Your button-less phone dream might become a reality next year

Smartphone makers have been toying with the idea of a phone with no physical buttons for quite a while now. We’ve already seen a few prototype models, like the Vivo Apex 2019 Concept, that utilize capacitive buttons or pressure-sensitive sensors and linear motors to emulate physical buttons. While this technology has made it to a few production devices, like the ASUS ROG and Nubia RedMagic gaming phones, it has only been utilized to offer shoulder triggers instead of replacing the physical power and volume buttons. That might change next year.

Xiaomi is reportedly working on a new flagship device, codenamed Zhuque, that does not have physical power and volume buttons. The device is currently in the early stages of development, but it could hit the market sometime in 2025, according to trusted leaker chunvn8888 (via Smartprix).

Currently, little is known about the technology Xiaomi plans to use to replace the physical buttons on the phone. We suspect it will likely be similar to the solutions found on gaming phones, which utilize a combination of capacitive buttons or pressure-sensitive sensors and vibration motors to register input and provide haptic feedback.

Zhuque is also expected to pack flagship hardware across the board, including Qualcomm’s unreleased Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 4 chip, along with an under-display selfie camera. However since the phone is still in the early stages of development, Xiaomi might make alterations before its release. Along with the button-less phone, rumor has it that the Chinese OEM is also developing a tri-fold smartphone that could launch early next year.