Tag Archives: xiaomi

Mi Mix Fold 3 will be the thinnest foldable courtesy of reengineered hinge that’ll last 500,000 folds

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Xiaomi’s third-generation foldable smartphone is slated for an August 14 release in China, with months of leaks and teasers raising the anticipation. It is certain, the device will be revealed by Lei Jun, Xiaomi CEO who already promises the device will be an all-around “flagship without shortcomings.” The teaser poster also positions the device as a “new standard for foldable display.”

The focus of the foldable smartphone is on the folding mechanism which took a chunk of the engineers to reconstruct the phone structure and the folding screen. TÜV Rheinland certified device has a 3-element connecting rod structure, and 1,800MPa ultra-high strength steel. This steel is supposed to give the screen wrap-around protection. The result, a foldable with improved durability and minimal screen creasing. It is certified for up to 500,000 folds, so you don’t have to worry for a long time to come.

Pros:

  • Thin lightweight design
  • Overclocked processor for gamers
  • Minimal creasing and highly durable
  • Stellar battery life

Cons:

  • Pricing could be a deal breaker
  • camera sensors still unknown

Designer: Xiaomi

These attributes also make it the thinnest foldable device (the current thinnest being Honor Magic V2) money can buy. In the unfolded configuration, the device is just 4.93mm thick and in the folded form it measures 9.8mm which is impressive. That effectively spices up the battle royale arena dotted with the likes of Galaxy Fold 5, Razer+, Pixel Fold, Vivo X Fold 2, Galaxy Z Flip and OnePlus Open.

The Mix Fold 3 will come with an 8.02-inch foldable AMOLED display having 2k resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. 2,600 nits peak brightness level means the foldable will be a joy to interact with even with direct mid-day sunlight falling on it. For photography enthusiasts, Xiaomi has gone with a Leica-tuned quad-camera setup that comes with a dedicated periscope zoom lens and 50MP primary shooter.

The overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, LPDDR5X and 1TB of UFS 4.0 flagship hardware of this lightweight foldable will be assisted by the 4,800mAh battery that’ll last around 1.34 days according to Xiaomi. The 67W wired charging and 50W wireless charging support brings it to par with the flagships that rule-the-roost currently.

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Xiaomi Wireless AR Glass Discover Edition is most capable eyewear for the future of truly immersive visual experience

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Mobile World Congress (MWC) is a platform for the biggest of brands to unveil their cutting-edge tech innovation that’ll set the way forward for the years to come. Taking the stage to reveal an AR headset, Xiaomi has sent ripples in the industry, dotted with bulky headsets for wireless AR consumption. The Chinese OEM launched a sleek, lightweight pair of AR glasses that you wouldn’t mind wearing in public.

Designed to herald an “ear of wireless AR,” this compact headset called Wireless AR Glass Discover Edition is designed to connect to user’s smartphone. Though it is a prototype for now, Yanko Design managed a hands-on with wireless eyewear at MWC, and we believe Xiaomi has done a great job with the design and feel: the glasses seem almost ready for the market, but we suggest you don’t start setting assigned your fortune for this one just yet.

Designer: Xiaomi

Xiaomi Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition weighs only 126g or 4.4 ounces on the nose, which is insignificant compared to the chunkier AR/VR headsets we have seen in our day. This lightweight yet sturdy design is made possible with the use of a magnesium-lithium alloy and carbon fiber construction.

You can trim the design, use lightweight materials in construction, but the most weight on such a wearable device is its battery. Xiaomi has carefully installed an in-house developed silicon-oxygen anode battery that reduces the physical load, translating into a minimum weight increase on the device.

The Xiaomi AR Glass Discovery Edition is powered by a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1 processor under the hood, and packs a pair of micro OLED displays boasting retina-revel resolution and brightness of up to 1200nit. Xiaomi says its AR glasses feature 58 pixels per degree (PPD) which is more than twice the PPD on the Meta’s Quest Pro that runs on the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1.

Courtesy of the retina-level display, these AR glasses deliver a truly immersive visual experience. The glasses allow a user to blend the virtual and real worlds, seamlessly accessing either with a single click. For this, the front lenses are electrochromic that adjust to light conditions, depending on the user’s preference. They can blackout when the user wants to focus on the virtual world.

Xiaomi has released a video presentation of the AR Glass Discovery Edition showcasing several features that the glasses have to offer. This includes specially developed hand gestures in addition to smartphone-based touch controls. The hand-tracking feature allows user to open apps, drag and drop virtual objects in the physical world, swipe through pages with a finger, and do a lot more.

