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Mi Mix Fold hands-on pictures and videos show that the crease is strong with Xiaomi's first foldable smartphone

The Mi Mix Fold's inner display measures 8.01-inches. (Image source: Digital Chat Station)
The Mi Mix Fold's inner display measures 8.01-inches. (Image source: Digital Chat Station)
The Mi Mix Fold may have many great features on paper, but hands-on shots show that Xiaomi has been unable to overcome the crease that plagued earlier foldable smartphones. Clearly, Xiaomi has some catching up to do before it can match Huawei's Mate X2.

The Mi Mix Fold garnered plenty of attention when Xiaomi launched it yesterday, with the device being the company's first foldable and a return to the Mi Mix series that has been left dormant since 2019. The Mi Mix Fold also debuts the Surge C1, Xiaomi's custom image signal processor (ISP) and is the first smartphone with a liquid-lens camera. It is unclear if Xiaomi plans to release the Mi Mix Fold globally, but it will cost between CNY 9,999 (~US$1,521) and CNY 12,999 (~US$1,977) in China.

It is worth pointing out that the entry-level Mi Mix Fold undercuts the equivalent Mate X2 by CNY 8,000 (~US$1,217). Additionally, Xiaomi's Ceramic Special Edition model comes in at CNY 5,000 (~US$761) under the cheapest Mate X2, despite having double the storage and RAM. Similarly, the Galaxy Z Fold2 sells for at least CNY 16,999 (~US$2,587) in China.

(Image source: Digital Chat Station)
(Image source: Digital Chat Station)
(Image source: Digital Chat Station)
(Image source: Digital Chat Station)
(Image source: Digital Chat Station)
(Image source: Digital Chat Station)

Unquestionably, the Mi Mix Fold is better value for money than Huawei and Samsung's latest efforts, at least in China anyway. With that said, early hands-on photos and videos with the Mi Mix Fold show that it has an inferior inner display. Huawei and Samsung have made great strides in reducing the display crease in their latest foldable smartphones, although it seems that Huawei is closer to eliminating the crease.

By contrast, Sami Tech Tips' latest video shows that the crease is alive and well in the Mi Mix Fold. Based on his video, the Mi Mix Fold's inner display has a pronounced crease from all angles. Xiaomi claims that the display should last up to 200,000 folds, but so it would be interesting to see how that crease ages over time. We would recommend watching Sami Tech Tip's video on the Mi Mix Fold too, as he covers multiple software elements, including the device's MIUI PC mode.

Hopefully, the Mi Mix Fold is just the start of foldable smartphones from Xiaomi. We now understand why Xiaomi refrains from showing the Mi Mix Fold fully open though, unlike Huawei and the Mate X2.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2021 03 > Mi Mix Fold hands-on pictures and videos show that the crease is strong with Xiaomi's first foldable smartphone
Alex Alderson, 2021-03-31 (Update: 2021-03-31)