As I write this, Apple’s much-rumored iPhone Ultra folding phone is likely a day away from its unveiling, which will send tsunami-like waves through the foldables market. So why is my attention being drawn to a totally different device?
Days before the iPhone 18 launch event, Xiaomi showed off the Xiaomi18 Fold at a launch event in China, ahead of a likely global release at some point in the future. It’s a “passport-style” foldable, like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8.
I’ve been using the Z Fold 8 for over a month, and have been covering its pros and cons, big and small. Overall, I really like it, even if I had to downgrade recently, but Xiaomi’s new foldable has me staring at it like I’m in the distracted boyfriend meme.
What’s the Xiaomi 18 Fold all about?
Getting to know the new passport-style foldable
Since Samsung kicked off the wider-style foldable phone race with the Galaxy Z Fold 8, we’re likely to see loads of rivals for this new-shape form factor, and the Xiaomi 18 Fold is the first official one (likely beating the iPhone by a few days).
So it’s the same shape as the Z Fold 8. It’s compact when folded, but reveals a long, wide display when you open it up. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 rocks for video, and I imagine the Xiaomi 18 Fold is the same.
Like many Xiaomi phones, the foldable has been unveiled in China first, with a global release pending. Sometimes its handsets reach the West, other times they don’t, but enough Western press were invited to its unveiling that I imagine it’ll roll out sooner rather than later.
And I hope it does. Because the Samsung isn’t perfect, and several Xiaomi 18 Fold specs have me idly daydreaming about what that phone would be like.
The Xiaomi Fold 18 is a folding camera phone
Thanks to this one small addition
I don’t think the audience crossover between folding phones and camera phones is massive, but if you’re paying a high price, you want top specs. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 doesn’t have that, at least in the camera department.
The phone has a 50MP main and 50MP ultra-wide camera, with a 10MP selfie snapper on each screen. They’re fine for their purpose, but the lack of a zoom lens hurts, and low-light photography would be better with a higher-res main sensor.
By that, I mean something like the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. Its 200MP main camera and added 3x zoom snapper make it a better camera phone. I’ve used it too, and it’s my go-to foldable for taking pictures.
What about the Xiaomi? Well, it turns everything up to 11. The main camera is 200MP, the ultra-wide is 50MP, and each selfie camera is 16MP. But the main draw? It also has a 50MP periscope zoom camera with an 80mm focal length for 3.5x zoom.
I’m less bothered by the higher-res main or selfie cameras than by the periscope snapper. At 80mm, that’ll give some seriously nice bokeh for portrait or macro shots, and will let you photograph things that are slightly out of reach.
A chipset without common woes
No overheating, no battery drain
Most top-end Android phones have a Qualcomm chipset; the Z Fold 8 devices have the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. These internals deliver plenty of processing power, plus support for gaming, connectivity, and the camera tools you use all the time.
However, they’re not perfect, and I roll my eyes at the consistent woes that Snapdragon-bearing phones face. They’re reliably prone to overheating while gaming and offer poor battery optimization.
That is to say, my Z Fold 8, like every other Snapdragon phone I’ve used, gets hot too quickly when I’m gaming. It even gets toasty when I’m taking lots of pictures.
I was curious to see that the Xiaomi 18 Fold uses a new chip made by the company: the Xiaomi XRing 03, which seems to rival the Snapdragon 8 chips in terms of architecture. According to the brand, it’s designed for graphical power and AI tools.
I don’t care about AI, and I can take or leave speed boosts, but the brand also promises “longer battery life and better thermal control” than other foldables. This seems like a dig at Snapdragon phones, and I love it.
Xiaomi reminds us what a durable phone is
Amidst Galaxy Z Fold durability scares
I keep seeing news reports about Galaxy Z Fold 8 durability scares. Fans keep noticing worrying display issues and seeing their crease get deeper over time. I’ve written about how I haven’t had this problem, but Xiaomi’s still taken note.
In its Xiaomi 18 Fold announcement, the company detailed how it designed the foldable for longevity and protection.
It details a new cover glass, hinge design traits, and material choices that make the phone resistant to impacts, including, according to the brand, drops from 1.2 meters. It also details how the crease was designed to remain negligible on the inner display.
Specs and features don’t make a phone
As you can tell, I’m sold on the Xiaomi 18 Fold. But I’m not ready to declare it a Samsung-killer just yet. A phone is more than the sum of its parts, and I can’t tell which is best from the specs list alone.
I’ve tested plenty of Xiaomi phones, and they’re often packed with bloatware and sometimes present messy camera results. So it’s hard to say now whether the Xiaomi or Samsung is best.
Or will Apple take the crown? Clearly, its rivals are worried, which is why Samsung is building materials to rival Apple’s iPhone Ultra, so it’s worth reserving judgment until all the passport-style foldables are out.
