Xiaomi shows what a foldable one could look like if Samsung had competition

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 has launched in China just days after Samsung announced its next generation of foldable handsets, with Xiaomi looking to gain an advantage over its competition with a slimmer design, larger screens and a more affordable price.

The Mix Fold 2 has several improvements over the original Mi Mix Fold released last year that go beyond dropping the Mi branding. The Fold 2 is powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 SoC flagship chipset, with 12GB of RAM and various storage options ranging from 256GB to 1TB. It also has an improved hinge and is available in gold or black.

Image: Xiaomi

When foldable, you get a 6.56-inch OLED outdoor display (2520 x 1080) with a long 21:9 aspect ratio and an 8.02-inch LTPO 2.0 indoor display (2160 x 1914), both of which are slightly larger than that of Samsung 6.2-inch OLED outdoor display (2316 x 904) and 7.6-inch (2176 x 1812) OLED indoor display on the Galaxy Z Fold 4. Both Mix Fold 2 displays operate at 120 Hz with a brightness of 1,000 nits. The outer screen is protected by the latest (and strongest) Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, while the foldable main screen uses ultra-thin Schott glass, just like Samsung is known to use.

Xiaomi’s foldable has a triple camera setup with a primary 50-megapixel camera, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide angle lens and an eight-megapixel telephoto with 2x optical zoom. There is also a 20 megapixel punch camera on the front for selfies.

Image: Xiaomi

Xiaomi’s announcement comes after Samsung released two foldable devices on Wednesday – the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Galaxy Z Fold 4 – that will bring much-needed competition to the foldable market if the Mix Fold 2 ever ships to markets outside of Europe. China. One way Xiaomi is trying to get ahead of its Korean rivals is by claiming that the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 is the “thinnest foldable phone in the world”. At just 5.4mm, it shaves nearly 15 percent of the thickness of the 6.3mm Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.

It’s not all sunshine and device measurement contests, though, as Samsung’s flagship offerings include a handy Flex Mode (Samsung’s terminology for applications that automatically reorient to fit a folded screen) and IPX8 water resistance, two features that the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 offers. fog. Nevertheless, Xiaomi’s 4,500mAh battery capacity is still slightly larger than the 4,400mAh battery in Samsung’s Z Fold 4. The Mix Fold 2 also supports 67W wired fast charging, with the brand claiming a full charge can be made in 40 minutes. while the Z Fold 4 only supports up to 25W fast charging by comparison, with Samsung claiming the handset can reach up to 50 percent of its battery capacity in 30 minutes.

Image: Xiaomi

At the moment, the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 is only available for purchase in China, with no announcements about when the phone could make its way to other markets. The price for the base 256GB model is set at CNY 8,999 (about $1,300 USD), which is significantly lower than the CNY 13,999 (over $2,000 USD) Samsung is asking for the 256GB version of its Z Fold 4 in the country.

If those prices are for an international launch, then Samsung could And last but not least facing serious competition in foldables, especially in price-sensitive markets like India, where Xiaomi is already number 1 in market share and Samsung has just dropped to fourth place, according to IDC.