Theunis Jansen van Rensburg·
GadgetsTechnologyXiaomi

New Xiaomi Mi Mix to launch with a liquid lens camera

The Xiaomi Mi Mix moniker is typically used by the Chinese smartphone manufacturer for their experimental smartphones – the last one, called the Mi Mix Alpha, was essentially a large display wrapped around a phone. Xiaomi will launch a new Mi Mix on March 29th, and it will be the camera setup that gets the experimental treatment this time around.

Read: Apple may launch a rugged smartwatch this year

The new smartphone will launch with a new liquid lens camera. We have no idea what the new smartphone will look like, but Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun revealed that it will be the first smartphone to come with a camera that has a liquid lens. So, what is a liquid lens camera?

The liquid lens, which Xiaomi developed themselves, can “precisely control the shape of the liquid spherical surface through a motor to achieve precise and rapid focusing. At the same time, it has the characteristics of high light transmittance, ultra-low dispersion and resistance to extreme environments.” In simple terms, that means that the lens can adapt depending on what it will be used for – it can serve as both a macro and a telephoto lens, for example.

This new Xiaomi Mi Mix will launch on alongside the company’s new flagships, the Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro and Mi 11 Ultra.

According to previous rumours, the Mi Mix will be a foldable smartphone running the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor. It will most likely share most other specs with the Mi 11 range of smartphones as well, meaning it will be a proper flagship device.

Liquid lenses have been around for a number of years, but they’re typically found in industrial applications where traditional lenses with moving mechanical parts might wear out too quickly. In smartphones, the technology has the potential to combine two or more of the lenses on the back of the phone into one lens. The back of smartphones has become a nightmare to trypophobia sufferers with up to four or five lenses on the back. It opens up some interesting design possibilities, which could see more simple, elegant smartphone designs return.