The family is growing. Xiaomi has just launched its Mix Flip in France. The manufacturer joins Samsung, Motorola, Honor, and OnePlus in a universe that only Apple still seems to want to ignore. While waiting for a hypothetical iPhone Flip or Fold, should you replace your classic smartphone with a foldable model? 20 Minutes gives you some food for thought.
“Foldable smartphones will become indispensable and will no longer be a niche category.” Asked by 20 Minutes last January, TM Roth, the head of telephony at Samsung, was sure of his fact. For six years, the manufacturer has launched itself as a true pioneer in the foldable smartphone market. Last August, it marketed its Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6, its sixth generation foldables, placed under the sign of AI.
But Samsung is no longer alone in its kingdom. Motorola and its Razr 50 Ultra; Honor and its Magic V3; OnePlus and its Open; Google and its Pixel 9 Pro Fold have joined the dance. And in the foldable ball, it is now Xiaomi and its Mix Flip which is also taking over the track!
Flip or Fold: they fold in half
This new foldable falls into the category of “Flip”, these smartphones heirs to flip mobiles which open (like a compact) to reveal, here, a 6.86 inch screen (2,912 x 1,224 pixels) clocked at 120 Hz , a little larger than that of the 6.7-inch Galaxy Z Flip 6. The exterior screen (where the two photo lenses are placed) is also, with 4.01 inches, compared to 3.4 inches.
But the youngest of the siblings comes forward with a price (1,300 euros in 512 GB) which can be confusing, where the Z Flip 6 from the tenor Samsung is sold at 1,200 euros for equal capacity. Gone are the days when Xiaomi played “ game changer » by offering products at a lower cost? A priori, yes.
This is also an obstacle to the adoption of these latest generation smartphones, especially when we venture into the world of “Folds”, those which open like a book.
The Fold, mini-tablets for almost 2,000 euros!
Obviously, their internal screen is larger than that of the Flip and can be compared to that of a mini-tablet: 7.6 inches for Samsung; 7.92 inches at Honor… 8 inches at Google! The screen of the new iPad mini is not far away: 8.3 inches… But sold for around 1,800 euros in 512 GB, these smartphones are much more expensive than Apple's small slate with equal capacity (sold for 1,159 euros in Wifi + Cellular). The comparison ends there.
Because in the test, the Fold turned out to be very practical for working with several open windows; watch videos on the move with real viewing comfort (with a square format which imposes black bands at the top and bottom of the image, unless you zoom in!).
We also like them for taking photos using the internal screen as a viewfinder. Because unlike tablets whose photo sensor(s) often offer ridiculous performances, the photo modules of foldable smartphones are similar to those of smartphones premium. And their screen also allows you to read with great comfort.
For their part, Flips have other virtues. Videos in 16:9 format appear creamy when the smartphone is placed in Landscape mode. Ditto in Portrait mode where this time it is the vertical videos which find a beautiful setting. Nothing like scrolling through stories until the battery runs out.
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But it is also the simultaneity of action allowed by these Flips which invites new uses, when we separate their screen in two: on one side a video; on the other, messaging that can be used at the same time, for example. Placed half open (what we call “Flex” mode), they are also very relevant for videos: the smartphone can thus be placed open at 90° anywhere and film us. Or take photos of ourselves for hyper-defined selfies using the external screen as a viewfinder. The main sensors will take care of the rest. And once closed, the Flip regains a compactness that many appreciate. This is also synonymous with ergonomics: their small exterior screen can be personalized with the main applications that you want to place there: email, music player, camera, news feed. No need to unfold the smartphone to access it!
Technological showcases and new gestures
Whether Fold or Flip, foldable smartphones allow us to consider new gestures. By reinventing the world of telephony, they are also the technological showcases of manufacturers. Besides, foldables are still evolving.
Remember: when they arrived in 2019, everyone was wondering about the famous bend in their screen. Did she see herself? Was she fragile? Then it was the turn of the hinge. How would it resist our repeated requests? Up to at least 200,000 openings/closings, as Samsung indicates? Or up to 500,000, as Xiaomi claims? Time will tell.
There remains the question of waterproofing. If, last July, Samsung passed the IP48 protection index milestone on its sixth generation of foldables (resistance to dust with a diameter of more than 1 mm and immersion up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes), its competitors are not all there yet. When the bare minimum is IPX8 standard protection (resistance to immersion up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes), Xiaomi is not announcing anything for its Mix Flip…
While last February, Apple filed a patent for a foldable smartphone which seems to want to emerge in the Flip category, however, nothing indicates that the Apple brand (which undoubtedly has less of a taste for adventure in telephony than at one time!), will invest more or less quickly in this market. Market which however awaits it. Without the Apple bucket, the foldable, as efficient as it is, perhaps does not yet have all its legitimacy.
