Xiaomi unveils 18 Fold, its first wide-format foldable smartphone

Xiaomi announced its 18 Fold smartphone at a product event in China, positioning it as a competitor to upcoming foldable devices from Samsung and Apple. The device features a 5.38-inch outer display and a 7.58-inch inner display, both using 120 Hz LTPO panels with a peak brightness of 4,000 nits and protected by a double-layer ultra-thin glass.

The phone folds on a redesigned "Dragon Bone" hinge that Xiaomi says incorporates 492 structural optimizations, resulting in a more rounded profile than the Galaxy Z Fold8. It will be offered in four finishes, including a Nishino Red version and a limited Ceramic Special Edition capped at 1,500 units.

Powered by Xiaomi’s in-house Xring O3 chip built on a 3 nm process, the 18 Fold includes a 10-core CPU clocked to 4.35 GHz, a 16-core GPU, and a dedicated NPU rated at 200 TOPS. Xiaomi claims the chip provides a 60 % multi-core CPU performance increase and an 85 % GPU boost over its predecessor, while reducing power consumption.

The rear camera system, developed with Leica, comprises a 200-megapixel main sensor, a 50-megapixel ultrawide lens and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto lens with 3.5× optical zoom. The phone runs HyperOS 4, is equipped with a 6,000 mAh battery supporting 67 W wired and 50 W wireless charging, and is priced from 10,999 yuan (about $1,638) for the base 12 GB/256 GB model to 14,999 yuan (about $2,235) for the top 16 GB/1 TB version, with the Ceramic Special Edition at 15,999 yuan (about $2,384).

Xiaomi also revealed the Pad 9 Pro Max tablet, which shares the Xring O3 chip, and announced three electric vehicles under its Pengcheng brand. The company has not confirmed international availability for the 18 Fold, noting that previous Mix Fold models were sold only in China.

Apple is scheduled to hold an event on September 9 at its headquarters, where it is expected to unveil its first foldable iPhone alongside the iPhone 18 Pro series.