Xiaomi is trying to steal some of Samsung's thunder.
The company announced on Chinese social media site Weibo that it plans to launch a new smartphone called Mi Mix 4 on Aug. 10 — just a day before Samsung's Unpacked event on Aug. 11.
The announcement doesn't have a lot of details besides saying that the Mi Mix 4 is the "engineer's ideal of technology" and "designer's dedication to aesthetics" (according to a machine translation of the Chinese post).
We can, however, take a look at previous Mi Mix phones to see what we can expect. This line of smartphones is typically where Xiaomi lets its designers think outside the box — for example, the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha from 2019 was basically one massive screen, while the Mi Mix 3, which launched in 2018, was a phone with tiny bezels and a slide-out selfie camera.
Also, previous rumors indicate that the Xiaomi Mi Mix 4 might be the first Xiaomi smartphone with an under-display camera. Incidentally (or not), China's Oppo today announced the new version of its under-display camera tech, which makes the camera near-invisible while still producing decent-quality photos.
Xiaomi might also launch other devices alongside the Mi Mix 4 at the event, as well as a new version of its MIUI Android skin.
Xiaomi has had a great year so far, having recently become the second largest smartphone maker in the world with a 17 percent market share, overtaking Apple and breathing down the neck of Samsung which is still number one. Also, according to Strategy Analytics' latest report, Xiaomi has become the largest smartphone vendor in Europe in the second quarter of 2021. The company has built a reputation around its excellent budget and mid-range phones, but analysts say its major priority this year is to increase sales of its high-end devices, such as the Mi Mix 4.
