It’s not just Samsung with a new folding phone, as Xiaomi’s Leica collaboration gets another gadget, though Aussies will likely miss out.
The world of foldable phones may well be one mostly controlled by Samsung, but it doesn’t mean it’s all a one brand race.
Motorola still has a model we’ve heard might be coming, it wouldn’t surprise us if both Google and Apple revealed a foldable Pixel and iPhone (respectively) this year, and there’s a neat rumour going around that mid-range mobile maker Realme also has something foldable in the works for this year.
But there’s also Xiaomi, which is talking up what it has on the way, provided you live in an area where Xiaomi typically releases models. Here in Australia, Xiaomi pops up from time to time, thanks in part to Panmi’s local distribution of Xiaomi gear, though not always with the most recent phones.
Foldable fans may be hoping for change, though, especially based on what the company has announced recently: a foldable phone sporting a Leica camera.
That’s one of the things Xiaomi has built, following from its 12S Ultra, with the rest of the foldable Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 looking quite impressive, too.
It’ll sport two screens, using a 6.56 inch display on the outside and an 8 inch screen on the inside, a flexible display that can bend to match the hinged design, because like the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and upcoming Z Fold 4, it’s a foldable phone made to show a big tablet when you unfold it.
Both screens run at 120Hz and support Dolby Vision HDR, and they’ll use a version of Android made for foldable screens, something Xiaomi calls Miui Fold 13, which may be based on Android 12L, the version of Android focused on foldables that can work as tablets. That’ll include floating windows and multitasking, some of which may be Xiaomi additions to the concept.
Inside, there’s a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, the same chip we saw on the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro recently, while the camera on the back will offer a 50 megapixel camera with a Leica lens, plus a 13 megapixel ultra-wide angle and 8 megapixel 2X zoom camera alongside. Like the previous Xiaomi Leica collaboration, it’ll get Leica “looks” to process images in a similar fashion to a Leica camera.
As exciting as this all looks, it’s unlikely the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 would see release locally. While Xiaomi does have local distribution, that doesn’t typically cover new phone releases, and this one might stick to being something you’d need to import.
That said, we’re checking with Xiaomi’s local arm to find out whether Australia is on the cards for this foldable in the near future.
