Xiaomi announces Mix 4 with underscreen camera

Xiaomi has announced the Mix 4, the first phone in the Mi Mix series to be announced in almost three years. Mix phones have always been bezel-less designs with see-through screens, and the Mix 4 continues this idea by releasing a technology Xiaomi has been working on for a long time: a selfie camera located directly below the screen.

Xiaomi calls this CUP (Camera Under Panel) technology, although it’s similar to the under-screen selfie cameras we’ve seen from other companies. Like Oppo and ZTE’s latest efforts, the Mix 4’s screen has a 400 ppi area that lets light pass through to the selfie camera, which Xiaomi describes as “virtually invisible”. The camera is 20 megapixels and the screen is a 6.67-inch 120Hz 1080p curved OLED panel.

Xiaomi says that CUP is “a technology iterated over three major generations, five years, sixty patents, an investment of $ 77 million and hundreds of engineers.” Last year, the company pledged to start mass-producing smartphones with its third-generation under-screen camera technology in 2021, so it delivers on that promise with the Mix 4. Xiaomi demonstrated for the first time his take on the idea in 2019.

The Mix 4 is the first phone to be announced with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 888 Plus processor, an accelerated version of the flagship 888 chip with a maximum clock speed of 3 GHz. (Honor has previously said it will use the 888 Plus in the Magic 3, but this phone has yet to be revealed in its entirety.) The processor is paired with 8GB or 12GB of RAM and 128GB, 256GB. or 512 GB of storage.

The camera system revolves around a 108-megapixel Samsung HMX sensor, suggesting similar or identical performance to the slightly outdated Mi 11 but still quite good. There’s also a 13-megapixel ultra-wide telephoto lens and an 8-megapixel 5x periscope telephoto lens.

The Mix 4 has a 4,500mAh battery that can charge up to 120W wired and 50W wireless. This isn’t Xiaomi’s first phone with 120W fast charging, but it might be the fastest – Xiaomi claims the battery will fully charge in under 15 minutes, compared to 23 minutes for the Mi 10 Ultra from last year. 50W wireless charging, on the other hand, will take 28 minutes to reach 100%.

Xiaomi will only confirm a mainland Chinese launch for the Mix 4 so far. Pre-orders will begin there tomorrow with general availability on August 16, and pricing starts at 4,999 yuan (~ $ 770) for one model. 8GB / 128GB, up to 6,299 yuan (~ $ 970) for 12GB / 512GB.