Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 has a serious rival with Xiaomi's new foldable
A foldable foe for Samsung
We’re in a bafflingly busy period for foldable phones, as less than a day ago Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, which were followed up today by the Motorola Razr 2022, and now Xiaomi’s joining the party.
The company has just unveiled the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2, a phone which has a similar form-factor to the Galaxy Z Fold 4.
The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 has an 8.02-inch 1914 x 2160 folding screen on the inside, with a 120Hz refresh rate and 360 pixels per inch, while on the outside there’s a 6.56-inch cover display with a 120Hz refresh rate.
There should be no shortage of power, thanks to a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset and 12GB of RAM, while storage comes in at a choice of 256GB, 512GB or 1TB.
As for the cameras, these are Leica-branded and include a 50MP primary sensor, a 13MP ultra-wide, and an 8MP telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom. On the battery front there’s a 4,500mAh pack with support for 67W charging.
So far the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 has only been announced for China, and it’s unclear if or when it will get a wider launch, especially as the original was only available in China. But for reference it starts at 8,999 yuan, which converts to around $1,335 / £1,090 / AU$1,875, so it’s not cheap.
Analysis: how does the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 compare to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4?
The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 are both flagship handsets, but there are some clear differences between them.
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Xiaomi’s phone has slightly larger screens, a marginally bigger battery and faster charging, but slightly worse optical zoom. The two phones have similar amounts of power and storage, so there’s little to differentiate there, and their camera setups sound similar other than zoom potential too.
Price could be a major factor, but until there’s confirmed Mix Fold 2 pricing for regions outside China we can’t weigh in on that, other than to say the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 will probably have to be a bit cheaper than the Z Fold 4 if it wants to steal many of Samsung’s sales.
But if the price is right, this could easily be one of the best foldable phones.
James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.