However, exciting Xiaomi’s AR glasses concept may seem; there’s no word on price or availability as of yet so we will only have to live by the video presentation and the images below.

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Xiaomi’s latest high-end smart speaker is part audio unit, part decorative LED ambient lamp

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Described as a high-fidelity smart speaker, the Xiaomi Sound Pro comes with a 4-inch low-frequency 40W driver, three 1.5-inch full-range 5W drivers, and three passive radiators that absolutely fill your room with a well-balanced hearty soundscape. However, in a bid to outdo itself, the Xiaomi Sound Pro also houses its own ambient LED lamp on top that supplies your music with its own abstract colorful visualizations.

Designer: Xiaomi

The Xiaomi Sound Pro follows the rather simply named Xiaomi Sound, the company’s first-ever hi-fi speaker. The higher-end Pro-version comes with what the company calls a “7-part speaker system”, to describe the 1+3+3 setup of the woofer, tweeters, and passive radiators, and has audio professionally tuned by HARMAN AudioEFX, which helps omnidirectionally fill entire rooms with crisp, clear, loud audio and a ‘shocking’ bass.

The Sound Pro is significantly taller than its predecessor, thanks to the presence of an LED unit on top that adds a touch of ambient visualization to your audio experience. The speaker supports connections via Bluetooth 5.1, and is compatible with Apple AirPlay 2. An NFC feature lets you tap to send music using Xiaomi Instant Play, and if you’re a bit of a smart speaker traditionalist, you can give your speaker voice commands too, or control it using the capacitive touch panel on the top. If you prefer going even more analog, there’s a 3.5mm audio input on the speaker, although at this point it seems almost archaic as a feature. The Xiaomi Sound Pro Bluetooth Speaker is available in China for approximately $144 USD (¥999 RMB).

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Xiaomi Watch S2 with AMOLED display and circular stainless steel casing is a pretty capable smartwatch

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When you’re first to the market with a product, you have a tactical consumer advantage. But you always run the risk of giving birth to fake copies and imitations. When I had a first glimpse of the brand-new Xiaomi Watch S2, it looked almost a rendition of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5.

I would have counted it out right then if the construction material was identical as well. Perhaps there are some distinctions, despite a similar appearance. Let’s delve deeper and see how Xiaomi’s new smartwatch fairs as close, more economical option to the Galaxy Watch 5 and perhaps the new Apple Watch 8 or Ultra.

Designer: Xiaomi

Xiaomi Watch S2 was unveiled at the brand’s biggest launch event in China on Sunday, December 11. The smartwatch was revealed alongside Xiaomi’s new 13 series smartphone, a pair of Buds 4 and the new MIUI 14 amid a host of other gadgetry.

A successor to the WatchS1 launched last year; the Watch S2 is introduced in a stainless steel casing. It is designed in two dial sizes: 42mm and 46mm, which makes the smart timepiece suitable for almost all wrist sizes.

Wrapped within the circular stainless steel casing is sapphire glass and both the watch sizes support AMOLED touchscreen panel, although there are two physical pushers on the right side of the dial to toggle through the watch features. The screens on the 42mm and 46mm Watch S2 measure 1.32-inch and 1.43-inch respectively and support 466 x 466 pixels resolution.

As a smartwatch, the Xiaomi Watch S2 comes with a host of health and fitness features. In addition to the customary heart rate monitor, the watch has SpO2 sensor, features menstrual cycle monitor, a sleep, and a stress tracker. With support for over 100 sports tracking modes, the wearable integrates Xiaomi’s interesting breathing exercise monitor.

Xiaomi wearable can measure body composition including the wearer’s muscle mass, fat percentage, protein volume and more. Through the pandemic, trackers/watches with temperature monitors have seen a big surge. Staying with the trend, Xiaomi has sandwiched a skin temperature sensor amid the plethora of other features (some of which are discussed above).

Both sized versions of the Xiaomi Watch S2 feature GPS and water resistant up to 5 meters. With the option for Bluetooth calling, the 42 and 46mm models are powered by rechargeable 305mAh and 500mAh batteries respectively. The new wearable launched by Xiaomi is already retailing in China starting at $140 in silver, black, and light gold colors paired with leather or silicone strap options. There is no word from Xiaomi on when it intends to toss the smartwatch over domestic borders yet.

