Xiaomi’s next flagship phone could sport UWB tracking support

Xiaomi resurrected its Mi MIX series earlier this year with the launch of the Mi MIX Fold — the company’s first-ever foldable phone. But that doesn’t seem to be the only Mi MIX phone Xiaomi plans to launch this year. Rumors suggest that the company will also launch the Mi MIX 4 later this year. While we can’t confirm that at the moment, we have spotted evidence regarding a new flagship-tier Xiaomi smartphone codenamed “odin.”

Xiaomi leakers and insiders kacskrz, XiaomiUI, and Digital Chat Station have shared some information about “odin” recently. All three sources state that the device will be based on Qualcomm’s sm8350 platform, which is the model name for the Snapdragon 888. Although Digital Chat Station hasn’t cited his source, kacskrz and XiaomiUI both point to code within MIUI firmware that ties “odin” to the sm8350 platform. MIUI firmware analysis also reveals that “odin” may have 3 rear cameras — a 50MP primary camera, a 48MP telephoto camera, and a 48MP wide-angle camera.

On Weibo, Digital Chat Station states that “odin,” which will have a model name ending with “K8,” has a flexible curved screen on both sides and possibly an under-display camera. We don’t place much confidence in the under-display camera rumor since there’s no other source to corroborate it, but it’s worth mentioning that Digital Chat Station has a pretty solid track record.

It’s also worth noting that kacskrz has spotted one code reference that could point to the phone having an under-display camera. The code reference is a boolean value called isFrontCUPLens, which was set to true for “odin.” If we were to guess, “CUP” could mean “Camera Under Panel.”

While we haven’t found any other clues pointing towards an under-display camera, we have spotted solid evidence for Ultra-Wideband (UWB) support. This short-range, high-precision radio technology allows for precise tracking, and you can find it on the latest Samsung and Apple flagships. But Xiaomi currently doesn’t offer UWB support on any of its phones. However, Xiaomi once showed off smart home controls using a prototype phone with UWB support, and it seems like the company is now finally ready to ship a UWB radio on a commercial device.

MIIT certification for Xiaomi K8

The evidence for “odin” supporting UWB comes from two sources: China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and MIUI firmware. As Digital Chat Station pointed out on Weibo, the Xiaomi phone with model number ending in K8 was certified by the MIIT and the certification listing explicitly mentions UWB support. More recently, XiaomiUI discovered code snippets within the MiShare app that tie “odin” to UWB support.

XiaomiUI also states that “odin” will support Ultra Wideband 5G (Verizon’s marketing term for mmWave 5G, not to be confused with low-energy Ultra-Wideband used for short-range positioning), but haven’t seen solid evidence for this. In a recent press release from Qualcomm, though, Xiaomi did hint that it will launch a phone with mmWave 5G support, so this could be true. In the press release, the company stated: “By closely working with Qualcomm Technologies in advancing technologies, we expect to launch the mmWave devices based on the Snapdragon mobile platforms next year and offer our global users with increasingly smooth and superior network experiences.”

Currently, we have no further details about the upcoming Xiaomi flagship. But we expect to learn more in the coming months. We’ll make sure to let you know as soon as we learn more.

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Featured image: Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra

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