Xiaomi’s second foldable cellphone is just 5.4mm thick in pill mode | Engadget

Merely a day after Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 launch, Xiaomi was fast to observe with a stunning punch. The Mix Fold 2 is the Chinese model’s second foldable cellphone, that includes a stunning thickness of simply 5.4mm when opened — barely sufficient to accommodate a USB-C port — and 11.2mm thick when folded. While Huawei’s Mate Xs 2 can be 5.4mm thick when opened, keep in mind that it folds outwards as an alternative and due to this fact lacks a secondary show, to not point out its 11.1mm-thick digicam “column.”

One of the options that allows the Mix Fold 2’s thickness is Xiaomi’s third-gen “micro water drop hinge,” which permits for a tighter fold on the versatile show panel inside the 8.8mm-tall hinge construction. To put issues into perspective, Xiaomi identified that the present “water drop hinge” construction on a competitor’s foldable — with an apparent picture reference to Huawei’s Mate X2 — is 11.25mm tall, as illustrated within the second gallery picture beneath. The firm added that with this new hinge and panel, the crease is even much less seen — narrower house over all, with a mean depth of lower than 0.15mm.

Interestingly, Xiaomi was prepared to sacrifice a little bit of battery juice to achieve this thickness, going from the unique Mix Fold’s 5,020mAh to 4,500mAh. It’s as if Xiaomi is betting massive on the effectivity of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor right here. There’s nonetheless assist for 67W fast charging, which matches from zero to 100% in simply 40 minutes. Together with the smaller hinge and slimmer physique elements, these contribute to a lighter general weight — 262 grams (about 9.24 ounces) as an alternative of the outdated 317 grams (about 11.2 ounces). Other goodies embody bigger warmth dissipation parts, twin Harman Kardon audio system, NFC and IR distant.

Some changes have been made on the 2 shows. For one, each have adopted a barely wider side ratio. The exterior Samsung panel now is available in a 6.56-inch measurement with a 2,520 x 1,080 decision, shielded by Gorilla Glass Victus. The inside foldable display screen is a supposedly extra environment friendly 8.02-inch Samsung Eco² OLED panel with a 2,016 x 1,914 decision, and it is lined by a versatile piece of ultra-thin glass (30um). Both screens assist as much as 120Hz refresh charge and 1,000-nit brightness, together with Dolby Vision and HDR10+. There are additionally three ambient sensors across the cellphone for a extra correct auto brightness for each screens.

On the pictures aspect, there is no extra “liquid lens” gimmick this time. The Mix Fold 2 shares a near-identical 50-megapixel essential digicam (with optical stabilization) and 13-megapixel ultra-wide digicam because the Xiaomi 12, however this time with a Leica Summicron certification — very like the Xiaomi 12S Ultra which kick-started this partnership. You additionally get an 8-megapixel 2x portrait digicam (45mm equal), in addition to a 20-megapixel selfie digicam on the opposite aspect. But after all, it’s also possible to unfold the cellphone and change to the rear cameras for selfies as an alternative, by which case you may be utilizing the secondary display screen as a viewfinder.

Given the cellphone’s thickness, a digicam bump was inevitable, so Xiaomi might solely try to reduce the digicam module peak, and it did so by switching to the much less frequent SMA (form reminiscence alloy) actuator to energy the primary digicam’s optical stabilization. It’s unclear whether or not there are any efficiency drawback with this answer, although.

Xiaomi

With the Leica partnership, the Mix Fold 2’s digicam app gained a “Leica Authentic” mode for these desire natural-looking photographs, in addition to a self-explanatory “Leica Vibrant” mode for everybody else. Regardless of the pictures mode, this foldable cellphone produces the traditional Leica M3’s shutter sound when capturing, and you will find numerous Leica-inspired filters, lens results and interface components all through the digicam app. If you typically take images of fast-moving youngsters or pets, you may apparently recognize Xiaomi’s AI-assisted “CyberFocus” AI tech right here, which was ported over from the corporate’s CyberDog and already featured on the Xiaomi 12 collection.

Much just like the 12S Ultra and the unique Mix Fold, the Mix Fold 2 is China-only for now, so good luck discovering an importer in your space. That mentioned, Xiaomi added that it labored with Google on optimizing Android 12L (however rebadged as “MIUI Fold”) for the Mix Fold 2, so there should be hope for an eventual worldwide rollout.

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 begins from 8,999 yuan (about $1,340) for the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage model, then it jumps to 9,999 yuan (about $1,480) for double the storage, then to 11,999 yuan (about $1,780) for a whopping 1TB. All three flavors include a vegan leather-based case with a built-in kickstand, and people in China can already pre-order right now.