Xiaomi’s $ 1,500 Mi Mix Fold is its first foldable phone

China’s largest smartphone maker finally joins Samsung and Huawei in the flexible phone market, and while he Ithis is not the mysterious tri-fold device this Xiaomi teased a while ago, but of the company the new Mi Mix Fold has arrived.

Priced at 9,999 yuan (around $ 1,520), the Mi Mix Fold is significantly cheaper (although still relatively expensive) than both. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold at $ 2000 2 and Huawei recently announced $ 2,800 Mate X2, while sporting a bunch of premium features and a very similar design.

Like the Z-fold 2 and the Mate X2, Xiaomi opted for an inward-folding 2480 x 1860 flexible OLED display that measures 8.01 inches diagonally, but unlike its competition, Xiaomi saved a few bucks by limiting the display to just 60Hz. instead of 90Hz or 120Hz like you get on the Mate X2 and Z Fold2, respectively.

When closed, the Mi Mix Fold comes with a 2520 x 840 6.52 inch OLED display on the outside of the device, so you can perform simple tasks like answering to the texts, check a map or jump a track without fully deploying its interior display. And unlike its main screen, the Mi Mix Fold’s outer screen supports a faster 90Hz refresh rate.

On the back, instead of the Samsung ISOCELL GN2 sensor, Xiaomi chose for the Mi 11 Ultra main camera, Xiaomi gave the Mi Mix Fold a 108 MP main camera with a Samsung HM2 sensor, a 3 MP ultra-wide camera and an 8 MP telephoto camera with a 3x optical zoom equipped with the Xiaomi liquid lens teased last week.

Xiaomi says the Mi Mix Fold’s liquid lens allows the telephoto lens to achieve a very close minimum focus distance of just three centimeterswhich means that the telephoto camera can double as a macro shooter as well. And to make sure the liquid lens is properly controlled, Xiaomi even created an internal ISP called the Surge C1 chip to deliver even better low-light, autofocus, and white balance performance.

Inside, the flagship level specs of the Mi Mix Fold sport, including a Snapdragon 888 processor, up to 16GB of RAM, and up to 512GB of onboard storage. Xiaomi has also wisely included a large 5020mAh battery divided into two different sections, allowing for better weight distribution and faster charging speeds of up to 67 watts.

The Mi Mix Fold also includes four speakers tuned by Harman Kardon and an optional ceramic back for durability. Xiaomi said that the Mi Mix Fold’s hinge has been tested to withstand up to 1 million turns, so longevity theoretically shouldn’t be an issue, however. real-global tests may offer different results.

However, my favorite new development on the Mi Mix Fold is Xiaomi’s inclusion of a dedicated PC mode that turns the phone into a mini laptop with a real taskbar, windowed apps, and more. See the foldable manufacturers to kiss the hybrid nature of these I was hoping to see more, especially as foldable and non-foldable phones start to take slightly different development paths. different types of users.

Tthat’s the big problem, Like Huawei’s Mate X2, the Mi Mix Fold is not expected to have a global release and will likely be limited strictly to the Chinese market. This means that in the United States and other parts of the west, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2’s reign as the foldable of choice will continue unchallenged, at least for now.