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Xiaomi unveils concept phone with near bezel-less display
- ungzd 10y agoNo bezel and no security updates.
- jacek 10y agoYou are probably wrong. Although most Chinese manufacturers do not provide updates, Xiaomi's record has been stellar in this respect.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- tdkl 10y agoXiaomi ships weekly updates on the developer ROM and monthly on the stable release. All phones are on current monthly security Android release. They don't update all phones to newer Android versions, but they do backport MIUI and security patches to older ones. Which is perhaps even better, since older devices don't get bogged down with newer Android releases.
- wh0rth 10y agoI've been wondering when the bezel would disappear for good. I don't doubt that it adds the the appeal of the phone, but I also wonder if it has any downsides from a usability standpoint.
- in_the_sticks 10y agoI've got a Sharp Aquos Crystal. If I use it without a case, it will frequently register touch events on the edges of the screen just from holding it. There's no way to hold it that will prevent this.
- papa_bear 10y agoI have the same issue with my galaxy s7 edge. It's incredibly frustrating to use without a case.
- StRoy 10y agoThat's all really a software issue. The iPad Mini allows you to hold it even with your thumb touching the screen and it works perfectly fine, for example. http://www.slashgear.com/ipad-mini-thumb-rejection-technology-revealed-23253576/ http://www.slashgear.com/ipad-mini-thumb-rejection-technolog... If google integrated that kind of thumb/holding hand rejetection to android (since most android manufacturers seem too incompetent to do it themselves) we could absolutely see an era of bezel-less devices that works fine.
- rawTruthHurts 10y agoWell, that sounds like "we'll fix it in post"
- martin_henk 10y agoIt is probably the same tech as Sharp Crystal phone for Sprint. Foxconn bought Sharp and starts peddling its tech?
- semi-extrinsic 10y agoNo, a friend of mine works in the startup Elliptic Labs that is working with Xiaomi on this. Their tech replaces the usual IR sensor package above the phone screen with an ultrasound based sensor that can sit behind the display.
- martin_henk 10y agoI see... Would like to know how they do the bezel less part construction wise. Sharp uses the topglass as a kind of lens. That lenseffect 'covers' the actual bezel beneath...
- neals 10y agoWithout the bezels, all our phones will look the same. We'll be holding a slab of pixels with some OS, with some voice-activated assistent, with some apps. More or less the same. Even more so than now.
- masklinn 10y agoLGTM, ship it.
- kbody 10y agoPersonally, I'm more function over form so and I can't imagine having a bezel-less phone that won't be a nightmare to use (using one hand).
- JoelBennett 10y agoThat's what I wonder about as well. I suppose with some smarts, it might be possible to ignore touches along the edge when it is held a certain way, but why unnecessarily complicate things? Even a 4 mm bezel would be fine.
- inlineint 10y agoI think machine learning can be employed to filter out accidental touches from the meaningful ones. It is already done in iPad Pro that allows to use Apple Pencil while holding your hand on the screen, and still detects meaningful touches.
- jafingi 10y agoApple also implemented the same feature when the iPad mini (2012) came out [1] [1] http://www.imore.com/ipad-mini-has-advanced-software-detect-unintended-touches-around-screens-bezel http://www.imore.com/ipad-mini-has-advanced-software-detect-...
- semi-extrinsic 10y agos/machine learning/bunch of if-then-else statements/
- imaginenore 10y agoSharp did it 2 years ago with their Aquos Crystal Image: http://resize.indiatvnews.com/en/centered/oldbucket/750_533/businessindia/Sharp-launches-13937.jpg http://resize.indiatvnews.com/en/centered/oldbucket/750_533/...
- OverThere 10y agoDid anyone actually use this phone? If so, what are your thoughts?
- dogma1138 10y agoNo, mostly because the screen and the hardware were actually pretty bad. The phone looked good (if you like the design) but everything else was really poor.
- in_the_sticks 10y agoIt was fine if you kept it in a case. That protects from the errant touch events I mentioned in another comment here, as well as making it so I don't have to look at the back cover. Maybe unrelated, I've had the phone for probably two years (it supposedly came out two years ago as well - didn't think I bought a brand new phone but I guess I did). Recently (past month or so), it's started rebooting at random throughout the day. I'd do a factory reset if I didn't dread the thought of dealing with all of my 2FA stuff.
