The upcoming Xiaomi Mi 11 is expected to be the first of many flagship phones toting the next-gen Snapdragon 888 chipset, and it's possible that we'll see the handset very soon.
We just got an information dump from esteemed leaker @UniverseIce, which shines some light on the new phone – and floats the possibility of a major design upgrade that we haven't considered previously.
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Exclusive: Xiaomi Mi 11, the first mobile phone with Snapdragon 888, will be released at the end of December, with a four-curved screen design, which is its protective film. pic.twitter.com/fYbWq8tSUBDecember 3, 2020
Firstly, the leak says that the Xiaomi Mi 11 could be launched as early as December (not February, as we were expecting), and use the Snapdragon 888 chipset. We've already heard a rumor suggesting the former, and Xiaomi itself has confirmed the latter, so neither of these revelations are exactly earth-shattering.
More interesting, perhaps, is @UniverseIce's claim that the phone will have a 'four-curved screen design', presumably meaning its display will taper at all four edges, not just at the sides, as is the case with most curved-edge phones.
The only other recent phone to offer this is the Huawei P40 Pro from earlier this year – although on that phone only the physical screen curved at the top and bottom, not the viewable area. Apart from aesthetics, a display like this would likely also help with how natural swipes feel, which are an integral part of how Android 11 is navigated.
Even more Xiaomi Mi 11 leaks
隔壁骁龙888迭代工程机竞品是小米11，对比下硬件优势是120w有线闪充，50mp影像系统可能也强一点。劣势是没有无线充和屏幕素质，马达有升级，其它拉不开太大差距👖December 3, 2020
In addition to the above leak, Digital Chat Station, has shared what it says are some of the Xiaomi Mi 11's internal specifications – the following is based on a machine-translated version of the tweet.
They claim that the phone will support 120W fast charging, a feature that has made an appearance only on the Mi 10 Ultra until now, though that phone wasn't made available outside China. Wireless charging, however, might not make the cut.
DCS also says the phone will miss out on a 108MP camera, which we've seen on other Xiaomi phones, and instead getting a new 50MP sensor, something we've heard before. It’s too early to say if this change will be an upgrade or a downgrade, as some of the best camera phones of this year have come with 50MP primary camera.
Overall, it seems like Xiaomi is betting big on the Mi 11, and not just playing it safe this time. This isn’t really surprising, as the phone is going to be quickly followed by other Snapdragon 888 handsets, such as the Samsung Galaxy S21, which is set to land just a few weeks later.
