Xiaomi 18 Fold Is Xiaomi’s New Foldable Flagship, and It’s Seriously Impressive

Foldable phones are becoming a much bigger part of the smartphone conversation, and Xiaomi clearly doesn’t want to be left behind. The company has officially launched the new Xiaomi 18 Fold in China, bringing a rather interesting take on the foldable smartphone instead of simply copying the usual book-style design.

Unlike many traditional foldables, the 18 Fold has a wider, more compact “passport-style” design when closed. It comes with a 5.38-inch external display that opens up into a much larger 7.58-inch LTPO AMOLED display. Both screens support a variable refresh rate of up to 120Hz and can reach up to 4,000 nits of peak brightness.

One of the more interesting things about the design is that Xiaomi has given both displays a similar aspect ratio. This means the interface can feel more consistent when moving between the outside screen and the larger internal display. Xiaomi is also positioning the phone as something that remains comfortable to use even when it is closed, rather than forcing users to constantly unfold it.

A lot of hardware packed inside

The Xiaomi 18 Fold isn’t just about the folding screen. Under the hood is Xiaomi’s own XRING O3 processor, built on a 3nm process. The phone can also be configured with up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, making it very much a flagship-level device.

Xiaomi has also managed to squeeze a 6,000mAh battery into the foldable, which is quite notable considering the phone measures only 5.02mm thick when unfolded and weighs around 219 grams. It supports 67W wired charging and 50W wireless charging.

The Xiaomi 18 Fold gets a Leica-branded triple-camera system, headlined by a 200-megapixel main camera. It is joined by a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto camera with 3.5x optical zoom and a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera. That gives the 18 Fold a much more serious camera setup than what we usually expect from a foldable.

Xiaomi 18 Fold price and availability

In China, the Xiaomi 18 Fold starts at CNY 10,999 for the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage model. Higher configurations go up to 16GB RAM and 1TB storage, with the top-end ceramic version reaching CNY 15,999.

For now, though, there’s an important catch for international buyers. The Xiaomi 18 Fold is a China-only release, and Xiaomi has not confirmed an international launch or pricing for other markets.

Still, the 18 Fold is an interesting addition to Xiaomi’s growing flagship lineup. With its unique form factor, large display, big battery, Leica cameras and Xiaomi’s latest in-house chip, this is clearly a phone designed to show what the company can do in the premium foldable space.

For a category that’s becoming increasingly crowded, the Xiaomi 18 Fold certainly brings something a little different to the table.