it is still inferior to traditional spoken loudspeakers (at least that was the case in Sharp) – this should be taken into account when choosing a device.
3. Frames of minimal thickness, even in the very compact Sharp Aquos Crystal with a 5 'screen diagonal, cause a lot of inconvenience. From accidental clicks when grabbing the device to different clicks during conversations and banal control of the device. And this is in a compact phone that you can hold with one hand and control it with her. Now imagine that you have a 'shovel' with a diagonal of more than six inches, which you cannot hold with one hand (unless you are Sasha Zhuravlev or someone of a similar configuration). Hold your smartphone with one hand and operate the other? How to keep it? There are no frames, you need to hold it by the bottom edge or by the sidewalls, otherwise nothing. Of course, everything is individual here, but, let's just say, it is obvious that a frameless smartphone of this size will not be as convenient as a frame one, in control.
I see the benefit of this announcement Xiaomi in the fact that the company took a step aside and this is a damn right decision. Let the new Mi Max be awkward to control. Even if in reality it is not at all as frameless as in the photo. Even if it costs, even officially, more than $ 500, which means that you can buy it for $ 600-650, if you're lucky. The main thing here is the company's attempt and desire not to 'deviate a little' from its principles, but to take a serious step, take a risk and release such an unusual, atypical and non-standard solution. In this regard, I would like other Chinese people Meizu to look at what they did in Xiaomi. So that they too have the courage to take a similar step. Obviously, such a device will not give Xiaomi any serious sales, let alone market share, but this is the thing that large and truly confident brands should practice from time to time – to release something non-standard, atypical , bold. Xiaomi Mi Mix is just such a device.
Share your opinion about the smartphone in the comments, it will be interesting for me to read!