Titanium alloy frame + ceramic back cover, can Xiaomi 14 return to the peak of feeling?

How to make a mobile phone look and feel more textured? The key is the border. In order to make the feel of the frame better, mobile phone manufacturers are also racking their brains to try various materials, which are not only light, but also have high enough fall strength to cushion and protect the phone when it falls.

It was reported earlier that the release time of this year's Xiaomi new digital flagship series will be advanced, and we are likely to see the release of the Xiaomi 14 series before Double 11. Although the specific configuration has not yet been announced, but all kinds of gossip is also endless, the famous digital blogger digital chat station exposed: "At the end of the year, the flagship machine is the same new material, it has long been said that the fruit will be titanium alloy, and the big cup of the grain factory will also have a titanium alloy version." ”

Source: Weibo

The main mobile phone brand is called the grain factory, in addition to Xiaomi, with the news released in advance this year's Xiaomi 14 series, it is basically certain that the Xiaomi 14 series will be equipped with a version using titanium alloy, but limited to Xiaomi 14 Pro, the price and positioning of the standard version obviously does not use high-end materials such as titanium alloy.

It is not clear whether the Xiaomi Mi 14 Pro is equipped with titanium alloy as standard across the board, or whether there will be an additional special titanium alloy version, what is certain is that we may be able to see more and more "titanium alloys" in the high-end mobile phone market.

Can titanium save flagship phones?

In the past few years, special alloy steel has been the first choice for iPhone and Android high-end mobile phones, but as the image module of the mobile phone is getting heavier and heavier, today's flagship mobile phone weight has approached 250 grams again, many users are complaining that the mobile phone feel is far less than a few years ago, in order to control the weight of the mobile phone, mobile phone designers must find a new material to replace the current special alloy steel, titanium alloy has become the first choice.

Earlier, the iPhone 15 series was exposed that a new model named iPhone 15 Ultra will be launched, as a new product positioned higher than the Pro series, iPhone 15 Ultra is said to use a new generation of titanium alloy bezels to reduce the weight of the phone and improve fall resistance.

Source: Smartprix Note: iPhone 15 Ultra concept art

However, iPhone 15 Ultra is not destined to be the first mainstream mobile phone company to hit the idea of titanium alloy, not to mention Rittal and other luxury mobile phone brands have long used titanium alloy in products, 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 manufacture titanium alloy hinge shell, thin and light but also has excellent fall resistance, making Honor Magic V2 became the lightest and thinnest folding screen mobile phone available.

Prior to this, Apple's Apple Watch Ultra, titanium alloy shell has also become its biggest difference from ordinary Apple Watch, thanks to the application of titanium alloy materials, the case size of 49 mm Apple Watch Ultra in the case of crammed into a larger screen, larger battery, more sensors, only 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's performance in terms of fall resistance and scratch resistance is far better than other versions of Apple Watch. With Apple Watch Ultra in front, when the news that the iPhone 15 series will launch a titanium version spreads, users are left with only "expectations".

Of course, from the information currently exposed, the starting price of the iPhone 15 Ultra using titanium alloy frames will be as high as 9999 yuan, which is probably difficult for most people to accept. Similarly, considering that the starting price of Xiaomi Mi 14 Pro will not be higher than 4999 yuan, I think Xiaomi 14 Pro is unlikely to use titanium alloy borders across the board, but will launch a special edition like Xiaomi MIx Fold 3.

The previous generation of Xiaomi Mi 13 Pro weighed 229 grams, while the Mi 13 Ultra weighed 227 grams, and the Mi 13 Ultra reduced the weight by 2 grams while cramming into a larger image module, mainly thanks to the use of technology nano leather material (also known as plain skin) on the back cover. The far mountain blue model in Xiaomi 13 Pro also uses technology nanoskin, and the weight plummets to 210 grams, but in my opinion, using technology nanoskin to reduce weight is really a helpless move.

Source: Xiaomi

Nowadays, more and more flagship mobile phones choose plain leather materials to create back covers, not because plain skin is easy to use (in fact, most users have reported that glass and ceramic materials feel far better than plain skin), but in order to make the weight of flagship mobile phones not exceed the standard, and have no choice to choose.

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

Xiaomi's titanium alloy, can ceramics return to Ultra?

Since we talked about the back cover material of the mobile phone, then we have to mention the ceramic material, warm feeling, jade-like luster, stronger fall resistance and scratch resistance than glass, the above advantages make ceramic one of the most popular back cover materials.

It can be said that how much Mi Fan loves ceramics, how much I hate vegetarian skin, I once met a rice noodle who is still using the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra two years ago, not because he does not want to change the phone, but because he cannot accept the plain leather material of the next two generations of Ultra.

Most of Xiaomi's ceramic mobile phones launched in the past have been widely praised, and Xiaomi has also invested a lot of money in the research and development of ceramic back covers, but on the highest positioning Ultra series, in addition to the latter two generations of products in Xiaomi 11 Ultra, they have been replaced with plain skin, and many rice fans have complained for a long time, when ceramics can return to the Ultra series, has become an enduring topic in rice powder circles.

Source: Xiaomi

Although ceramic is good, but in the case of the same thickness, ceramic back cover is often the heaviest, such as the use of ceramic back cover design Xiaomi 11 Ultra weight is as high as 234 grams, if the Xiaomi 13 Ultra image module transplanted over, I am afraid that the weight of the whole machine will easily exceed 250 grams, a proper "half a pound machine".

Under the premise that the weight of the mobile phone cannot exceed the standard, engineers must choose between the feel of the back cover and the image performance, so the lower priority of the back cover feel can naturally only give way to the image performance. However, when the titanium alloy is successfully experimented on the Xiaomi 14 Pro, then it will definitely be applied to the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, and with the help of the "weight reduction" of the titanium alloy, we may have the opportunity to see ceramics return to the Ultra series.

In my opinion, the best match between Xiaomi 14 Pro and Xiaomi 14 Ultra is titanium alloy frame + ceramic back cover, which has both feel, texture and weight, and the performance in terms of fall resistance and life will be far better than all previous materials.

However, ceramic + titanium alloy, the application of two high-cost materials, I am afraid that it will be directly fed back to the price, if there is no accident, as a special version sold, the price of the iPhone 14 Pro titanium alloy version may go to six thousand yuan. Of course, compared with the iPhone 15 Ultra's 9999 yuan starting sale, it is still at least 40% cheaper.

In addition to ceramics, a material on the Xiaomi Mi MIX Fold 3 may also be an option, made of special fibers woven with a material that 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, which has both the strength of ceramic and the toughness of aramid, and the weight is even much lower than that of ceramic and glass, and is considered to be one of the most suitable back cover materials for mobile phones. Of course, this material is not without its shortcomings, the biggest problem at present is that it is difficult to dye, and it will inevitably show a woven texture, which cannot achieve a solid color design like glass and ceramics.

It can be said that although ceramics and dragon scale fiber have their own advantages, but there is no doubt that they are better than the current plain leather material, Xiaomi 14 series may become the same classic model as the Xiaomi 6 series, finally I want to ask a question, do you look forward to titanium alloy + ceramics, or titanium alloy + dragon scale fiber?