- tdkl 10y ago> didn't dread the thought of dealing with all of my 2FA stuff That's where Authy backup is gold.
- mtw 10y agoI really like the design (better imho than Google Pixel). Hope they get some success and Apple/Google/Samsung take note to refresh with newer designs
- dingo_bat 10y ago> better imho than Google Pixel That's not saying much at all.
- cbr 10y agoI had thought people we're pretty excited about the new Pixel phone? Like http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/18/13304090/google-pixel-phone-review-pixel-xl http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/18/13304090/google-pixel-pho... etc. Or am I just in a bubble as a Google employee, where I hear disproportionately good responses to our stuff?
- skykooler 10y agoMost responses I've seen were along the lines of "decent specs but it looks just like an iPhone."
- tdkl 10y agoPerhaps excited before it came out and the price was announced. Also The Verge != people. It's a great Android phone, but since iPhone costs the same and they've upped the ante with i7 this year (stereo speakers, waterproofness), there's not much pro points toward the Pixel. Support stays the same, two years of update, one extra for security and then you're dead in the water, compared to 4-5 years with iPhone. Unless you really love the Google bubble with AI and data collection.
- rifung 10y ago> Unless you really love the Google bubble with AI and data collection. I know this might come as a surprise but some people prefer Android to iOS. The Pixel seems to fare well compared to other Android phones, especially when you don't want any skins.
- curiousgal 10y agoThe problem with most chinese brands (Xiaomi, Mijue, etc.) is the non-existing software updates.
- devereaux 10y agoYou have a very biased view. The real problem with phones made for China is that they don't support LTE bands from North America. That's bad because I would love to have such a nice phone, but not at the expense of going back to 3G.
- Illniyar 10y agoMy hauwei got android 6 a few months ago. Definitely a long wait, but they update regularly as far as I know.
- ewheeler 10y agoI have the Xiaomi Mi4C, which gets an OTA update every week. Most changes are cosmetic, but typically includes substantive android security updates at least monthly.
- voltagex_ 10y agoInterestingly, my Mi4C never received OTA updates because there was a typo in "update.xiaomi.com" in the stock firmware.
- vayan 10y agoNot the case for Xiaomi... weekly updates
- nicolewhite 10y agoInteresting that they're sticking with the Note brand. You'd think they'd want to distance themselves from that as people have already associated Note with phones that catch on fire. But perhaps their target market is focused enough that misinformation won't be an issue.
- djrogers 10y agoGiven that this is a company who's product line is largely based on stealing stuff rather than native innovation, it's not surprising that they are still using the Note branding they stole from Samsung. Let's just hope hey don't steal the 'burst in to flames' feature too.
- Karunamon 10y agoI can't possibly be the only one that laments the fact that all smartphones look basically the same after the iPhone took off. Candybar slates with massive screens and questionable batteries and life. No sliders, no flips, nothing new or interesting in hardware. Now, only featureless slabs with barely a physical button in sight, differentiated more by the images they display on screen and less their components. Eventually we'll wind up with a phone that's all screen and no bezel, and then where do we go? It feels like we lost something.
- akavi 10y agoThen they become commodities, the price falls to levels we could never imagine now, and use cases open up we could never imagine now. At the limit: ubiquitous, cheap, smart, connected displays. Seems like it could be pretty cool.
- GFischer 10y agoYou're not the only one. But most diversions from the norm failed :( and large companies are afraid to innovate. LG's attempts are weird. My hope is now on Chinese companies like Xiaomi to do something different :) Also, Google hinders innovation by preventing hardware buttons. I miss the Photo button from my old Nokias the most, but also to answer the phone and other functions.
- morsch 10y agoHow is Google preventing hardware buttons? Sony's most recent phones (Xperia X) have dedicated photo buttons; and that's a longstanding Xperia feature. I doubt they're the only ones. Android defaults to on-screen bottom-row buttons (to reduce bezel size), but the OS supports off-screen buttons just fine, and phones with dedicated buttons exist.
