Xiaomi has debuted another innovative smartphone with the announcement of the Mi Mix Alpha with a 108MP camera and an almost all-screen design.  

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The front, side, and back of the Mi Mix Alpha are almost entirely display with just a strip housing the 108MP camera with the highest resolution, highest pixel count, and the largest sensor found in any smartphone to date. 

"108MP camera world debut - another milestone for smartphone photography."

The main 108MP camera sports a 1/1.33-inch large sensor which is capable of producing 108MP photos with a resolution of 12032 x 9024 pixels and supports four-in-one Super Pixel to produce large 1.6μm pixels under low-light conditions. The camera also supports new technologies such as ISOCELL Plus and smart ISO and is equipped with four-axis optical image stabilisation (OIS) to ensure stable videos.

In addition to the 108MP camera, Mi MIX Alpha also has a 20MP ultra wide-angle camera which supports 1.5 cm super macro photography, and a 12MP telephoto camera that supports 2x optical zoom and Dual PD focus.

There's no standalone selfie camera as the rear camera is essentially the front camera, too. 

Mi Mix Alpha Camera Features:

• 108MP camera module
• 12032x9024 pixels
• 1/1.33" image sensor size
• 4-axis OIS
• 12MP telephoto camera
• 2X optical zoom
• 20MP ultra-wide-angle camera
• 1.5cm macro mode
• Flicker sensor
• Laser focus

To accommodate the nearly all-screen offering, the Mi Mix Alpha has minimal bezels on the top and bottom and ditches the physical side buttons altogether. Instead, the sides of the smartphone are pressure-sensitive and leverage a linear motor to simulate the touch of real buttons. A brand-new display acoustic technology replaces the traditional earpiece receiver and proximity sensor, too. 

As you can imagine, the innovative technology behind the display meant a new method of device assembly was required. Commenting on the construction method, Xiaomi said: "Unlike traditional smartphone assembly methods, Mi MIX Alpha’s internal assembly is first carried out, while its display layer, touch panel, and protection layers are laminated one-by-one. All display component layers are compiled in that order to achieve high curvature Surround Display design, so the internal stress caused by bending the display layers can be released layer by layer. To achieve a smooth and flat surface, Mi MIX Alpha also uses a durable protective layer which optimizes the screen stack structure."

In addition to its innovative Surround Display, Mi MIX Alpha’s top and bottom parts of the frame are built with aerospace-grade titanium alloy. The alloy is three times stronger than stainless steel but weighs less. On its back, the entire protective cover for the camera area uses a single piece of sapphire glass, which is embedded in ceramic.

Other standout features include the 4050mAh battery, 12GB+512GB memory/storage combination, Snapdragon 855+ mobile SoC and its 5G ready (for the three major carriers in Mainland China). 

Pricing & Availability 

Xiaomi aims to start small-scale production for Mi MIX Alpha at the end of December and retails at RMB 19,999 which is around £2257 and quite a lot more money than the Samsung Galaxy Fold and yet-to-be-released, Huawei Mate X. 

Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha Photos of Equipment