Xiaomi has announced a new model in its MIX series today in China. Unlike the MIX Fold, Xiaomi’s first foldable phone, this does not have a screen that folds. However, the MIX 4 is also a phone with some unique features. It is the manufacturer’s first phone with an in-display camera and Ultra Wide Band support, and also the first phone in the world to be powered by the Snapdragon 888 Plus processor.

MIX 4 Design

The MIX 4 is positioned as a business flagship and Xiaomi has kept the design clean but classy. The display is slightly curved and the back is covered in ceramic which is now 30% lighter. There is a large square-shaped camera housing on the back that is home to three rear cameras.

Xiaomi will sell the phone in three colors – Ceramic White, Ceramic Gray, and Ceramic Black.

MIX 4 Specifications

The MIX 4 has a 6.67-inch AMOLED 3D curved display with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. The screen is a 10-bit TrueColor panel with a 500,000:1 contrast ratio. Xiaomi says there is also Gorilla Glass Victus protection on the display.

The display uses a micro-diamond pixel technology that reduces pixel sizes and increases pixel brightness. Xiaomi says that the re-designed display allows for better camera zone transparency.

Xiaomi’s new phone is also the first in the world to be powered by the Snapdragon 888+ processor. The chipset is paired with up to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

One of the highlights of the MIX 4 is its in-display camera technology which Xiaomi has dubbed CUP (camera under-panel). It is a 20MP 1.6μm 4-in-1 Super Pixel sensor.

On the rear are three cameras – a 108MP HMX f/1.9 main camera with 7P lens and OIS, an 8MP 50x periscope camera with OIS that offers 5x optical zoom, and last is a 13MP f/2.2 free-form ultra-wide-angle camera. The free-form lens on the ultrawide angle camera means that distortion is reduced to about 1% compared to the 20% on a standard lens.

There is a 4500mAh battery capacity with support for 120W fast charging and 50W wireless charging. The latter has a default mode that takes 45 minutes to charge the phone to 100% while a Boost mode takes just 28 minutes. For wired fast charging, boost mode charges the phone in just 15 minutes while normal mode takes 21 minutes. Xiaomi claims that the maximum rear temperature of the phone while charging at 120W is 37°C.

Xiaomi has equipped the Mi MIX 4 with a cooling technology that has a surface area of 11588mm². It includes a 4584mm² graphene sheet, a 1232mm² graphene heat spreader, a second 5070mm² graphite sheet, and a 702mm² graphite sheet in between the wireless charging coil and the ceramic back.

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The MIX 4 has stereo speakers tuned by Harman Kardon. It also has 19 antennas, support for 42 frequency bands, and a signal optimization mode that works in 8 scenarios where there is usually high traffic such as at the airport, hospital, and subway station. Xiaomi has also added support for 500MHz Ultra Wide Band that allows for precise spatial positioning.

There is also an impressive Find-My-Phone feature that keeps the MIX 4 connected to a network even after the SIM card has been removed. Users will also be able to find the phone if it is turned off.

MIX 4 Price and Availability

The MIX 4 is available in four configurations and below are their prices:

• 8GB RAM + 128GB = ¥4999 (~$770)
• 8GB RAM + 256GB = ¥5299 (~$817)
• 12GB RAM + 256GB = ¥5799 (~$894)
• 12GB RAM + 512GB = ¥6299 (~$972)

The MIX 4 will be available for pre-order starting today and will be available for purchase starting on August 16 at Mi Home stores, Xiaomi’s online store, Youpin, and authorized partners.

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The post Xiaomi MIX 4 packs an in-display camera, Snapdragon 888+, ceramic body, and more for under $800 appeared first on Gizmochina.

OPPO R&D team had first detailed the development of the under-screen camera technology last year. The OPPO Find X2 was expected to pioneer the Camera-Under-Panel (CUP) technology but earlier this month when Shen Yiren was teasing the Find X2, he stated that he would consider mass production. The statement fueled speculations that the under-screen camera may likely not feature on the Find X2. Redmi’s GM Lu Weibing has also added his voice to the discussion about under-screen camera technology.

Weibing released an epistle on Weibo which explains why the technology may not come now. He categorically stated that Camera-Under-Panel (CUP) is far from mass production. The post was preceded by an opinion poll which he conducted to find out what features fans cared about the most.  The options were screen form with particular reference to camera under the screen. Others options are optical zoom, Super-fast charge such as 100W and linear motor. As at the time of filing this report, over 25,000 persons have responded. The screen form(Camera-Under-Panel (CUP)) option is by far the most popular with 15000 persons voting for it.

However, Weibing was quick to release an essay defusing expectations in that regard. He stated that with the current technical capabilities, he could not find an effective solution that combines display effects and camera effects. There is still a long way to go to achieve mass production.

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The Redmi GM threw more light on the benefits of CUP, stating that its application on mobile phones can achieve the real full-screen effect without sacrificing space, but there are still many difficulties currently that hamper the implementation of the technology. Simply put, it is the contradiction between the screen’s PPI and transmittance.

The current screen PPI is about 400 and the light transmittance in a camera is very low. Putting a camera lens under such screen will seriously affect the photo effect. If the PPI around the camera area is lowered and the transmittance is increased, there will be a large gap between the PPI in the camera zome and the PPI of the entire screen. This will cause phenomena such as colour patches in the display area.

Thus, with the current technical capabilities, it is impossible to find an effective solution that takes into account both display effects and camera effects. Xiaomi had first released a CUP-based technology demo in 2019 but it is still far from achieving mass production.

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