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Daniel Arsham’s Limited Edition Xiaomi 12T Pro impresses with bronze crystals and eroded green patina

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The Xiaomi 13 series is already on the horizon, but the Chinese smartphone giant has got some unfinished business to do with its 12 series. Case-in-point, an attractive limited-edition version of the already released Xiaomi 12T Pro.

What makes it worth everyone’s attention is the Danish Arsham influence. The dazzling smartphone in collaboration with the New York-based artist is a true reproduction of the iconic “fictional archaeology” by him. To be precise, a finish of bronze crystal clad in a rusted green patina.

Designer: Xiaomi and Danish Arsham

For understandable reasons, there are no protuberant crystals on the back panel of the device. The printed gems and traces of the patina on the Xiaomi 12T Pro Daniel Arsham Edition have a convincing shimmer when the phone is tilted in any direction. The convincing glamor of the back side is matched with the theme and icon packs of the user interface. The live wallpaper replicates the rear’s magnetism for a 3D look, making it a one-off smartphone to show off.

According to the artist, the phone will fulfill its intended function, and after its life act as a sculpture for the owner to sport on the living room shelf. Two decades down the line, the device will exhibit “sculptural propositions of obsolescence and natural erosions.” As per Xiaomi, the limited-edition gadget is created with the intent towards an “imagined future of digital dematerialization.”

Talking about the technical specifications of the phone, they are unchanged from the top variant of the normal version. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, gets 12GB RAM and has 256GB of storage. The rear camera module having the same distinct patina look houses the 200-MP primary shooter. 120W charger for the 5,000 mAh battery should keep the device juiced for all your binge-watching and gaming sessions, given it can charge the battery in just 19 minutes.

Xiaomi is going to sell only 2,000 units of the Xiaomi 12T Pro Daniel Arsham Edition for a price tag of 899 Euros (approximately $930). Sadly, the eye-candy device will only be available in the European market starting December 16. The pre-orders will start December 5, so you better grab one, if it already tingles your inner geek. The phone can also be bought at the two-day sale during the launch in Berlin.

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Xiaomi’s absolutely crazy 12S Ultra concept comes with the ability to mount Leica camera lenses

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The camera bump to end all camera bumps…

A weird combination of outrageous and scarily beautiful, this Xiaomi 12S Ultra Concept absolutely pushes the limits of what’s capable when it comes to smartphone photography. Designed as a purely conceptual successor to the flagship 12S Ultra, this monster of a phone comes with not one, but TWO 1-inch sensors in its camera layout. The phone looks almost identical to its predecessor, with the exception of a redesigned camera bump that now allows you to mount a massive Leica lens onto it like you would a professional camera. Why? Well, why not, Xiaomi would rather have us ask. The phone is purely conceptual for now, although reports indicate it took a staggering $41,000 to build out this concept.

Designer: Xiaomi

A stunning example of top-notch engineering, the 12S Ultra Concept really blurs the line between smartphones and professional shooters. To do this, Xiaomi had to ditch one of its cameras, namely the periscope lens located at the center of the circular bump. The centrally located periscope zoom lens gets replaced with a 1-inch CMOS sensor, giving the phone 2 individual 1-inch sensors located in that camera bump. That second sensor is devoid of any camera lens ahead of it. Instead, it supports mounting an external lens, namely this purpose-built one from Leica.

This new format took a bit of work. With most cameras, the sensor remains exposed to the elements once you pop the lens off – a pretty major factor that influenced the 12S Ultra Concept’s design. Xiaomi circumvented this by covering the entire camera bump with a sapphire crystal, preventing the exposed sensor from any damage while also keeping the housing IP68 waterproof. The camera bump also now houses a metallic ring around it, which lets you snap and lock the Leica lens to it.

More than being a product that Xiaomi will sell to consumers, this concept is really a testament of what’s practically possible with smartphone designs. If you told me 10 years back that you could easily fit TWO 1-inch sensors into a smartphone camera, I’d ask you to book an appointment with a psychiatrist. Now, Xiaomi just casually demonstrates how ridiculously effortless it is to pull off. The conceptual phone didn’t need to make ANY compromises to pull off this feat. It looks exactly like its predecessor, albeit with a few tweaks and adjustments to just the camera bump. The rest of the phone remains exactly the same, with the exception of the textured back panel that feels like a great hat-tip to cameras in general!

