Redmi K90 Max solves a major problem for gaming smartphones

The K90 Max is expected to launch in China at the end of April as Redmi’s next gaming smartphone. Its design has already been revealed, and active cooling has also been officially confirmed. As Redmi has now announced on Weibo, the device will combine that feature with full dust and water resistance rated at IP66, IP68 and IP69.

Until now, a built-in fan and comprehensive dust and water protection have been virtually impossible to combine in a smartphone. An active cooling system normally requires openings in the chassis to draw air in and push it back out. That has made effective dust protection in particular extremely difficult to achieve. Xiaomi now appears to have found a solution to a problem that gaming smartphones have so far failed to overcome.

For comparison, ASUS approaches this issue on the ROG Phone 8, with a separate external cooling unit that can be attached to the phone. The RedMagic 11 Pro also uses active cooling, but only carries an IPX8 rating. That means it has no certified dust protection and offers less water resistance than the Redmi K90 Max. The K90 Max would therefore be the first gaming smartphone to combine effective active cooling with full dust and water resistance. According to Giga, Redmi achieves this with a separate sealed air duct designed to isolate the airflow from the rest of the phone’s internals. Redmi itself has not yet provided any concrete technical details.