Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 review

Introduction

Three generations in, the ugly duckling has not only grown up to be a beautiful swan, but has also reached maturity. The Mix Fold 3 is Xiaomi's latest attempt at a phone-turns-tablet style of foldable and we're really liking it.

Xiaomi has managed to make several improvements over the previous model, which itself was a giant leap for the franchise. This year, we're getting more cameras (can there ever be too many?), bigger battery (always a good thing), yet nicer displays (not that the old ones were bad), wireless charging (about time), and the usual chipset upgrade. What we're not getting this time around either, is global availability. Sigh.

We do have one of the China-only Mix Fold 3s at the office for review and that's still something. We'll be taking a close look at the camera performance, where we're particularly excited about the new telephotos - a 3.2x and a 5x module means a lot more versatility than the lone 2x-ish zoom camera of the old model. And that, possibly, makes the Mix the most complete camera system on a large-size foldable on the market.

Xiaomi also promises a ton of brightness from the new displays while maintaining the size and proportions, which we quite liked already. Add to those improved panels the more efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and the battery capacity increase to 4,800mAh and we may be looking at a new foldable endurance champ.

The addition of wireless charging will contribute to a shorter cons list in the end, though one entry is already guaranteed to make it there - there's no waterproofing on the Mix Fold 3. Now that Google and Huawei have joined Samsung to offer that, we'd be less inclined to give others a pass.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 specs at a glance:

• Body: 161.2x143.3x5.3mm, 255g; Glass front, glass/plastic back, aluminum frame.
• Display: 8.03" Foldable LTPO OLED+, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, 1916x2160px resolution, 10.15:9 aspect ratio, 360ppi; Cover display: 6.56" AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, 1080 x 2520 pixels, 21:9 ratio, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8550-AC Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.36 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3x2.0 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM, 1TB 16GB RAM; UFS 4.0.
• OS/Software: Android 13, MIUI Fold 14.1.5.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm, 1/1.49", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.0, 75mm, PDAF, OIS, 3.2x optical zoom; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.9, 115mm, PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 15mm, 120˚.
• Front camera: Wide (main): 20 MP, f/2.3, 23mm; Wide (main): 20 MP, f/2.3, 23mm; Wide (main): 20 MP, f/2.3, 23mm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@24fps, 4K@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240/960/1920fps, Dolby Vision HDR; Front camera: 1080p@30/60fps.
• Battery: 4800mAh; 67W wired, PD3.0, QC4, 100% in 40 min (advertised), 50W wireless, 100% in 55 min (advertised).
• Connectivity: 5G; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 5.3; NFC; Infrared port.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers.

Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 unboxing

Xiaomi likes to make you feel special with the in-box contents of its higher-end phones and the Mix Fold 3 is no different. While the box has shrunk a bit, it still contains more than the bare minimum.

For example, you get a two-piece protective... solution for the handset. It consists of a back cover that snaps on the screenless end of the Mix (and can be further secured with adhesive strips) and doubles as a kickstand, and more of a frame that surrounds the cover display (also attached with adhesive strips).

A charger (67W one in this case) and a cable to go with it are still accessories you get with your Xiaomi, unlike certain competitors.