The dream of a phone with a seamless, buttonless design has been floating around the tech world for years. We’ve seen glimpses of it in concept phones like the Vivo Apex 2019, with its pressure-sensitive edges mimicking buttons.
But these features haven’t quite made it to mainstream devices – yet. Xiaomi is rumored to be working on a phone called “Zhuque” that might finally ditch the physical buttons entirely. It’s rumored to launch sometime in 2025 with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor.
What’s interesting is that this might not be Xiaomi’s first attempt at a buttonless phone. The company was reportedly working on a device named “Wangshu” about a year and a half ago but is said to have abandoned the project later.
Somehow, hands-on images of this Wangshu phone have now surfaced in a telegram group.
As can be seen, the phone has a steeply curved panel, reminiscent of the “quad-curved waterfall display” Xiaomi flaunted in a concept phone three years ago.
The highlight, however, is the absence of physical buttons on the device’s edges. The only components visible are a USB-C port for charging and a SIM tray.
There’s also a MIX logo on the frame which confirms it was a part of Xiaomi’s flagship phone series. The leaked specs are in line with that — it had a 2K 120Hz display, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, and a 4500mAh battery with a whopping 200W wired and 50W wireless charging.
So why did Xiaomi shelve this project? We don’t quite know. Perhaps the technology for reliable button replacements wasn’t mature enough back then.
Fast forward to today, and Xiaomi’s back at its button-less phone dream with Project Zhuque. Currently, we know almost nothing about this guy – what tech it will use or if it will even be a real product and not just a wild concept phone that debuts, excites us, and takes a flight to nowhere land.