- GFischer 10y agoI'm obviously mistaken then, sorry. I believe I read that at one time there were some rules or guidelines for hardware manufacturers that wanted to be Google certified (and have Play Store and all that). I'm trying to google that and coming up short, so I must have been confused.
- LeifCarrotson 10y agoThings I don't particularly care about in a phone: - Bezel size - Weight - Thickness - Manufacturer-specific apps and skins - Screen resolution beyond that of my eyes - Fastest possible processor Things I care about in a phone: - Ability to make calls - Battery life - Replaceable battery - Fits in my pocket - Expandable storage - Durable - Decent camera - Inexpensive - Gets security updates And what do the latest phones feature? Super-thin, super-light phones with consequently small batteries that are overburdened by enormous screens and processors that could run a laptop, and screens that would also fit a laptop. They cost $600 and more, when nearly-equivalent technology can bring the cost down to less than half that. At least we're getting better cameras (though this would be easier with thicker phones) and waterproofing for durability. Wireless charging also seems to help with the longevity of the ports.
- agumonkey 10y agoAs others said. Things people care about are not what people end up buying. Follow the money.
- SparkyMcUnicorn 10y agoLast I heard, wireless charging wore out batteries a lot faster. Is that still the case?
- aembleton 10y agoWith Android there is such a huge choice of different phones that you can find one close to the one you'd like. Many people would like a thin high resolution display and don't care about many of the things you care about. They can buy different phones to you. Personally, I agree with your requirements and as a result have settled for the 2GB version of the Moto G (3rd gen) http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_moto_g_(3rd_gen)-7247.php http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_moto_g_(3rd_gen)-7247.php Sadly, the 4th generation isn't waterproof. So far I'm happy with it and as is it is close to stock should get updates sooner.
- mey 10y agoAfter Motorola got sold to Lenovo by Google, I have not recieved a single software update for my moto x 2014 Killed the brand in my eyes
- tdkl 10y agoVideo of the phone in action : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgXjklyo5Is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgXjklyo5Is Not exactly bezel-less like on the photos, but still interesting.
- tdkl 10y agoEven better look by MKBHD: https://youtu.be/m7plA1ALkQw https://youtu.be/m7plA1ALkQw Seems they went all in and sent the phone to some prominent YouTube reviewers as well.
- Tepix 10y agoThis gorgeous phone has a 2040x1080 17:9 6.4" 360ppi display. That's a new form factor I haven't seen anywhere else. As long as the phone is not used for VR, 360ppi is plenty. Regarding the front camera placement, that's somewhat inconvenient, on the other hand I don't use the front camera that much. If Apple manages to integrate the home button into the display (as rumored) they could make the usable area even larger than 91.3%.
- tromp 10y agoTo see how impressive 91.3% is, just look at this table https://08-08-08.com/2016/06/12/screen_to_bezel_mid_2016/ https://08-08-08.com/2016/06/12/screen_to_bezel_mid_2016/ where phones are absolutely struggling to reach a mere 79%...
- OrwellianChild 10y agoI agree - I think it looks really striking. The odd aspect ratio actually lets them have a standard 16x9 ratio screen above the software button row at the bottom.
- idanb 10y agoI recently bought a Samsung Edge for Samsung Gear development, and went abroad for a few weeks so ended up using it with the SIM card for that country while still keeping my phone alive. Apart from the benefits of the edge "design" not being too relevant for me, the biggest issue I had was accidentally hitting notifications when I pulled the phone out of my pocket. At one point I somehow accidentally deleted an app, or something that resulted in the app being removed from the phone entirely. Granted I was travelling, doing a lot of hiking and so perhaps it was more aggressive handling than normal - but in general I found that not having an edge on the phone really hindered my ability to use it, and forced me to be extra careful in handling of the phone in regular use as well as when I pulled it out of my pocket or back in. I've been seeing a lot of these "edge less" screens and a lot of other features that people don't really care about, with a move away from what customers actually want. Like removing the headphone port in the iPhone 7 or going in this direction with edge to edge screens and making the phone thinner and thinner but faster and faster (meaning less battery life, and spottier performance since the CPU needs to be throttled). Smart phones have been a commodity for a bit now - and the important things are the incremental improvements in battery life, performance, screen resolutions and graphics, networking efficiency and most importantly the services that power the phone which is effectively a way to access the internet.
