{"id":655769,"date":"2026-10-24T13:32:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T13:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/655769\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T13:32:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T13:32:14","slug":"i-used-xiaomis-folding-iphone-duo-rival-and-i-like-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/655769\/","title":{"rendered":"I Used Xiaomi’s Folding iPhone Duo Rival and I Like It"},"content":{"rendered":"

Xiaomi took the wraps off its new foldable phone at IFA in Berlin<\/a> and while I could only see it on a stand behind glass at first, I later managed to actually get my hands on the thing and have a brief play. The Xiaomi 18 Fold is a nice-feeling foldable Android phone<\/a> with a passport-style design that I absolutely love. Problem is, it\u2019s got some stiff competition from both Samsung with its Galaxy Z Fold 8<\/a> and now Apple, following the launch of the iPhone Duo<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AXiaomi\u2019s foldable (left), next to Samsung\u2019s Galaxy Z Fold 8. Xiaomi\u2019s is a little smaller.Andrew Lanxon\/CNET<\/p>\n

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8<\/a> launched earlier this summer, sporting a passport-style design that CNET\u2019s Abrar Al-Heeti liked enough to give a CNET Editors\u2019 Choice award to. Xiaomi\u2019s phone is in a similar vein to Samsung\u2019s and Apple\u2019s. It\u2019s squat, with a 5.38-inch outer display that unfolds to reveal a 7.58-inch inner display. I agree totally with Abrar when she said that this shape is \u201crefreshing\u201d and \u201cfun.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inner display looked bright and vibrant (at least, under the dim overhead office lights of my demo room) and the crease was barely noticeable. I recently reviewed Samsung\u2019s book-style folding Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra<\/a>, and I prefer the more passport style for its wider aspect ratio inner display. It just feels more natural.<\/p>\n

\"ImageYou can prop it open like this.Andrew Lanxon\/CNET<\/p>\n

Xiaomi says its custom hinge uses a \u201cthree-link\u201d design for added strength and durability. I honestly can\u2019t speak to that in my brief hands-on time, but it did feel satisfying to open. It\u2019s also able to hold its position so you can prop it half open.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the first phone the company has released using its own in-house XRing 03 processor, which Xiaomi claims is as powerful as any other flagship chip right now \u2014 presumably including the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Elite found in Samsung\u2019s Galaxy phones. It\u2019s an interesting move to see the company build its own silicon from scratch. Both Apple and Google have done similar things, and clearly, Xiaomi agrees that this is the way to have better control of all aspects of the product. How it performs on benchmarks remains to be seen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ImageI love that red color.Andrew Lanxon\/CNET<\/p>\n

Other specs include a 200-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel telephoto camera, and a 6,000 mAh silicon-carbon battery. Solid specs, for sure, but I\u2019ll have to reserve judgment on how these perform when I get a model in my hands for some real testing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m impressed by the Xiaomi 18 Fold. It feels like one of the most sophisticated foldables the company has produced, and I find that passport format much more intriguing than the more typical book- or flip-style of its previous foldables.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ImageThe wider format, when open, gives more space for videos.Andrew Lanxon\/CNET<\/p>\n

Xiaomi has yet to say whether the phone will go on sale outside of mainland China, but I really hope it does. Xiaomi doesn\u2019t officially sell any of its phones in the US, so don\u2019t expect it there at any point, but I\u2019ll keep my tea-stained British fingers crossed that I get a model at some point.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Editors\u2019 note:\u00a0Andrew Lanxon\u2019s travel costs for the IFA conference were covered by Xiaomi.\u00a0The judgments and opinions of CNET are our own<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Andrew\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAndrew Lanxon\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEditor at Large; Lead Photographer, Europe\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhen he’s not testing the latest phones or phone cameras, Andrew can normally be found with his own camera in hand or behind his drums or eating his stash of home-cooked food — sometimes all at once.
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSee full bio\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Xiaomi took the wraps off its new foldable phone at IFA in Berlin and while I could only…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[85,46,321,125],"class_list":["post-655769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mobile","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}