There’s no way this phone was built to be sold, but here’s the catch. Just like the myth of the 4-minute mile, Xiaomi’s proven that building a smartphone with such a staggeringly good camera is possible… which means it’s just a matter of time before other companies try giving it a shot. I could totally see Sony jumping into this, given how they already have a dog in the mirrorless camera race. Would I actually consider buying an Xperia with the ability to snap on Sony Alpha E-mount lenses??? Probably?!

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Xiaomi’s CyberOne robot is here to take us into the future, beating Tesla’s humanoid

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One of my favorite TV shows is Battlestar Galactica. The major storyline in this series is the uprising of the cylons or a race of humanoid robots. Back in the 80s when the original one first came out and even in the early 2000s when the revival arrived, the idea of robots overthrowing humans was nightmarish but still far away. But if you read the news now with well, smarter, artificial intelligence and companies keep trying to create robots, it doesn’t seem to be so far away.

Designer: Xiaomi

The Chinese brand Xiaomi seems to want to bring about the robot vs human wars ever closer to this generation. They have now created a humanoid robot called CyberOne whose main goal is to try and make friends with actual humans, in case said humans may be in need of AI-based friends. It is a 177 centimeters high and 52 kilos heavy robot which means it’s almost 2 feet taller than me. You know I’ll be running far, far away if I see this creature approaching.

But for those who may not be afraid of humanoid robots, it seems pretty impressive in terms of its powerful motors and biped controls which can respond in real-time. The good news is that they made the robot to look like an actual robot and not to look like a human which is creepier. You get a white toros and limbs while the joints and the face have darker black and gray colors. What makes this robot more interesting is that it has a Mi-Sense depth vision module and of course, AI interaction technology.

These technologies lets the robot understand and move around 3D space and also recognize not just people but also their gestures and expressions. It is programmed to detect 45 different kinds of emotions and 85 kinds of environmental sounds. This means it is able to process its environment including the people that they may be interacting with. Xiaomi believes that intelligent robots are part of our future so let’s just hope that they will not overthrow us and become our overlords.

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Xiaomi 12S Ultra brings DSLR level photography to your palm

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Last year’s flagship Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra impressed photography fanatics with its top-of-the-line hardware at a very competitive price. The Xiaomi 12 series is long-awaited in the tech community, and now the Chinese consumer electronics company has revealed the 12S series that includes the 12S, 12S Pro and 12S Ultra devices.

The 12S and 12S Pro have minimal hardware upgrades, while the 12S Ultra is the one with the most significant upgrade of them all. Case in point, the next level of mobile photography experience for users. The Ultra model with a sizeable rear camera housing comes with a 1-inch Sony sensor and imaging system developed in collaboration with Leica. The rear triple camera setup is the show stopper here with a 48MP ultra-wide lens having the Sony IMX586 image sensor, and an 8P Leica Summicron 13-120mm F2.2 aspherical lens. The latter keeps a check on the flaring, chromatic aberrations and ghosting.

Designer: Xiaomi

Then there is the 50.3MP wide-angle lens honed by Sony’s new 1-inch IMX989 sensor boasting a quad-Bayer pixel array. It also gets the 23-mm F1.9 optics having multi-layer ultra-low-reflectance coating. For smooth, blur-free images and video, the lens has optical image stabilization and octa-PD phase AF. The third in the camera module setup is a 48MP telephoto that gets the same sensor as the one paired with the ultra-wide lens. The difference is the 120mm F4.1 periscope lens. It also has optical and electronic image stabilization. To make the photographs stand out, there are a bunch of Leica filters to get that authentic Leica flavor in the final shots.

The still images on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra can be recorded in 10-bit RAW format which is great for people wanting pro-level photography options in their smartphone. Apparently, this is the first Android-powered device to have Dolby Vision HDR video recording and playback support. The videos can be recorded at 24 FPS with a resolution of 7,680×4,320; 4K with 40 FPS or Full HD at 480 FPS for slow-motion shots.

The selfie camera is a 32MP shooter punched into the 6.73-inch Samsung E5 AMOLED display having a refresh rate of 120 Hz and 1500 nits peak brightness. The sensor used for the selfie camera lens is still unknown, but it should have crisp results given the amount of R&D that’s gone into the photography capabilities of the device.

Other than the camera setup, the IP68-rated flagship device gets the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB UFS 3.1 storage. Xiaomi has rigged the hardware with an advanced liquid cooling system which should keep it ice cool even while gaming at extreme settings. The phone running MIUI 13 OS based on Android 12 will launch in mainland China initially in two color variants with a starting price tag of RMB 5,999 (∼US$900).

