Just a day after the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4, Xiaomi quickly followed up with a surprising punch. The Mix Fold 2 is the Chinese brand’s second foldable phone, measuring a staggering 5.4mm thick when opened, barely enough to accommodate a USB-C port, and 11.2mm thick when folded fold While Huawei’s Mate Xs 2 is also 5.4mm thick when opened, note that it folds outwards and thus lacks a secondary display, not to mention its 11.1 mm thick camera “column”.
One of the features enabled by the thickness of the Mix Fold 2 is Xiaomi’s third-generation “micro water drop hinge,” which allows for a tighter fold on the flexible display panel within the 8 hinge structure .8 mm high. To put things into perspective, Xiaomi noted that the current “waterdrop hinge” structure of a competitor’s foldable, with an obvious image reference to Huawei’s Mate X2, is 11.25mm tall, as shown in the second image in the gallery below. The company added that with this new hinge and panel, the fold is even less visible: a narrower gap, with an average depth of less than 0.15mm.
Gallery: Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 | 6 Photos
Gallery: Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 | 6 Photos
Interestingly, Xiaomi was willing to sacrifice some battery juice to achieve this thickness, going from the original Mix Fold’s 5,020mAh to 4,500mAh. It’s as if Xiaomi is betting big on the efficiency of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor here. There’s still support for 67W fast charging, which goes from zero to 100 percent in just 40 minutes. Together with the smaller hinge and thinner body parts, they contribute to a lighter overall weight: 262 grams (about 9.24 ounces) instead of the old 317 grams (about 11.2 ounces). Other benefits include larger heat dissipation components, dual Harman Kardon speakers, NFC and IR remote control.
Made some adjustments to both screens. For one thing, both have adopted a slightly wider aspect ratio. Samsung’s outer panel now measures 6.56 inches with a resolution of 2520 x 1080, protected by Gorilla Glass Victus. The foldable inner screen is a supposedly more efficient 8.02-inch Samsung Eco² OLED panel with a resolution of 2016 x 1914, and is covered by a flexible piece of ultra-thin (30um) glass. Both screens support a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz and a brightness of 1,000 nits, along with Dolby Vision and HDR10+. There are also three ambient sensors around the phone for more accurate automatic brightness for both screens.
Xiaomi
As for the photography, there is no “liquid lens” gimmick this time. The Mix Fold 2 shares an almost identical 50-megapixel main camera (with optical stabilization) and an ultra-large 13-megapixel camera like the Xiaomi 12, but this time with a Leica Summicron certification, like the Xiaomi 12S Ultra that launched this association You also get an 8-megapixel 2x portrait camera (45mm equivalent), as well as a 20-megapixel selfie camera on the other side. But of course you can also unfold the phone and switch to the rear cameras for selfies, in which case you’ll be using the secondary screen as a viewfinder.
Given the thickness of the phone, a camera bump was inevitable, so Xiaomi could only try to minimize the height of the camera module, and did so by switching to the SMA (shape memory alloy) actuator less common to power the main camera’s optical stabilization. However, it is not clear if there is any performance disadvantage with this solution.
Xiaomi’s Mix Fold 2 along with Buds 4 Pro and Watch S1 Pro.
Xiaomi
Partnering with Leica, the Mix Fold 2’s camera app got a “Leica Authentic” mode for those who prefer natural-looking shots, as well as a self-explanatory “Leica Vibrant” mode for everyone the others. Regardless of shooting mode, this flip phone produces the classic Leica M3 shutter sound when shooting, and you’ll find a variety of Leica-inspired filters, lens effects, and interface elements throughout the camera app. If you often take photos of fast-moving kids or pets, you’ll apparently appreciate Xiaomi’s AI-assisted “CyberFocus” technology, which carried over from the company’s CyberDog and was already featured in the Xiaomi 12 series.
Like the 12S Ultra and the original Mix Fold, the Mix Fold 2 is China-only for now, so good luck finding an importer in your area. That said, Xiaomi added that it worked with Google to optimize Android 12L (but renamed “MIUI Fold”) for the Mix Fold 2, so there may still be hope for an eventual international release.
The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 starts at 8,999 yuan (about $1,340) for the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage version, then jumps to 9,999 yuan (about $1,480) for double the storage, and then at 11,999 yuan (about $1,780) for a great deal. All three flavors come in a vegan leather case with a built-in kickstand, and folks in China can pre-order it today.
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