Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 wants to steal the spotlight again

Xiaomi's smartphones always makes headlines, even in markets where it doesn't sell those phones. But two years ago, one of its more expensive new models sent ripples through the smartphone market that can be felt even today. That was the Mi Mix, the precursor to today's breed of bezel-less smartphones. Since then, the Mi Mix and even its successor, the Mi Mix 2, have been overshadowed by such all-screen smartphones. Xiaomi is aiming to regain that former glory by outfitting the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 with some rather "interesting" features.

Leave it to Chinese OEMs to dare to be different, which is somewhat ironic given how they have been accused of copying Apple for the longest time. At least in some hardware features, companies like Vivo were the first to push the envelope, like 6 and 8 GB of RAM, for example. With the Mi Mix 3, Xiaomi is going for the gold with a whopping 10 GB of RAM. It's probably going to be debatable whether you will really need that much but Xiaomi is saying that you can at least have that much.

A bit more down to earth is its teaser for 5G support. Now, that evolution in mobile networks and smartphones is only a matter of time and adoption. It'll hardly explode in the next year or two though, given the slow rollout of network support. A few smartphone makers, however, have no qualms using it as the next marketing slogan. You won't miss it much if your next phone doesn't have 5G support yet.

These features, however, are all being framed in the same context: that the Mi Mix 3 is more than just about a slider phone. Xiaomi knows too well that people will fixate on that feature more than anything else. And you can't really blame them if they make that sliding action and sound as addictive as a fidget spinner.

Xiaomi also hinted at some AI action happening when you slide open the Mi Mix 3, though that aspect has actually never been leaked, strangely enough. Whether its other features will be enough to stop people from focusing too much on the slider phone is something we'll have to wait until October 25 to find out.