Xiaomi launched its next-generation foldable phone, the Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 back in August and here we are with our first impression. Coming as the successor to the MIX Fold 2, the latest-generation foldable device comes with a modified Snapdragon chipset, 16 GB RAM and all packed in a sturdier body, with performance upgrade, larger battery, and what more. The larger-screen handheld market is intensifying, and this is the latest gauntlet thrown down by Xiaomi. We can assure you that the Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 can offer plenty much to become one of the best foldable smartphones there is. Let’s delve deeper.
The Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 First Impression
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 makes all use cases smooth and great
- The 8.03-inch AMOLED makes for an immersive viewing experince
- Up to 16 GB of RAM & 512 GB internal storage means enough storage for photos, vidoes, and all
- Four cameras makes it unique and the 50 MP sharp shooter can take amazing photos
- 67W fast charing makes life more conveinet
What’s in the box?
Unboxing the Xiaomi’s foldable phone, you get a
- 67-Watt Fast charger
- USB A to USB C charging cable
- SIM ejection tool
- A case with a built-in stand
- And the juggernaut- a massively powerful Mix Fold 3 phone
And now let’s find how the foldable phone unfolds!!! Find it down below.
Aluminum Design
The MIX Fold 3 has aluminum frame which follows the current trend in the industry. The buttons as well as the hinge are also made of the same material. The foldable panel though is surrounded by matte plastic frame which for some might ruin the elegant design.
As expected, the aluminum gives the device stability and class. The hinge is stable enough in when you have it unfolded. Every foldable phone has a certain number of “folds” in its lifespan. Xiaomi claims that the MIX Fold 3 can withstand at least 500,000 folds.
The Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 comes in Black, Black Carbon and Gold color variants with each featuring a back cover design. The Gold and Black models have a matte glass back with gold texture. The Black Carbon sibling is composed of ceramic and aramid fibers. Xiaomi has given it a carbon look. In our first impression, the aluminum design of the Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 has been one of its coolest highlights.
Camera
The MIX Fold 3 comes with a quad camera setup on the back. The main 50 MP lense is joined by two telephoto lenses on the back which is designed with Leica. The primary sensor, the Sony IMX800 is also installed in the Xiaomi 13 and other premium phones.
Leica cameras bring two unique modes in the MIX Fold 3- Leica Vibrant (default) and Leica Authentic with different color calibrations. In daylight, the 50 MP main camera ensures sharp and delightful images and thanks to the dynamic range support, the snaps are colorful and vibrant. Even the low-light conditions should not be a major hassle for the photogenic as the powerful sensor can capture rich details in such conditions.
The 12 MP ultra-wide-angle camera with the Omnivision OV13B10 lense serves to add more photography option. If you are less aware, an ultra-wide-camera uses ultra-wide lense to take images at wider angles. You can use MIX Fold 3’s ultra-wide-camera to take snaps of wider fields if you want to capture as much detail as possible.
Two telephoto cameras add more value
In addition, there are two telephoto cameras, using the same Samsung S5K3K1 sensor. The one is a 10 MP camera with 3.2x optical magnification. In addition to many photography options, it can be used for taking portrait photos.
The other sibling is a 12 MP camera which is capable of 5x optical zoom and digital zoom of up to 50x times. Thanks to the collaboration with Leica, these telephoto cameras (including all) can take high-contrast images which results in delightful imageries. But be careful of the digital zoom. If you zoom in much, the photo loses its quality and gets pixelated.
The Mix Fold 3 can record videos at the magnificent 8K@24 FPS and at 4K@60. With HDR activated, you can shoot a video at 4K@30 FPS or @ 24 FPS.
On the front, Xiaomi has added the Omnivision OV20B camera in the inner display.This same camera is employed on the outside to take front photos.
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Performance & Gaming
The performance on the MIX Fold 3 is well handled by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Lead Edition chipset and it makes things great. If you are confused with the moniker at the last, it basically means that the SoC is an overclocked version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. It’s a flagship processor in its own right and is fit for any premium device in the world and the MIX Fold 3 is no exception.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 serves for a smooth gaming experience. However, the real issue for some could be the heat dissipation. As the foldable phones are thin, heat disperses across the device and to the hand too. So, you can safely assume that these larger devices aren’t up to gaming. But things are improving. The MIX Fold 3 keeps frame rate stable even when the action is filled with lots of movements during a gameplay. Impressively, despite being such a large screen, the battery consumption is also kept well in check. If you fold up the device, the frame rates can improve however, the improvement is not so drastic. So, the trade-off won’t be worthy. In all, the MIX Fold 3 offers decent gaming if not the greatest ever.
RAM and Storage
Having large RAM and ROM is a delight espeically in today’s time of multimedia and it’s comfortably spot on with the Xiaomi MIX Fold 3. The device has a starting RAM of 12 GB (LPDDR5x RAM) while the internal storage starts with the minimum of 256 GB. It’s already a humoungous spec, however, you have bigger variants to choose as well. You can get up to 1 TB of ROM with 16 GB of RAM with UFS 4.0 support. In total, the MIX Fold 3 comes in three RAM/ROM options- 256GB/12GB RAM, 512GB/16GB RAM, 1TB/16GB RAM.
