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Samsung stirred the wide foldable race, but I’m more excited for an upcoming exotic rival

Samsung went bold and wide, but Xiaomi's rumored Mix Fold 5 has my attention

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Computer, Electronics, Tablet Computer
One UI 9 on Fold 8 Nadeem Sarwar / DigitalTrends
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This story is part of our Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026 coverage
Updated less than 1 day ago

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 brought a major redesign to the company’s foldable lineup. We now have a shorter, almost passport-like body that opens into a 7.6-inch display with a more media-friendly 4:3 aspect ratio. This feels like a more natural fit than Samsung’s squarer last-gen foldables. It also has a more portable 201 grams heft and a decent 4,800mAh battery capacity.

All of this makes it one of Samsung’s most interesting foldables yet. However, an upcoming Xiaomi device may take the same wide-screen formula and blend it with a Chinese phone’s typical madness.

Xiaomi could bring its own silicon to the fight

A Xiaomi foldable carrying the model number 2608BPX34C was recently spotted in China’s CMIIT certification database. Reports currently refer to it as the Xiaomi Mix Fold 5, Xiaomi 17 Fold, or Mix Fold 6, suggesting the final marketing name remains unsettled.

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But the rumored specs are what really caught my eye. Xiaomi’s foldable could use a 7.6-inch inner screen, a 200MP main camera, wireless charging, and a roughly 6,000mAh battery. That would give it a 1,200mAh capacity advantage over Samsung’s Z Fold 8, at least on paper. That’s not all, the listing adds that it could be powered by the XRING O3 processor. To recall, Xiaomi first introduced its flagship in-house chip. the 3nm based XRING O1, in 2025.

It brought impressive performance and gave the company more control over imaging, AI processing, and power management. So the Mix Fold 5 could be far more distinct than another premium foldable built around the latest Snapdragon platform.

Before you get too excited

The certification itself confirms that Xiaomi is preparing an unreleased device, but the official moniker, design, or hardware details are still at large. The same model number was previously linked to Xiaomi’s rumored tri-fold phone, so the exact identity is still unclear.

Xiaomi might release this model sometime ahead of its next-gen flagship phones, so it could debut sometime between August and September in China. But it will likely carry a hefty price tag of around 10,000 yuan or higher (roughly $1,500 US Dollars). But till we get something more concrete or any official teasers, treat this as just another rumor.

Vikhyaat Vivek
Vikhyaat Vivek is a tech journalist and reviewer with seven years of experience covering consumer hardware, with a focus on…
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