Earlier today, I ran across a tweet that contained a video in which Xiaomi president teased us with a cool yet-to-be-announced folding device. I pulled some screenshots from the video to give you some still images. Here are images of the Xiaomi foldable phone in use, fully opened up:
I think it is cool, even cooler than Samsung’s folding phone. But just so you can see it in action for yourself, here is the tweet with the embedded video:
Xiaomi Foldable Phone Demo Video
Look what it is! The Xiaomi Foldable Phone! This video was posted by Lin Bin, president of Xiaomi, confirms what we saw in the video @evleaks posted earlier! This actually looks amazing and XIoami is looking for a name for it: Mi Mix Flex, Mi Dual Flex, etc. Thoughts?#Xiaomi pic.twitter.com/F3y2jBkxrp
— Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) January 23, 2019
If you find the Samsung Galaxy Fold, costing $2000, too expensive, and many people do, Xiaomi’s foldable phone is on the way and the grapevine says, it will cost about half that price.
A foldable device is one that has a flexible display that can bend. This ability to bend can be adapted into a number of scenarios. For now, all the announced foldable devices have the technology implemented into one or two folding points or joints. Perhaps in future we will see devices that can be rolled up like a scroll. Other interesting applications might show up too.
Others have mentioned that tinge of nostalgia before, and there is a ring to it. If you never owned or saw a Series 80 Nokia Communicator in use, all of this is going to be lost on you. Not only does the Galaxy Fold look the part as you fold it, the videos we have seen also show a user interface that has been modified to make the best of the large display when opened up.
Dayo and I went on and on about it but we eventually concluded that spending $2000 on a smartphone was not something we want to do in 2019. That’s roughly N700,000. No way. Not even for the thrill of being on the cutting edge. And Huawei’s foldable phone, the Mate X, is even more expensive than Samsung’s. It costs a whopping $2600 (about NGN900,000). Ki lo de?
A Pocket-friendly Foldable Phone
It appears that it is Xiaomi that will save the day and make it possible for many more people to experience folding display technology this year. That is, if a particular leak/rumour is true.
This report says that the Xiaomi foldable phone will cost $999 only. That puts its price at half of the Galaxy Fold. If ever one wants a rumour to be true, here I am wanting this one to be, so badly. LOL.
As seen in the video demonstration above, Xiaomi’s folding phone works differently from Samsung’s. While the Galaxy Fold folds forward and in, the Xiaomi folds backwards. Different implementations, same principle – carry a device with a large display around in the size of a regular smartphone.
Meanwhile, I am tired of say “Xiaomi’s foldable phone” every time. I shall just call it Xiaomi Mi Flex until the official name is announced. These guys cannot be stressing me like that on top of a device that I will still spend N350,000 on.
Come to think of it, spending $1000 to get my hands on a foldable device is not bad at all. Meanwhile, my partner-in-crime, Noni, isn’t bothered about price. She wants to get the Huawei Mate X, the most expensive foldable phone we have seen so far. I have asked if she would like to be my sugar mummy, and she says she will give it some thought.
Join me in lobbying her to accept my application, dear Mobilistas. This is the breakthrough that we have been looking for. Noni for Matron of MobilityArena!!
Whether she adopts me as a sugar son or not, though, I should get my hands on at least one foldable display device this year and have tons of experiences to share here. I hope that your weekend was as good as mine, and I wish you a productive week ahead.
Which foldable display device do you fancy?
PS: Which of the three foldable phones catch your fancy the most – Huawei Mate X, Samsung Galaxy Fold, or Xiaomi Mi Flex?