The foldable market continues to grow at pace with many excellent options available for those who can pay the premium to get this new class of smartphone. Xiaomi is thought to be preparing a new version of its foldable, with rumours appearing about what the updated model will contain.
Here’s all we know so far about the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3.
When will the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 be released?
We have yet to hear from Xiaomi of the precise date when the Mix Fold 3 will arrive. Looking at the previous generations we can see that they were released in the following windows:
Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 – August 2022Xiaomi Mix Fold – April 2021
Leakers are beginning to predict that the new model will follow on from the Fold 2 and arrive in August 2023, with prolific tech leaker Digital Chat Station reporting that Xiaomi plans a Q3 release for the Mix Fold 3, which would fit that schedule. We still have no idea whether the device will come to the US or Europe this time around, but we can hope.
How much will the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 cost?
There’s no word on pricing yet, but we can use the previous generation as a guide. When the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 launched in China, it was priced as such:
256GB: ¥8,999 (around $1,335/£1,090/€1,290)512GB: ¥9,999 (around $1,485/£1,215/€1,435)1TB: ¥11,999 (around $1,780/£1,455/€1,720)
We’d expect similar figures for the newer model, with possibly a slight reduction as the technology becomes easier to produce.
What features will we see in the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3?
With the Mix Fold 3 still a good distance from its release date, the rumours of its potential tech specs are vague at the moment. That hasn’t stopped tech leakers from working hard at the pit-face, mining some nuggets for us all.
Processor
Digital Chat Station reported recently that the Mix Fold 3 would arrive with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. This makes sense if the Q3 release schedule is true, as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 isn’t due to appear until November/December 2023.
Displays
Obviously, as a folding phone the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 will have more than one panel. Gizchina reports that this time around we’ll see a main 8.01in OLED folding display running at 1860 x 2480 with a 20:9 aspect ratio, and Gorilla Glass 5. This varies slightly from the Mix Fold 2, which sported an 8.02in LTPO2 OLED folding panel running at 1914 x 2160, 120Hz, and using Schott UT glass.
For the front display, GizmoChina has posted that the 6.56in AMOLED, 120Hz, 1080 x 2520 resolution panel we saw on the Mix Fold 2 will be replaced with a 6.5in OLED FHD+ 120Hz panel, so not too much difference there.
Cameras
Xiaomi seems to be giving the cameras some attention on the Mix Fold 3, as reports say that the new phone will feature an under display camera for the main foldout panel. This should give an uninterrupted display, but with the ability to take selfies while the phone is in its tablet mode.
Several other leaks point towards a periscope lens being added to the main camera array, which would provide a 5x optical zoom and bring it into the realms of smartphones like the Samsung S23 Ultra, Google Pixel 7 Pro, and Honor Magic 5 Pro.
Chinese site Xiaomiui reports that the main camera will be a 50Mp unit powered by the 1in Sony IMX989 sensor, which would be a significant upgrade from the IMX766 sensor in its predecessor. If the other lenses stay the same, then it will be accompanied by an 8Mp, f/2.6 telephoto and 13Mp, f/2.4 ultrawide camera. Not class leading, but a decent array for a folding smartphone.
Battery and waterproofing
We’ve also seen a few sites stating that Xiaomi will retain the 67W charging speeds that it utilised on the Mix Fold 2, with Gizchina saying the cell will be increased from 4500mAh to 5020mAh in the Mix Fold 3.
The new model is also rumoured to have a waterproof rating this time around, but we’ve yet to see which IP rating it will receive.
There details so far remain vague, but as more information becomes available we’ll be updating this article, so check back to see what we dig up. In the meantime, take a look at our roundups of the best Android phones and best phone coming in 2023 to see what the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 will need to beat.