- matt_wulfeck 10y agoI had a similar issue with places Android phones typically place a standalone "back" button, the bottom right of a phone. When reaching across the phone with my thumb I would constantly bump this back button. The experience was so frustrating on a Galaxy S3 that I change to an iPhone. I wondered if they have done enough user experience researching how people use the phone. I can't believe I'm the only person who ran into this issue. It's something I've come to admire with Apple products. They're very polished and I rarely run into experiences like what I had bumping the back button on my old S3.
- idanb 10y agoThat drove me crazy too - cap-sense buttons have been largely a customer experience fail, so not sure why it's gone on this long. I'm a big fan of the tactile "bump" feedback, and it's way too easy to do something by accident for even the most careful user. It's funny how Apple did the "no buttons thing" because they were responding to a tech ecosystem that had a button for everything at the cost of the user getting overwhelmed. However, now there's no sanity in the other direction - with people avoiding buttons and making things so streamlined that they're harder to use. In every age there's an innovate response to a cliche, but ultimately this becomes a cliche in of itself :)
- pault 10y agoI want a _monitor_ with a bezel-less display. Do they exist?
- khedoros1 10y agoIt seems like a few get pretty close. The Dell U2417H and Benq EW2750ZL look nice, if small bezel is what you're looking for (24" and 27" respectively, but those are just examples).
- redwards510 10y agoI've read forums about hardcore gamers who remove the bezels on certain monitors in order to group them together for seamless FPS displays. You can probably find it by searching.
- pault 10y agoYeah, this is my use case. I've seen a few of those setups and they're not bad. I want to max out the resolution on a single geforce 1080 (7680 x 4320) with 3 4k monitors in portrait mode.
- ruipgil 10y agoSharp had a similar phone. Samsung had the Edge, which is near bezel-less from the sides. And those are not concept phones, at least the edge is not. Sarcastically, the success of these phones are dictated by how reliably they can be used, not by the size of their bezel.
- joshmn 10y agoSigh. My dream phone: Palm Pre, an upgraded display (5" would be perfect), the Play Store (but on WebOS), an extended battery, and no keyboard. Please, hardware Gods, hear me.
- hawski 10y agoI hope that bezel-less-ness race will result in irrelevance of hardware form. What I care the most is the software. Hardware now is mostly good enough. Than maybe they would go die and it would be just like PC-s. I just want to have something good enough with reasonably supported software. Is it wishful thinking? Or are we close? I know that they still can push crapware.
- dmix 10y agoWhat a beautiful phone. I've wanted to get a Xiaomi phone to play around with for a long time. It's a shame they're so hard to get a hold of in North America. Need more friends in China...
- alexc05 10y agoI don't know, how "tightly coupled" is the glass of that screen with the rest of the device? I have an iPad pro. When the screen grew a crack, I called to inquire about the cost of a replacement screen and was quoted at roughly 2/3 the price of a new device. god bless the woman at Apple support who "pulled a string for me" and issued an RMA. the replacement has also grown a hairline fracture despite what I would consider "careful use" (which I am fully aware makes it look like a PEBCAK issue, but I'm standing by my claim that I knew how lucky I was and have in no way tempted fate) I'd happily trade a bezel-less design for one where the screen could be swapped for a fiver. (Or one that doesn't crack at all I guess!)
- adventurer 10y agoI'm curious to know if any phone is made like this. The Surface is also almost impossible to replace on your own and about the same cost as you mention.
- slacka 10y agoAs long as the touch sensor is extents past the display, the bezel can be a very useful feature for touch-screen based devices. Having swipes that begin off screen for OS-level commands like pulling down the notification bar or switching apps is a very intuitive and logical gesture. Without a bezel, you have to go back to needing off-screen buttons for these actions.
- deadfish 10y agoI once owned Xiaomi mi2 (their second phone) and the usb socket melted when charging. After I posted it on Chinese twitter they were quick to offer a refund. I hope their quality has improved since then. I guess at least the battery didn't explode :D
- xHopen 10y agoIt's a horrible design