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Xiaomi 12 Ultra will put Leica on a divisive camera design

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Phone designs have become increasingly common these days, so it’s not surprising to see some try to set themselves apart, one way or another. Some are met with much success, like the OPPO Find X5 Pro’s futuristic minimalism and the Realme GT2 Pro’s fashionable Paper Tech design. Others seem to still be trying to come to terms with their design language, while still others are apparently stumbling in their efforts to stand out from the crowd. Xiaomi’s next flagship will attempt to flaunt Leica’s massive brand to appeal to mobile shutterbugs, but it might be doing the camera maker a slight disservice considering how controversial the Xiaomi 12 Ultra’s camera design is so far turning out to be.

Designer: HoiINDI

Smartphone designs have mostly gravitated towards emphasizing the most important part of a smartphone next to its display. Trends come and go, but the importance of cameras in our smartphone-centric culture has never wavered. But as those camera sensors become more powerful and bigger, the space they occupy has also become larger, forcing designers to think of ways to balance looks and function. In the Xiaomi 12 Ultra’s case, it seems that only one side won, at least based on renders made from leaked information.

This isn’t the first phone that uses a circular enclosure to house the camera in a group, with the Huawei Mate 30 coming out with that design back in 2019. It might, however, be the biggest by a wide margin, occupying nearly a third of the phone’s height and leaving little room on its sides. If Xiaomi intended to call attention to the Xiaomi 12 Ultra’s cameras, this definitely does it, but not in a flattering way. Despite marketing materials, Leica’s iconic circle logo might not even be immediately visible, which is probably the best for the brand.

The Xiaomi 12 Ultra is in the running for the most divisive camera design this year, going head-to-head with the Honor Magic4 Ultimate from March. Xiaomi’s camera bump doesn’t feel like it’s about to jump out at you, sitting on the phone’s back in a static manner. In contrast, Honor’s design has the entire phone’s rear elevated from four directions to meet the height of the larger circular camera bump, potentially creating some unevenness that would affect the phone’s stability on a flat surface or even in your hand.

Designer: Parvez Khan (Technizo Concept) for LetsGoDigital

That said, Honor arranged its camera lenses in such a way that they look a bit more symmetrical and balanced. Most likely due to technical considerations, Xiaomi’s lenses are all over the place, creating an almost disorganized appearance. It could even trigger certain psychological conditions in people because of the clearly visible and uneven holes. It’s definitely going to be a head-turner, but not everything that calls attention does so in a good way.

Admittedly, smartphone design is a delicate balancing act between opposing forces and directions. At the same time, it’s a problem created by manufacturers themselves. As they cram more and larger hardware inside phones, they will be forced to figure out a smart design for them. More doesn’t always mean better, especially from a design perspective, and the Xiaomi 12 Ultra proves it.

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Black Shark 5 Pro gaming accessories will be a bold mix of colors and design

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Black Shark 5 Pro has just been released alongside Black Shark 5, both gaming-centric smartphones for power users. There are not many radical design changes but you sure can bet, the bigger brother Pr0 5 is a monster performer under the hood with the Snapdragon Gen 1 SoC igniting the guts. Not many phones other than a couple of direct competitors like Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro just released, and to be released Asus ROG Phone 6 breathing down their neck have to be watched out.

The accessories for the Black Shark 5 series are understandably not yet released, and this gives opportune designers the perfect platform to do some creative exploring. The domain within which the phone’s accessories will be contained is going to be limited to cooling, fans, trigger buttons, portable controllers and of course the power brick, case covers, and wireless earbuds. To appeal to a gamer in 2022 it’s got to be more than just function alone. The sharp looks perfectly blended with the specific function is going to be important here.

Rather than going for the black-themed accessories, the next leap for Xiaomi could be in the form of white-skinned gaming phone essentials that add a bit of spice to the gaming sessions. For example, all-white wireless earbuds with highlighting green and light gray inserts. Combine that with the earbuds having cool blue and orange decals. The same goes with the ultra-cool charging brick with the 120W capacity. The magnetic case cover allows for accessories like RGB fan to be hooked on without much fuzz.

These air triggers designed for the upcoming phone look totally wantable, giving the next-level gamers the much-needed advantage on action RPGs, racing games, and of course battle royale titles. For gamers who prefer wired pair of earphones to the TWS ones, that green serrated wire needs no second invitations. Eventually, when the anticipated Black Shark 5 series will make it to the hands of capable gamers, I want to see such accessories make it to the ranks along with some new ones that make the brand stand apart.

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