This tiny Xiaomi 17 Ultra detail hit me with a wave of nostalgia I wasn’t ready for

A lovely blast from the past and Apple at its finest

The volume buttons on this recent Android phone are a clear homage to one of the most iconic smartphones of all time, the iPhone 4. The round buttons with the etched "+" and "-" signs are instantly recognizable to anyone who has been a mobile tech fan for long enough.

Hardware buttons are one of the mainstays of modern phone design that rarely see any changes or improvements. Yet, they are essential as they act as that last bridge between hardware and software, delivering mechanical intentionality in a world of mostly invisible tactility. 

Released in 2010, the iPhone 4 broke away from the mostly lackluster design of the iPhone 3GS and introduced a bold new industrial design language that doesn't feel outdated at all even to this day. The iPhone 4 was way ahead of its time and served as the blueprint that many modern smartphones currently abide by: a flat metal frame sandwiched between two flat glass panels.



Interestingly, the round volume buttons of the iPhone 4, iPhone, iPhone 5, and iPhone 5s haven't been adopted by many other phone manufacturers. Totally uncalled for, in my opinion, as these still look very modern and appealing to this day.

The iPhone 4 was the first iPhone I had ever held in my arms, and that initial interaction was something special that has definitely etched itself in my memories. And I don't know why, but it's the buttons on the side that are my main association with the iPhone 4 still to this day. They were so different from anything I had ever seen up to that point; heck, my phone at the time didn't even have a volume rocker at all!

Modern phone design is so stale that small changes like these go a long way

I know, I know, these are just buttons, right, and it's pathetic to be so nostalgic about something so minuscule and unimportant in the grand scheme of things. But it's nostalgic nonetheless, and my first experience with the Xiaomi 17 Ultra absolutely threw me back in time to my first hands-on experience with the last iPhone that Steve Jobs himself revealed to the world.



Granted, aside from the volume buttons and the flat design, there's little else with the Xiaomi 17 Ultra that calls back to the iPhone 4-esque era of industrial design. Don't get me wrong, it's a good-looking phone, but besides the round volume buttons and the rotating camera ring on the souped-up Xiaomi 17 Ultra by Leica edition, there's little here that's truly unique or never seen before.

But that's absolutely fine to me!

Modern phones have become so predictable in terms of design language that even such a small design element can go a long way, especially if it’s a callback to an iconic device from the golden age of mobile tech.

To me, it doesn't matter that this design element on the Xiaomi 17 Ultra isn't terribly original; I'm all up for such homages when they incorporate classic or unique features of iconic devices. Give me something unique that will shake up the well-established design formula every phone follows these days, and I'm a "happy camper".