At Xiaomi’s big launch event in Beijing today, the company unveiled the Mi Note 2 which was leaked pretty heavily ahead of the launch. But they also announced the Xiaomi Mi MIX, which they are calling a “concept phone”. A bit strange since they are putting this device on sale in just a couple of weeks. Typically, concept phones are just that, a concept. And don’t usually go on sale. Speaking with Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra following the keynote, he wanted to call it a “concept phone” due to the level of innovation they achieved with the device.
The Xiaomi Mi MIX will be available in a limited supply, Barra did not mention exactly how many will be available, but they will be doing a flash sale pretty soon for the device. It’s a bit interesting that the Mi MIX will be in a limited supply, given how proud they are of this phone. But the reason for this is the materials used to make this phone. Most of the materials used in Mi MIX are hand-made. Which means it costs more, and it isn’t as easy or quick, to make the device. As with most smartphones, a machine puts the phone together, and buying parts in bulk is a lot easier than when they are hand-made. It’s important to remember that this smartphone is much more expensive than most of their other smartphones. The Mi MIX starts at 3499 Yuan for the 6GB/128GB model and 3999 Yuan for the 6GB/256GB model (which also features 14k Gold on the back, around the camera). That translates to about $515 USD and $589 USD respectively. Much more expensive than many of Xiaomi’s other smartphones.
For those that may not be aware of its features, the Xiaomi Mi MIX sports a 6.4-inch display, which is 91.3% screen to body ratio. The highest on the market, even higher than Sharp’s “bezel-less” smartphones. They also swapped out the proximity sensor for an ultrasonic one, and dropped the front-facing camera to the bottom of the device, and made the sensor even smaller. As Barra said, it’s not a smartphone without a front-facing camera. It’s a great looking device, and we’ll have one in our hands again soon to put it through its paces.
