"Lei Jun, you listen to me!" On April 3, a dispute over the silver-plated material of the front windshield of the car sparked heated discussions in the industry. Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei's terminal mobile phone, bluntly said that in order to better insulate the heat, they used the window film instead of silver plating, on the grounds that silver plating would affect the mobile phone signal.
As an "expert" with a radio major, Yu Chengdong's remarks resonated with many netizens. Soon, someone posted on the Internet that the car navigation and payment channels often fail after the front windshield film of their own cars, questioning the "hard flaws" in the practice of Xiaomi cars.
After all, if silver plating does affect the mobile phone signal as Yu Chengdong said, then the choice of Xiaomi cars will undoubtedly fall into passivity.
Some netizens also expressed doubts: Xiaomi car team has thousands of technicians, did not consider this problem at the beginning of research and development? Besides, if silver plating really affects the mobile phone signal, many models on the existing market adopt this design, and it is "gone forever"?
Soon, this "battle" set off a heated discussion on the Internet. From professionals to ordinary netizens, the exchange of opinions seems to add some interest to this old topic that was once considered a "non-issue".
So, is what Yu Chengdong said true or does Lei Jun have his own considerations? Or is it that both sides are not wrong, but just judge the same problem from different angles? Let's temporarily press the "wait-and-see" mode and return to the root of the problem:
Is the front windshield of a car silver-plated, really affecting the mobile phone signal? It is a fact that it affects the mobile phone signal, but it does not affect much
This topic is still a matter of physics. Electromagnetic waves do produce a certain amount of attenuation when they encounter metallic substances, which is a truth that any radio professional can clearly tell.
For this reason, the impact of silver plating on the mobile phone signal cannot be denied. It actually attenuates the ability of electromagnetic waves to penetrate to a certain extent, just like our common masking problems.
But the question is, to what extent? If the attenuation is not too large and does not really cause a real obstacle to the transmission and reception of mobile phone signals, then the use of silver plating does not seem to be a "hard flaw".
According to wireless communication experts, the impact of silver plating on the mobile phone signal is roughly between 5~10 decibels. Under normal use cases, this magnitude does not cause significant obstacles to calling or surfing the Internet.
In other words, if you are in a dead zone or a very weak wireless signal, this effect of silver-plated windows may be magnified, but it is generally difficult to detect when the signal is good.
It's not so much that the silver-plating process is a hard flaw, but it does have some flaws, but it's not completely unusable. Minimizing this defect and maintaining it within an acceptable range is also a trade-off when there is no more perfect option.
On the other hand, ordinary car sunshade film or explosion-proof film may contain metal components that may have a greater impact on the mobile phone signal. This may also be one of the reasons why Huawei chose "film insulation".
From this point of view, Yu Chengdong's criticism of Xiaomi's choice of silver plating process has a certain amount of truth. However, if it is regarded as "silver plating = complete failure", it is too absolute.
In fact, the design of the front windshield of a car involves many factors such as heat insulation, safety, and visibility, and it is biased to deny the silver plating process purely from the perspective of signal.
Not every cell phone signal is so sensitive to attenuation
In addition, Yu Chengdong's rhetoric also revealed a hint of "narrow signal communication". Because in fact, not all communication signals are so sensitive to attenuation. From this point of view, the silver plating process does not necessarily do more harm than good.
For example, 5G and future 6G communications are more tolerant of signal attenuation. Even through metal shielding, as long as the minimum received power requirements are maintained, the communication quality will not be greatly affected.
What's more, the cockpit of a car is not just a "window" called a windshield? As a mobile terminal, mobile phone signal transmission and reception already has the advantage of space and angle diversity.
Even if the silver plating of the front windshield brings some attenuation, this effect does not seem to be unavoidable as long as the antenna position is properly allocated and the overall signal is planned.
There is another indisputable fact: whether it is Xiaomi Auto or other car companies, they have obviously done their homework in terms of in-vehicle communication. They must have assessed this issue in advance and made their own trade-offs and trade-offs.
If it is really as Yu Chengdong said, it will cause a complete failure of the signal, Xiaomi and other car companies in the industry that use this process will not do it.
From this point of view, although Yu Chengdong clearly occupies the front line of "professionalism" and "authority", he is also a little too arbitrary.
I have to say that the subtle switch between the identities of "mobile phone people" and "car company people" between Yu Chengdong and Lei Jun has also added a new flavor to this "war of words".
The two seem to be defending the design concept, but in fact, they have launched an interesting "professional exchange" around the two tracks of cars and mobile phones. Yu Chengdong's sentence "Listen to me, listen to me in terms of mobile phone signal" even made some netizens ridicule that this is an "open teaching".
In this sense, the debate about "silver plating affecting mobile phone signals" has also become a fresh footnote to the head-to-head confrontation between the two major manufacturing industries of automobiles and mobile phones. In the face of the challenges of the era of electric intelligence, these two once completely different industry giants have long been competing in parallel on the same track. Therefore, the "competition" between them is not just a simple professional debate, but also a competition in a completely new field.
Coincidentally, this is not the first time such a contest has occurred. For example, earlier, Lei Jun had questioned the ability of Huawei's mobile phone artificial intelligence, and Zhao Ming publicly demonstrated the artificial intelligence strength of Huawei's mobile phone to refute it.
From this point of view, Yu Chengdong's "scolding" this time, in addition to reflecting some "sparks" between the traditional mobile phone industry and emerging car companies, also more or less revealed a taste of secret competition between new and old industries.
The discussion on "silver plating affects mobile phone signals" is not only a professional discussion, but also a reasonable industry chatter, and there are also some behind-the-scenes cultural factors, which can be described as interesting.
It reflects the urgent demand for communication technology in the era of new energy intelligent vehicles. Whether it is mobile phone navigation, in-car payment, or more application scenarios that cars may carry in the future, the demand for communication signals is increasing day by day.
In this context, the development of wireless communication has become a new track, and professionals and host manufacturers should pay enough attention to this field.
This is a new challenge for traditional mobile phone manufacturers who once only paid attention to the internal scene, but correspondingly, it will also be a new track and opportunity for emerging car companies.
Therefore, it is not useless to expect more such "design concept battles" between the two camps in the future. Together, they will drive the development and advancement of communication technology as a whole, and will surely benefit consumers.
This may be the greatest significance and value of this "silver-plated incident". Throughout the whole article, it is not difficult for us to find that this debate seems to be thin and boring, but in fact it is quite profound.
It not only reflects the obscure wrestling of the industry game, but also shows the new opportunities brought by the development of wireless communication technology in the era of intelligent electric vehicles. More importantly, it reveals the trade-offs between technological development and product design.
If we think about it, can a single silver-plated design choice ultimately determine the success or failure of the product, and as users of the product, should we pay more attention to and understand the mystery?
All this is worth diving in our narrow view for a while, to taste the subtlety after the applause lands.