Xiaomi Mix Flip in for review

Xiaomi has several generations of foldable phones under its belt, but the Mix Flip is its first clamshell foldable. And this just might be the most impressive of its kind, at least of the ones that will be available in Europe (it will cost around €1,300).

First things first, the retail package includes not just a USB cable, but also a 67W fast charger. Yes, the Xiaomi Mix Flip battery goes up to 67W, which is well above what Samsung’s Galaxy Z phones can do (both the Fold and Flip top out at just 25W) and it beats the Moto Razr 50 Ultra too (45W). One downside here is that wireless charging is not supported.

The other thing is not visible, but you will definitely feel it – Xiaomi managed to fit a massive 4,780mAh battery inside this phone. And massive is no exaggeration, the Galaxy Z Flip6 and Razr 50 Ultra have 4,000mAh batteries and even the much larger Galaxy Z Fold only has a 4,400mAh battery.

We’ve already tested the battery life of the Mix Flip and while it is not the best (e.g. the Moto beats it by a few minutes), it’s still quite good for a flip foldable. We’re yet to complete the charging tests, but the race to 100% should be over pretty quickly at 67W.

We still haven’t opened the Mix Flip and we have yet another feature to highlight – the 4” cover display. Xiaomi gave it a square-ish aspect ratio, but cleverly carved out a 16:9 area for apps to run, which sidesteps any compatibility issues. The display is large enough that you can navigate using Google Maps, read and respond to messages and use basically any app. Note that the keyboard uses the full width of the display (unlike apps), so it’s almost as comfortable to use as the keyboard on the main display.

Alright, time to flip the phone open – hold on, give us a moment, this isn’t as easy as it looks. Jokes aside, the flat sides of the phone mean that you really have to dig your thumb in there to part the two halves. Then, the stiff hinge will fight you all the way as you push to get it opened 180°.

But the effort is worth it as it reveals the roomy 6.86” LTPO OLED display with up to 120Hz refresh rate. The pixel density is higher than both the Z Flip6 and Razr 50 Ultra and you get goodies like Dolby Vision and up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness.

Let’s close the phone back again to look at the cameras. Xiaomi went with a 50MP sensor in the main (1.0µm pixels, OIS) and a 50MP portrait camera with a 47mm (2x) lens – the same choice that Motorola made. Is losing the ultra wide a big deal? Would it have been better if the tele camera had a longer lens? Let’s leave those questions for the review.

The review of the Xiaomi Mix Flip is well underway and we will be back with all the details soon.