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Xiaomi coming after Samsung? Patent shows Mi Mix Fold 2 mixing iPad Pro with Fold style

By Preslav Kateliev

Published: Dec 29, 2021, 4:28 AM

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Xiaomi

When it comes to foldable phones, Samsung’s name immediately comes to mind — the company did amazing strides in terms of developing and popularizing not one but two new foldable phone designs. Those being the booklet format of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the clamshell design of the Galaxy Z Flip 3. In fact, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 kind of pushed the Note series off of its pedestal, taking up the August release spot and leaving the Samsung Galaxy Note 21 in limbo (spoiler: the Galaxy S22 Ultra may just be the Note 21 we never got).

Galaxy S22 Ultra rumored to look a lot like a Note phone

See, since both the Galaxy S21 Ultra and — very notably — the Z Fold 3 both support the signature S Pen stylus, Samsung felt it was a bit redundant to launch a Note phone in 2021, it seems.

But Samsung isn’t the only player in the foldable market — other manufacturers are also trying to get a slice of that niche pie, with the likes of Motorola, Huawei, and Xiaomi all breathing down Samsung’s neck.

Xiaomi is developing its fold game real fast

The OG Mi Mix Fold

It was back in March of 2021 when Xiaomi launched is foldable flagship — the Mi Mix Fold. It looked like an alternate take of what Samsung had been doing so far with the Galaxy Z Fold 2 with the exception that Xiaomi tried to go above and beyond, covering ground that Samsung doesn’t. In the case of the original Mi Mix Fold — it was the camera.

See, foldable tech is still new, hard to make, fragile, and expensive. Surely, compromises need to be made to optimize a device’s form factor, hardware performance, and overall price. In the case of Samsung’s Fold series — they usually come with cameras that are slightly downgraded from the mainstream Galaxy S flagships. Particularly, they can’t really compare to the overkill Galaxy S Ultra devices.

Galaxy S21 Ultra and Z Fold 3

But, with the Mi Mix Fold, Xiaomi refused to compromise and stuffed a massive 108 MP main camera, a telephoto camera with the world’s first liquid lens design and an 8 MP sensor, and an ultra-wide camera with a 13 MP resolution and a 123-degree FOV. To top it off, the selfie snapper also had the pretty massive 20 MP resolution.

We’d love to be able to tell you if those cameras took pictures that were as breathtaking as their on-paper specs, but getting your hands on a Mi Mix Fold outside of China is a tough cookie to crack. However, it looks that its successor might be targeting the global market.

The next Mi Mix Fold may combine Fold features with iPad Pro features

A new patent filed with the USPTO (MySmartPrice pointed our attention to this) shows us what the Mi Mix Fold 2 might end up looking like — and it’s low-key exciting. It looks like Xiaomi is planning to bundle its next foldable with a stylus.

Where would we keep the stylus, you ask? Well, it attaches magnetically to the side of the phone!

By these crude sketches, the Mi Mix 2 looks like a… mix of the Galaxy Z Fold style with a bit of iPad peppered in — this is how we usually attach the Apple Pencil to the sides of the iPad Pros, Airs, and Minis.

Apple Pencil 2 attaches magnetically and charges wirelessly�

Unfortunately, the filing is pretty bare-bones. It pretty much says “this is our new design from front, back, side, bottom, and top”. Sill the Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold 2 stylus be active and require battery recharging? We don’t know. Will it really come in the box? Hopefully, but no idea.

We are pretty sure that it will still have flagship hardware — the original Mi Mix launched with a top-tier Snapdragon 888 chip and we are pretty sure that the Mi Mix Fold 2 will have the Snapdragon 8 Gen1.

Also, the Xiaomi 12 was just announced and it didn’t really rehash the liquid lens technology. It’d be interesting to see if the Mi Mix Fold 2 will flesh out the concept or abandon it altogether (or leave it for the successor of the Mi 11 Ultra?)

When will the Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold 2 release?

Hopefully, Xiaomi will be looking for an annual refresh on that one. So, around March, give or take a month. And, given that it posted a patent application with the USPTO, the Mi Mix 2 may just be sold internationally. Fingers crossed?

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Preslav, a member of the PhoneArena team since 2014, is a mobile technology enthusiast with a penchant for integrating tech into his hobbies and work. Whether it's writing articles on an iPad Pro, recording band rehearsals with multiple phones, or exploring the potential of mobile gaming through services like GeForce Now and Steam Link, Preslav's approach is hands-on and innovative. His balanced perspective allows him to appreciate both Android and iOS ecosystems, focusing on performance, camera quality, and user experience over brand loyalty.