Xiaomi Launches 'See-Through' Mi 8 Explorer Edition to Mark 8th Anniversary

Anniversaries are milestones that companies would not skip celebrating. And as tech fans have seen in past years, smartphone manufacturers capitalize on these events by introducing the best lineups of smartphones they ever have to offer. This was exactly the case for Xiaomi at an unveiling event on Thursday held in Shenzhen, China.

However, one smartphone stood out among the bunch, the Mi 8 Explorer Edition, due to its design which purportedly lets people see through to the components inside.

The Mi 8 Explorer’s rare design is a good conversation starter. Since it was unveiled, observers have been curious whether or not the see-through rear is a legitimate window to the real components that the smartphone was built with.

According to Engadget, a Xiaomi representative has confirmed that what can be seen through the transparent rear of the Mi 8 Explorer represents the actual components that are powering the device. Xiaomi’s rep has also reportedly stressed the actual presence of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset.

The Mi 8 Explorer’s back design has also gained some doubts. HTC forum moderator Chengming Alpert initially said in a now-deleted tweet that the device’s supposed see-through rear is most likely just a sticker.

Alpert’s main argument states that the Snapdragon chip “can't be in that position.” He added that the other parts seem “too far away from each other” adding that it is also weird that no graphite lines of thermal pipes are visible.

This would mean that the back casing is not actually transparent, but is just a sort of illustration of how the inside of the Mi 8 Explorer looks from behind. Later, Alpert gathered other sources claiming that the back of the device is not an absolute window to the inside of the Mi 8, contrary to popular understanding.

In a follow-up tweet, Alpert corrected his first statement that the back of the device is just a sticker, although he was not entirely wrong either. He cited an “internal source” who reportedly said, “The components are physical things, NOT a sticker. BUT, it's a piece of board which has nothing to do with phone function.”

The Mi 8 Explorer is expected to sport a hefty 8GB RAM but a rather smaller battery capacity of 3,000 mAh. It is likely to be released in July.