Xiaomi is ready to launch their first Mid-Fold smartphone

Xiaomi has given us our first proper look at the 18 Fold - finally I should add. Along with it comes a name for the whole design approach: "mid-fold."

Xiaomi's own video confirms a 5.38-inch cover display and inside a main screen, measuring 7.58-inches once unfolded. The company showed it off in red color but there are other options as well I guess. On the back, a horizontal camera strip houses three cameras and an LED flash. Xiaomi confirmed Leica was involved in developing the camera system, which tracks with the company's usual approach on its flagship line.

Lu Weibing runs Xiaomi's smartphone business, and he isn't shy about how he's framing this phone. He's calling it the most advanced device in Xiaomi's entire lineup. He says it's built to compete with the company's regular numbered flagships, not just sit in its own foldable category. He also thinks mid-fold could become the direction other foldables move toward. That's a bold claim this early so we may have to put it to the test once we review it here.

The idea Xiaomi's pitching is simple once you break it down. Big foldables give you a large screen when opened. But most people spend most of their time on the smaller outer display anyway. Smaller foldables are easier to carry around. They usually compromise more once you're actually using them.

The 18 Fold is meant to sit right in the middle of that trade-off. Folded up, Xiaomi says it's roughly passport-sized. It's light enough to use with one hand. Unfolded, the 7.58-inch screen runs a new aspect ratio built for multitasking and video, not just a bigger version of the same shape.

Inside, it'll run the new Xring O3 chip, which already leaked on Geekbench ahead of launch. It ships with Surge OS 4 and Xiaomi's own MiMo on-device AI model. There's also a new "dragon bone" hinge, backed by a new simulation-based testing process. The phone will be among the first to ship with CXMT's LPDDR6 memory too.

The 18 Fold launches alongside the N70 Pro, N70 Max, N90 Max, and the Pad 9 Pro Max on September 7. Note that the tablet runs the same Xring O3 chip, so this could be a game changer for the tablet market as well.