It's almost time for the Mobile World Congress (MWC) and with it, the last bunch of rumours about major smartphones and OEMs, in general, have started doing the rounds.
One such ‘rumour’ from Xiaomi has just made its way to the internet. An official-looking banner revealing the much anticipated Mi Mix 2S has been posted on Weibo.
As a reminder, it’s almost confirmed that Xiaomi will not bring its blue-eyed boy, the Mi 7, to MWC floors. Instead, the Chinese electronics giant will introduce a revamped Mi Mix 2, dubbed the Mi Mix 2S.
As per the poster, the Mi Mix 2S will feature a distinct change as opposed to the original. The front-facing camera that was found on the bottom-right corner on the Mi Mix 2 has now made its way up to the opposite corner on the Mi Mix 2S.
This is a significant change in the design profile of the smartphone and something for which it has always been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism. The “nostril” cam as it is popularly known as, was an awkward placement for the front-camera. However, it did allow some leeway because of which Xiaomi was able to provide tiny bezels on the phone. On the first generation Mi Mix, the bezels were barely noticeable, which made it susceptible to accidental touches.
All through the two generations of this smartphone, the only constant that remains is the weird front-facing camera.
Last year we also saw other OEMs tackling this particular situation, with companies like Essential having placed the camera at the top centre of the display which looked like a cutout. Apple managed the same albeit with a larger cutout area for placing their true depth camera system.
Xiaomi’s latest update to this predicament seems to be a (literally) curved edge display, according to the leaked banner. It is calling this the Full Screen Design 3.0. There’s a 5.99-inch front panel like the Mi Mix 2 with just a slight modification on the right edge that now houses the front-facing camera.
Another interesting thing that caught our eye was the non-existent fingerprint sensor on the phone, which was present on the back in the original Mix 2. Now, there’s no confirmation on this, but it could also mean an under-display fingerprint sensor will be used.
Other information that one can draw from the leaked render is that the Mix 2S will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 making it the first smartphone to have that chipset. It will have 8GB of RAM and an onboard storage of 256GB.
The Mi Mix 2 is already one of the best looking phones. If this render is to be believed, this update fills in some gaps that were existential for the phone.
More will be revealed as the MWC draws closer. The event is scheduled to be held in Barcelona from 26 February to 1 March.
