Xiaomi’s leaked Z Flip rival could herald cheaper foldables

By Prakhar Khanna Published January 18, 2022

The foldable smartphone segment is gaining traction in 2022 with Chinese manufacturers leading the new launches to compete with Samsung. Another entrant in the clamshell foldable market is expected to be Xiaomi. According to a new leak, the company is stated to be working on a foldable smartphone to compete with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3.

As per information from Weibo’s tipster Digital Chat Station, Xiaomi is working on a new foldable phone that will feature a clamshell design. It is said to be targeted toward women, like the new Huawei P50 Pocket foldable that comes equipped with a circular display on the cover screen. More interestingly, the device is likely to be priced like a mainstream flagship smartphone. Of course, mainstream smartphones run the gamut from the Pixel 6’s $599 to the iPhone 13’s $799, but that’s still an encouraging sign.

Recommended Videos

Coming to the specifications, the upcoming Xiaomi foldable could be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, which is the latest flagship chipset. On the optics front, it might sport a 50MP primary camera. It will be pretty thin and light, as per the report. It could have a display with FHD+ resolution and a 120Hz high refresh rate.

For reference, the upcoming clamshell foldable wouldn’t be Xiaomi’s first folding smartphone. The company has its Mi Mix Fold, and while earlier Mi Mixes have come to parts of Europe, that one has remained China-exclusive. We don’t know yet if Xiaomi would be rolling out this particular foldable worldwide.

Foldables gaining momentum in 2022 could drive the prices down for the growing device segment. As of now, the cheapest mainstream foldable device selling globally is the Galaxy Z Flip 3 with a $1,000 price tag. It’s the cheapest, but it is still pretty expensive. As we get more competition and smartphones in the segment, we are likely to see a price floor drop by a couple of hundred U.S. dollars. While devices like the Honor Magic V won’t be making their way across the border, we can expect something more homegrown like the Motorola Razr 3 to help in this area.

Former Mobile Writer

Prakhar writes news, reviews and features for Digital Trends. He is an independent tech journalist who has been a part of the…

Topics

Mobile

Specs just leaked for the next budget-focused Android tablet

Xiaomi Pad 7

It seems like every company has an Android tablet of their own these days, but Xiaomi has been a big name in the field. And now, the specs for the upcoming Xiaomi Pad 7 and Pad 7 Pro — both highly anticipated tablets — just leaked in China, according to GSMArena. The tablets received criticism for their larger size, although it's a trait many fans love. While there's no specific launch date, the two tablets are expected to release sometime around November of this year at currently unknown prices.

As far as specs go, both tablets will boast the same 11.17-inch screen with an impressive 144Hz refresh rate. That's great news for anyone hoping to use these to watch their favorite shows or get some gaming in; the high refresh rate means a much smoother experience overall. The Pad 7 is expected to use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset, while the Pad 7 Pro will have the more powerful Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 behind the wheel.

Mobile

Motorola might be making a foldable unlike any we’ve seen before

A side view of the Motorola Razr Plus 2024, showing the phone half-folded.

What do tiny motors, shape-shifting metal, and powerful sensors all have in common? They're part of a potential Motorola foldable phone. Foldable phones are nothing new, but their design and capabilities have come a long way since the days of the original flip phone. And now, 91Mobiles spotted a patent filing from Motorola that suggests an interesting design unlike anything we've seen before.

According to 91mobiles, the patent is titled "Autonomous form factor control of a foldable mobile device." Don't worry, you won't be tested on that. It basically boils down to a phone that can adjust its hinge position to help keep the user in the center of the frame, similar to Apple's Center Stage feature — except this is controlled through hardware, not software.

Mobile

Xiaomi’s new smartphone patent is one of the wildest I’ve ever seen

A person holding the Xiaomi Mix Flip, seen from the side.

You can think of the smartphone industry as an arms race. Every company is trying to come up with the wildest, most interesting design possible to draw in customers, but there should be a reason behind the madness. Weird for the sake of weird doesn't work. Well, Xiaomi might have finally cracked the strangest possible design for a smartphone, because a recently leaked patent shows a phone that can quite literally split in half.

Let me be clear: this phone isn't in production. It's just a dream and a patent right now. It was filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), so Xiaomi might explore production in the future — but it's probably better if you don't hold your breath. Heck, we're not even sure exactly how the phone is supposed to look.