Xiaomi’s new Mix Fold 3 is a book-style folding phone that’s just 5.26mm when unfolded and 10.86mm when closed.
That’s thinner that the closed 13.4mm Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, and not far off the 7.9mm iPhone 14 Pro.
The impressive engineering on the new device will only be available for Chinese customers to buy, much like the recent Xiaomi 13 Ultra and Oppo Find X6 Pro, setting a trend of the most cutting edge mobile tech being kept from Western buyers.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3.
When will the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 be released?
The Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 went on sale on 15 August and is available to buy in China direct from Xiaomi.
Don’t hold your breath for a wider release. Xiaomi’s comms director tweeted this:
Sad.
How much does the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 cost?
There are three models of the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3, priced as follows:
- 12GB RAM/256GB storage: ¥8,999 ($1,230/£970)
- 16GB RAM/512GB storage: ¥9,999 ($1,370/£1,070)
- 16GB RAM/1TB storage: ¥10,999 ($1,500/£1,180)
What are the main features of the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3?
One of the downsides to many foldable phones is that the cameras aren’t usually as good as in the best phones out there. The incredibly thin Mix Fold 3 somehow totes impressively advanced Leica-branded camera sensors, with two optical telephoto lenses that go to 3.2x and 5x.
Xiaomi
This means the phone can take zoom shots that replicate 75mm and 115mm telephoto cameras. Add to that the 50Mp main lens and this looks like a folding phone that takes photography more seriously than its rivals such as the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Google Pixel Fold.
There’s even an ultrawide on there – four camera lenses on a phone this thin is very noteworthy. Whether or not they rival the Xiaomi 13 Pro for image quality is another matter.
A 1080p 21:9 6.56in cover display runs at 120Hz and is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2, while the larger folding inner screen is an 8in 120Hz LTPO OLED panel. Xiaomi says the screen can last 500,000 fold cycles with its “ultra-high strength steel” hinge, far above the 200,000 promised by Samsung for its Z Fold 5.
Xiaomi
However, Xiaomi did not confirm if the Mix Fold 3 is in any way dust or water resistant, whereas Samsung’s folding phones are IPX8 water resistant.
Despite its slight frame the phone has a 4,800mAh battery and, in another effort to out-tech Samsung, charges wired at 67W, which can fill the phone to 100% in 40 minutes, according to Xiaomi. There’s even 50W wireless charging.
It’s all powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset that I’ve found to perform excellently in phones such as the OnePlus 11.
The phone comes in either a 255g composite fibre or 259g glass version.
Here are the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3’s full specs:
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset
- MIUI Fold 14 based on Android 13
- 6.56in cover display, 1080p 21:9 120Hz
- 8.025in inner folding display, 1916 x 2160p, LTPO 120Hz
- 50Mp wide camera
- IMX800
- 23mm equivalent focal length
- 2.0 μm 4-in-1 Super Pixel
- f/1.77, 1G+6P lens, SMA actuators for OIS
- 12Mp ultra-wide camera
- 15mm equivalent focal length, 120° FOV, f/2.2, 5P lens
- 10Mp telephoto camera
- 75mm equivalent focal length, f/2.0
- 10Mp periscope camera
- 115mm equivalent focal length, f/2.92
- 20Mp front camera
- 12/16GB LPDDR5X RAM
- 256/512GB/1TB UFS 4.0 storage
- Dual stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos
- NFC
- GPS
- 4G LTE
- 5G
- 255/259g
Author: Henry Burrell, Contributor, Tech Advisor
Previously Tech Advisor’s Phones Editor, Henry covers and reviews every smartphone worth knowing about. He spends a lot of time moving between different handsets and shouting at WhatsApp to support multiple devices at once.