The Xiaomi Mi 11T could boast two innovative upgrades to beat the iPhone 13
Under-display cameras and UWB
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The smartphone market doesn’t stand still for long, and we’re already looking forward to what theXiaomi Mi 11Tflagship might have in store – in particular, two innovations that would put it on a par or ahead of every other handset on the market.
According to well-known tipster Digital Chat Station on Chinese social network Weibo (viaPhoneArena), a future Xiaomi flagship is going to feature both an under-display selfie camera and ultra-wideband (UWB) support to help it stand out from the crowd.
That in-screen camera is a rumorwe’ve heard beforein regards to future Xiaomi phones, and the technology is also supposedly coming to handsets such as theSamsung Galaxy S22. You can actually get under-display selfie cameras on smartphones today – they justdon’t work very well.
As for ultra-wideband support, the short range communications protocol has been built into recent iPhones, and is the main technology offered by theApple AirTags. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Xiaomi was planning some tracking devices of its own.
Choose your flagship
The original leak suggests that these features are coming to a Xiaomi handset this year – that makes us think the Xiaomi Mi 11T is the most likely beneficiary, as the follow-up to theXiaomi Mi 11is scheduled to arrive around September time.
On the other hand, Xiaomi might decide to delay the implementation of under-display cameras and ultra-wideband until theXiaomi Mi 12is ready. That particular phone isn’t due to launch until the start of 2022, if Xiaomi sticks to its usual schedule.
It really is a question of when not if though: in-screen cameras and UWB are two of the hottest bits of smartphone tech at the moment, and Xiaomi isn’t usually shy about pushing the newest features out to its phones as soon as they’re available.
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So where will that leave theiPhone 13? The upcomingApplehandset will undoubtedly feature ultra-wideband in some form, so it can fully support the AirTags, but we don’t expect Apple to introduce in-screen selfie camerasfor a while yet.
Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.
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