Will you buy a Xiaomi Mi 14 made of titanium alloy and ceramic?

How to make a mobile phone look and feel more premium? The key is the borders. In order to make the frame feel better, mobile phone manufacturers are also racking their brains to try various materials. This material must not only be light, but also have high enough anti-fall strength to cushion and protect the phone when it falls. effect.

There was news earlier that this year’s new digital flagship series of Xiaomi will be released earlier, and we are likely to see the release of the Xiaomi 14 series before Double Eleven. Although the specific configuration has not yet been announced, various gossips are endless. The famous digital blogger Digital Chat Station revealed: "At the end of the year, flagship phones will all use new materials. It has long been said that the fruit will be made of titanium alloy. , the grain factory’s big cup will also have a titanium alloy version.”

Source: Weibo

Among the main mobile phone brands, there is no one other than Xiaomi that is called a grain factory. With the news of the early release of the Xiaomi Mi 14 series this year, it is basically certain that the Xiaomi Mi 14 series will be equipped with a titanium alloy version, but only for the Xiaomi Mi 14. Pro, the price and positioning of the standard version are obviously not suitable for high-end materials such as titanium alloy.

It is still unclear whether Xiaomi Mi 14 Pro will be equipped with titanium alloy as standard across the board, or whether it will launch a special titanium alloy version. What is certain is that we may see more and more titanium alloy in the high-end mobile phone market. "Titanium alloy".

Can titanium alloy save flagship phones?

In the past few years, special alloy steel has been the first choice for high-end iPhone and Android mobile phones. However, as the imaging modules of mobile phones become heavier and heavier, the weight of today’s flagship mobile phones has once again approached 250 grams. Many users are complaining that the feel of mobile phones is far inferior to that of a few years ago. In order to control the weight of mobile phones, mobile phone designers must find a new material to replace the current special alloy steel, and titanium alloy has become the first choice.

Earlier, it was revealed that the iPhone 15 series will launch a new model named iPhone 15 Ultra. As a new product with a higher positioning than the Pro series, the iPhone 15 Ultra is said to use a new generation of titanium. Alloy frame reduces the weight of the phone and improves drop resistance.

Source: Smartprix Note: iPhone 15 Ultra concept image

However, iPhone 15 Ultra is doomed It will not be the first mainstream mobile phone company to put its thoughts on titanium alloy. Not to mention that luxury mobile phone brands such as Rittal have already used titanium alloy in their products. In the Honor Magic V2 folding screen mobile phone released in July this year , Honor has taken the lead in applying titanium alloy to mobile phone design, using 3D printing technology to create a titanium alloy hinge shell. It is thin and light and has excellent drop resistance, making the Honor Magic V2 the lightest and thinnest folding screen currently. cell phone.

Prior to this, the titanium alloy shell of Apple Watch Ultra has also become the biggest difference between it and ordinary Apple Watch. Thanks to the application of titanium alloy material, the Apple Watch Ultra has a case size of 49 mm. With a larger screen, a larger battery, and more sensors, it is less than 10 grams heavier than the stainless steel version of Apple Watch Series 8.

Source: Apple

Moreover, according to user feedback, Apple Watch Ultra is more resistant to drops and scratches The performance in other aspects is far better than other versions of Apple Watch. With the Apple Watch Ultra at the forefront, when the news spread that the iPhone 15 series would launch a titanium alloy version, the only thing left for users was "expectation."

Of course, judging from the information currently exposed, the starting price of the iPhone 15 Ultra with titanium alloy frame will be as high as 9,999 yuan, which is a price that may be unacceptable to most people. Similarly, considering that the starting price of Xiaomi Mi 14 Pro will most likely not be higher than 4,999 yuan, I think Xiaomi Mi 14 Pro is unlikely to use titanium alloy frames across the board, but will launch a special edition like Xiaomi MIx Fold 3.

The weight of the previous generation Xiaomi 13 Pro was 229 grams, while the weight of Xiaomi 13 Ultra was 227 grams. Xiaomi 13 Ultra added a larger imaging module while also reducing the weight by 2 grams. Mainly This is due to the fact that the back cover is made of technological nano-leather material (also called plain leather). The Yuanshan Blue model of Xiaomi Mi 13 Pro also uses technological nano-skin, and its weight drops to 210 grams. However, in my opinion, using technological nano-skin to lose weight is really a helpless move.

