Xiaomi's newest foldable device is lighter and less expensive than the Galaxy Z Fold5

 Xiaomi's newest foldable device is lighter and less expensive than the Galaxy Z Fold5

Only in China is the newest flagship folding phone from Xiaomi, the Mix Fold 3.

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 is the most recent Chinese competitor to overtake the Korean tech behemoth, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5, which is unquestionably one of the greatest folding smartphones of 2023. Xiaomi's third edition of the foldable is slimmer than Samsung's product. You won't be able to purchase one any time soon, though.

The new Z Fold5 from Samsung is much slimmer than its predecessor. It is still not as tiny as the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3, which when folded has a thickness of 10.3mm and when unfurled, it only has a 5.6mm thickness. With a weight of 259 grammes, the Mix Fold 3 is a little heavier than Samsung's model.

The hinge technology has been improved by Xiaomi, just like Samsung, to make it lighter and stronger. It is now expected to survive up to 500,000 folds, which is more than twice as long as what Samsung and Google say. The Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 features a second, somewhat bigger 8.03-inch main folding screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness rating of 1300 nits. Similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 (review), it also has a slightly larger 6.56-inch cover display with a greater aspect ratio.

A 50 MP wide-angle lens, a 12 MP ultra-wide angle lens, a 10 MP standard telephoto lens with 3.2x optical zoom, and an extra 10 MP periscope zoom lens with 5x optical zoom make up the Leica-tuned camera setup on the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3. On the cover display of the gadget is a 20 MP selfie camera that can capture 1080p movies.

Technically speaking, the Galaxy Z Fold5 and Mix Fold 3 both utilise the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. However, Xiaomi's product features at least 12 GB of RAM and operates at a slightly slower clock speed. The Mix Fold 3 comes pre-installed with Android 13 and its own MIUI 14 overlay.

A dual-cell 4,800 mAh battery inside the smartphone supports 67W wired and 50W wireless charging. Priced at 8,999 Yuan, or around Rs 103,000, the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3's basic model with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage is significantly less expensive than Samsung's most recent foldable. The Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 is only accessible in China, as opposed to the Z Fold5, which is extensively distributed worldwide.