As Xiaomi prepares to announce the Mi MiX 3 later this month. Xiaomi is opening up regarding its history of Mi MiX devices over the past few years. Xiaomi’s Global Spokesman, Donovan Sung, had some things to get off of his chest regarding the development of the Mi MiX series of devices over the past few years. In addition to that, he had announced that Xiaomi had their pop-up camera design patented in 2015 and the Mi MiX 3’s design is a result of it. In a tweet, Donovan said…
Background on Mi MIX: As early as 2015, we applied for a patent for a popup camera, and made some test devices. We ultimately chose the sliding form factor for
#MiMIX3 to lay the groundwork for an even better full screen display experience, especially for photography. – Donovan Sung, Xiaomi
Xiaomi’s Mi MiX first made its debut back in October 2016. When the phone first launched, the phone attracted a ton of attention for its bezel-less design and had officially kick-started the bezel-less revolution following Sharp Aquos Crystal.
Considering that Xiaomi has pop-up cameras patented in 2015 (above images are prototypes of the first Mi MiX 3), that means that Xiaomi was unable to make the pop-up camera design a feature back then due to how the phone would be unaccepted by a number of users. Xiaomi was forced to push the front-facing camera at the bottom right corner of the device which inevitably forced the existence of the chin in an otherwise bezel-less device. As time passed by and now that Vivo has launched the Nex S, it seems like Xiaomi was more than confident to follow along and even improve on it with the Mi MiX 3.
With the Mi MiX 3, Xiaomi’s going all out on the pop-up camera mechanism. Unlike the mechanism found on Vivo’s NEX S, Xiaomi’s iteration of pop-up cameras requires users to manually extend the frame of the device to expose the camera sensor. What this help Xiaomi with is the fact that the Mi MiX 3 no longer requires a motor to self-extend and retract unlike the Vivo NEX and Oppo Find X. While it’s certainly susceptible to issues, it’s definitely better than Oppo’s and Vivo’s offerings when it comes to the build quality of the Mi MiX 3.
Xiaomi’s Mi MiX 3 is certainly looking like an incredible device. Not only are we expecting to see 5G capabilities with the Mi MiX 3, but are also looking forward to the 10GB RAM present on the device when it debuts at the Mi MiX 3 keynote on October the 25th.
