Xiaomi has officially revealed the first look at the Xiaomi 18 Fold ahead of its September 7 launch, and the company is introducing a new name for its foldable design: the “mid-fold.”
A foldable between phone and tablet
Xiaomi says large foldables offer bigger screens but are often used mainly through their outer displays, while smaller foldables are easier to carry but require more compromises.
The Xiaomi 18 Fold is designed to sit between those two formats.
It has a 5.38-inch cover display and a 7.58-inch main display. Xiaomi says the phone is roughly the size of a passport when folded and comfortable enough for one-handed use, while the larger inner screen uses a new aspect ratio designed for multitasking and video.
Lu Weibing, who leads Xiaomi’s smartphone business, says the 18 Fold is positioned as one of Xiaomi’s most advanced flagships and is designed to compete with the company’s regular numbered flagship phones.
Official design and Leica cameras
Xiaomi has shown the 18 Fold in red, with a wide horizontal camera strip containing three cameras and an LED flash.
The company has also revealed part of the internal design and confirmed that Leica was involved in developing the camera system.
Powered by Xiaomi’s Xring O3
The Xiaomi 18 Fold will run on Xiaomi’s Xring O3 chipset and ship with Surge OS 4 and the company’s MiMo on-device AI model.
Xiaomi has also introduced a new “dragon bone” hinge and a simulation-based testing system for the foldable. The 18 Fold will also be among the first smartphones to use CXMT LPDDR6 memory.
Launching alongside new Xiaomi devices
The Xiaomi 18 Fold will officially launch on September 7 alongside the Xiaomi N70 Pro, N70 Max, N90 Max, and Xiaomi Pad 9 Pro Max. The Pad 9 Pro Max will also use the Xring O3 chip.
Xiaomi is clearly betting on the “mid-fold” as a new direction for foldable phones. The idea is to deliver a device that is easier to carry than a large foldable without sacrificing the bigger-screen experience.
Full specifications, pricing, and availability are expected to be revealed at the launch event.