Source: Xiaomi

Nowadays, more and more flagship mobile phones use plain leather materials to create back covers , not because plain leather is easy to use (in fact, most users have reported that glass and ceramic materials feel far better than plain leather), but because it is a last resort choice in order to keep the weight of the flagship phone from exceeding the standard.

However, after Xiaomi and Apple, we should be able to see titanium alloy becoming the standard for high-end mobile phones. Perhaps it is time to say goodbye to plain leather.

Can Xiaomi’s titanium alloy make ceramics return to Ultra?

Since we are talking about the material of the back cover of mobile phones, we have to mention the ceramic material. It has an extremely warm feel, a jade-like luster, and is more resistant to falling and scratching than glass. All of the above advantages make it Ceramic has become one of the most popular back cover materials.

It can be said that as much as rice fans love ceramics, they hate plain leather. I once met a rice fan who is still using the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra from two years ago. It’s not that he doesn’t want to change his phone, but that I can’t accept the plain leather material of the latter two generations of Ultra.

Most of Xiaomi’s previous ceramic version mobile phones have been well received, and Xiaomi has also invested a lot of money in the research and development of ceramic back covers. However, in the Ultra series with the highest positioning, except for Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra, the latter two The products of the previous generation have all been replaced with plain leather, which has also made many rice fans complain for a long time. When will ceramics return to the Ultra series, it has become an enduring topic in the rice noodles circle.

Source: Xiaomi

Ceramics are good, but at the same thickness, ceramic back covers often It is the heaviest. For example, the Mi 11 Ultra with a ceramic back cover weighs as much as 234 grams. If the imaging module of the Mi 13 Ultra is transplanted, the weight of the whole machine may easily exceed 250 grams, making it a proper "half-pound machine" ".

Under the premise that the weight of the mobile phone cannot exceed the standard, engineers must make a choice between the feel of the back cover and the image performance. Naturally, the feel of the back cover, which has a lower priority, can only give in to the image performance. However, when titanium alloy is successfully tested on Xiaomi Mi 14 Pro, it will definitely be used on Xiaomi Mi 14 Ultra. With the help of titanium alloy’s “weight reduction”, we may have a chance to see ceramic return to the Ultra series.

In my opinion, the best match between Xiaomi Mi 14 Pro and Xiaomi Mi 14 Ultra is the titanium alloy frame ceramic back cover, which has both hand feel, texture and weight, and its performance in terms of drop resistance and lifespan will be far better. It is superior to all previous materials. In front of this combination, even the iPhone will be eclipsed in terms of hand feel.

However, the application of ceramic titanium alloy, two high-cost materials, may be directly reflected in the price. If there is no accident, if it is sold as a special version, the price of the iPhone 14 Pro titanium alloy version may go up. to six thousand yuan. Of course, compared to the iPhone 15 Ultra’s starting price of 9,999 yuan, it is still at least 40% cheaper.

In addition to ceramics, a material on Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 may also become one of the alternatives. It is made of special fibers and feels similar to smooth glass, but is relatively warmer. , and has excellent scratch resistance.

Source: Xiaomi

According to Xiaomi, this special material is composed of ceramic fiber and aramid fiber. It is made of ceramics, which combines the strength of ceramics with the toughness of aramid. The weight is even much lower than that of ceramics and glass materials. It is considered to be one of the most suitable back cover materials for mobile phones. Of course, this material is not without its shortcomings. At present, the biggest problem is that it is difficult to dye, and it will inevitably show a woven texture, making it impossible to achieve solid color designs like glass and ceramics.

It can be said that although ceramics and dragon scale fiber have their own advantages, they are undoubtedly better than the current plain leather material. The Xiaomi Mi 14 series may become as classic a model as the Xiaomi Mi 6 series. Finally, I would like to mention A question, are you looking forward more to titanium alloy ceramics or titanium alloy dragon scale fiber?

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