With these extremely high-end specs, it’s possible to store huge number of photos, videos, and large files. You can record lots of 4K and even 8K videos and fill out the storage but there could still remain the space. Likewise, the 12 GB – 16 GB RAM allows for smoother operations from running multiple apps to play games. All kinds of scenarios should be as smooth as butter on this foldable phone. If you are less of a photography person, then you may never run out of storage space on this device.
Display
The MIX Fold 3’s inner display measures 8.03-inch and comes with an AMOLED panel with 2160 x 1916 resolution. Plus, it has an aspect ratio of 10.15:9 and a pixel per inch (PPI) density of 360. The display utilizes a technology called LTPO (low-temperature polycrystalline oxide) which allows the device to use variable refresh rate from 120 Hz to 1 Hz which helps for battery efficiency. The outer display stretches 6.56 inches and features a resolution of 2520 x 1080. Like the display underneath, this outer display also can operate at up to 120 Hz in refresh rate. But it does not have an LTPO support. While this can be slightly off-putting, it’s not a deal breaker.
Both the inner and outer display panels of Xiaomi’s MIX Fold 3 use Samsung E6 panels and we mean both the inner and cover displays. But as expected, there are improvements. The MIX Fold 3’s peak brightness can reach all the way up to 2600 nit which makes it the brightest foldable phone ever. And the protective glass is UTG and Corning Victus 2.
But with the upgrade, continues the drawback as well. Like every foldable phone there, this one is also subject to getting greasy on the inside. This comes with the innate nature of the design of all foldable gadgets. We can only hope that this changes in the upcoming generation of devices. But overall speaking, the display on this device is exciting and satisfying in equal measure.
MIUI and custom apps
Xiaomi has started replacing MIUI with HyerpOS however, the MIX Fold 3 retains the old Android skin. And there is one cool advantage even for the China version. The device has Google Mobile Services which enables you to download and install Google Play and other apps. Having Google apps out of the box do give a privilege of using a Google-powered OS.
Additionally, popular apps such as YouTube have been customized to fit on the large screen. As a result, these apps work flawlessly on the device. Those apps yet to be customized show a black border on the left side as it can’t natively fit the screen. Maybe a software update solves this issue.
The case of the hinges
The hinges are part of the improvements in the MIX Fold 3. The hinges can be unfolded and held at any angle while unfolding and folding it also feels smoother. The crease has a nicer feel in real-life use. But it’s not getting the IP8 certification. Our first impression on the Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 was that the hinges could be a bit dissapointing. Fortunately, things turned out better and satisfying.
Impression with Voice call and 5G
The Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 supports two nano SIM cards. The 4G-based Voice over LTE or VoLTE and WiFi calling (VoWiFi) are supported. Unfortunately, eSIM technology is missing which is rather common if you are spending big bucks. Its inclusion would have almost completed the communication features on this premium foldable. But thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform, the foldable phone supports 5G network which unleashes exceptional download and upload speeds. Watching videos, playing online games are next-level experience with increadibly fast data rate. And with such high internal storage, keeping large files on the device also becomes more feasible.
As for the call experience, the MIX Fold 3 provides decent voice call quality. Even in noisy environments, voice is understandable thanks to clever noise cancellation in the background. There should be no trouble in hearing what the calling partners are saying. VoLTE is an even better option as it provides High-Definition voice quality and also allows using data simultaneously.
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Battery & Charging
The MIX Fold 3 comes with a 4,800 mAh non-removable battery. While it’s not extraordinary in capacity for a large device, Xiaomi has compensated with incredibly fast charging capacity. The device features 67W wired fast-charging and 50W wireless charging. It only takes ten minutes to charge the phone up to 31%. In about 45 minutes, it charges completely.
Given that it’s the latest device, we would rather Xiaomi packed a larger battery but that’s what it is. But the 4,800 mAh is by no means a pushover. In fact, a device’s battery performance depends on how well the device has been optimized. Xiaomi has been impressive in how its battery lasts and how it charges fast. There’re no complaints really. You can push all the intense apps and multitask for long; the battery will impress you and the phone won’t lag either.
Our conclusion
The Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 is one massively awesome pick in the foldable phone category. There are premium phones such as Xiaomi 14 Pro and many other options for a smartphone. but in case, if you want to witness the first-hand experience with a foldable gadget, the brightest and feature-packed MIX Fold 3 should be your best bet. A larger display, with both inner and outer display panel, calling features, and an elevated feel of using a phone only comes with a foldable. The device if it ever launches in Nepal, it could be priced Rs. 1,99,999, that’s what I expect. If you want to move away from a smartphone or use it as an alternative, then we highly recommend this gigantic piece of craft for you. Your productivity would begin with this powerful foldable.
If you already have an experience with the Xiaomi MIX Fold 3, then do leave your first impression in our comment section below.
