Xiaomi allegedly patents what looks like a Mate Xs clone

Xiaomi has filed some innovative mobile-device IP recently, some of which incorporate flexible display tech to solve problems such as the survival of the selfie as phones gravitate toward designs of this nature. Now, however, the OEM seems to have run out of ideas and are claiming variations on pre-existing foldables as their own as well.

One of these is the outward-folding tablet, the design chosen by Huawei for its inaugural folding phablet, the Mate X and its Xs refresh. The new IP attributed to Xiaomi shows a concept strikingly similar to the latter; it may even have as many sensors in its non-bending "grip" as the real-world folding tablet.

The Xiaomi foldable concept may also have a magnetic closure, although there is no sign of the side-mounted fingerprint sensor found in the older device. Therefore, it may just be somewhere in its enlarged, collapsible screen.

This patent was submitted to the Chinese intellectual property office CNIPA in November 2019, and has been granted today (June 5, 2020). Therefore, it may be some time before this design is realized in a real world device. On that note, there may just be potential for a Mi Mix 3 (or Alpha, perhaps?) successor in this patent.