The first Android phone had a full QWERTY keyboard. iPhones chugged along for a decade before getting rid of the physical home button. There’s no denying that smartphone design keeps pushing towards sleeker, simpler interfaces. But Xiaomi appears ready to throw out buttons entirely… and I am not here for it.
According to prolific leaker Chun Bhai and Smartprix, the Chinese brand is preparing a phone called “Zhuque” for a full release next year. This device will reportedly exclude any kind of physical button for controls. The focus would be entirely on the phone’s screen, including a hidden under-display front-facing camera as seen on Samsung folding phones.
Further details are sparse, aside from the processor being a next-gen Snapdragon 8+. That implies it’ll be a flagship device, presumably packed with the latest tech and premium materials and maybe a few more tricks to emphasize the screen. But the leak included nothing about exactly how a button-less device would work in practice. (The header image of this article comes from a previous Xiaomi concept.)
It seems like a given that further on-screen interface work will go into it, but beyond that we can only guess. Android Authority thinks that Xiaomi could use touch-sensitive panels on the side of the device substituting for physical power and volume buttons, combined with some haptic feedback. We’ve seen that already in some Fitbit smartwatches and some gaming phones to enable “phantom” shoulder buttons, but they don’t replace the conventional power and volume buttons entirely.
It’s a trick Meizu tried with the Zero concept, which also included no speaker cutouts (the screen vibrated for sound) and wireless-only charging to omit a USB port. While the Zero ended with a failed crowdfunding campaign, it’s been rumored that Apple is looking in a similar direction with its iPhone design. But frankly there’s no way to tell if that’s based on actual evidence or just a guess based on Apple’s obsession with aesthetic minimalism.
Speaking for myself, I really can’t stand the idea. I’m all for cutting out unnecessary components in electronic design, but sometimes buttons are necessary for good reason. One of the things that keeps me on Android instead of iOS is 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, a huge time-saver.
And I’m not alone in recognizing that physical buttons have their place. Fitbit gave up those haptic touch-sensitive buttons in newer watch designs because they were too easy to activate by accident. This goes beyond mobile tech — consumers, safety advocates, and even manufacturers themselves are pushing back against all-touchscreen layouts and haptic-only buttons on car dashboards.
Seeing as the component tech for a button-free phone has been around for years, I have to assume that plenty of phone makers have looked into this idea and come to similar conclusions.
While I would applaud Xiaomi for the guts it would take to bring this Zhuque to a full retail release, it’s a design I would specifically avoid for my own phone purchases.