Xiaomi’s first smartphone without physical buttons spotted

Xiaomi has been long-rumoured to be working on a button-less smartphone. A few initial rumours suggested this smartphone would be a part of the Xiaomi MIX series, but the company reportedly abandoned its plan for a smartphone without buttons after testing it. The Chinese company may have resumed its plans for a button-less smartphone, the prototype of which has allegedly leaked.

Codenamed ‘Wangshu’, the button-less smartphone from Xiaomi has appeared in some leaked images. While the authenticity of these images cannot be verified, Gizmochina reported that a user shared these photographs on China’s CoolAPK forum along with its specifications. While the phone has a USB-C port on the bottom, it is rid of any physical buttons – one of the upcoming innovations in smartphones that will work through nascent technologies such as eye movements or hand gestures.

Existing smartphones from brands such as Realme have embedded technologies, allowing users to navigate the menu and apps through hand movements. Apple ’s upcoming iOS 18 operating system will also enable eligible iPhone models to support navigation through eye movements. However, these technologies are experimental and available as an additional way to operate the phone’s operating system. Xiaomi’s alleged smartphone could make these technologies standard, doing away with buttons entirely.

The report suggested ‘Wangshu’ uses Qualcomm’s last year's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, has an under-screen camera, and supports a 4500mAh battery with 200W fast wired charging. Its curved display could have a 2K 120Hz LTPO panel. It also has the MIX branding on the bottom trim, so it will likely be a part of Xiaomi’s foldable series as and when it becomes commercially available.

Since Xiaomi has not confirmed the existence of a phone without buttons, it is advisable to take this information with a pinch of salt. These leaked images also do not guarantee the phone’s launch considering Xiaomi has tested several such prototypes previously and not launched them.