The first Android phone had a full QWERTY keyboard. iPhones ran for a decade before ditching the physical home button. There’s no denying that smartphone design is moving toward sleeker, simpler interfaces. But Xiaomi seems ready to do away with the buttons altogether… and I’m not here for it.
According to prolific leaker Chun Bhai and Smartprix, the Chinese brand is preparing a phone called “Zhuque” that will launch next year. This device will reportedly not have any physical buttons for control. The focus will be entirely on the phone’s screen, including a hidden front camera under the display, as seen on foldable Samsung phones.
Further details are scant, aside from the fact that the processor is a next-gen Snapdragon 8+. That means it will be a flagship device, presumably packed with the latest technology and premium materials, and maybe a few more tricks to make the screen stand out. But the leak didn’t include anything about exactly how a button-less device would work in practice. (The cover image of this article is from a previous Xiaomi concept.)
It seems a given that there will be more work done on the screen interface, but beyond that we can only guess. Android Authority believes that Xiaomi could use touch-sensitive panels on the side of the device, replacing the physical power and volume buttons, combined with some haptic feedback. We’ve seen this before on some Fitbit smartwatches and some gaming phones, where “phantom” shoulder buttons have been enabled, but they don’t completely replace the traditional power and volume buttons.
It’s a trick Meizu tried with the Zero concept, which also featured no speaker cutouts (the screen vibrated with sound) and only allowed wireless charging, thus lacking a USB port. While the Zero ended up with a failed crowdfunding campaign, Apple is rumored to be heading in a similar direction with its iPhone design. But honestly, there’s no way to tell if that’s based on actual evidence or just conjecture based on Apple’s obsession with aesthetic minimalism.
Personally, I really can’t stand the idea. I’m all for eliminating unnecessary components in electronic design, but sometimes buttons are necessary for a good reason. One of the reasons I use Android over iOS is because of apps like Button Mapper, which let me get extra functionality out of my volume buttons. I bind long presses to play/pause and the LED flashlight, which saves a huge amount of time.
And I’m not the only one who recognizes that physical buttons have their place. Fitbit has dispensed with these haptic, touch-sensitive buttons on recent watch designs because they were too easy to activate accidentally. This goes beyond mobile technology—consumers, safety advocates, and even the manufacturers themselves are pushing back against touchscreen-only layouts and haptic-only buttons on car dashboards.
Since component technology for buttonless phones has been around for years, I have to assume that numerous phone manufacturers have looked at the idea and come to similar conclusions.
While I commend Xiaomi for having the courage to bring this Zhuque to retail, it’s a design I would consciously avoid in my own phone purchases.
