helling out nearly a hundred bucks for a phone attachment just to strum along to Chinese pop tracks is a bold move for the brave. Xiaomi has launched the Pocket Guitar in China for 599 yuan, which is about 90 dollars. The design is built for the 18 Pro flagship lineup, snapping onto the back via magnets and completely blocking the secondary screen when folded.
Two halves and seven buttons
Mechanics are dead simple: when opened, the thing splits into two pieces. One side packs chord buttons marked from I to VII, while the other mimics strings using a textured surface. Calling this a real musical instrument is a stretch; it is more like a compact finger controller.
It hooks up to your smartphone over Bluetooth and ties directly into karaoke ecosystems.
In Chord mode, you pick chords with buttons on one hand and strum the textured mock-strings with the other.
If hitting virtual frets feels like too much work, there is a backup plan called Rhythm mode. You can ditch chords entirely—just tap to the beat, and the app handles the heavy lifting. On supported Xiaomi phones, the secondary rear screen shows controls and track info while you play, and your hand will not block the display.
Battery life and compatibility
Engineers crammed a 630 mAh battery inside the Pocket Guitar, powered up through a standard USB-C port. According to Xiaomi, a single charge runs up to 30 days of use. You are not locked into one ecosystem either: the gadget works via the Changba app on Xiaomi hardware as well as iPhones running iOS 14 and newer.
In my book, dropping 90 dollars on a plastic rhythm trainer tied tightly to Chinese karaoke is a bizarre flex. They are pitching this as a fresh take on mobile music, but let us be real—it is just an overpriced remote control for tapping buttons to someone else's backing track.