Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 Review: Best Galaxy Z Fold 4 Competitor

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 is the manufacturer’s flagship foldable smartphone, but it is unavailable in France. Still, it’s time for someone to seriously compete with Samsung in the foldable market. In this comprehensive test, I will tell you what the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 is worth.

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 In A Nutshell

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 was launched in China on August 26 for 8999 yuan, or 1200 euros excluding tax. It will, a priori, never be available in Europe, even if it can be found at certain importers for around 1400/1500 euros. Editor’s note: This Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 was slow to us by Trading Shenzhen, an importer of tech products.

This is not a sponsored article, NextPit was not paid, and Trading Shenzhen did not influence the content or the test score. In any case, it’s a high-end foldable smartphone that could finally compete with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 (test) if it were marketed in France. Its central argument is its form factor, supposed to be the thinnest on the market, and its unfolded screen, which would be the largest.

Design

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 is the thinnest foldable smartphone on the market. Xiaomi wanted to insist on this a lot.

The Good Points Of The Design Of The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2

The design is skinny, thinner than Samsung
The two panels of the screen are parallel when you fold the phone
Gorilla Glass Victus on the back and the cover screen
The form factor of a “normal” smartphone, when folded

The Bad Points Of The Design Of The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2

Impossible to bend the screen 90° without a particular case
Hinge doesn’t feel as sturdy as Samsung
No IP rating for water resistance

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 is the thinnest foldable smartphone on the market today. Unfolded, it measures 5.4mm; folded, it measures 11.2mm. This is less than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, which is 6.3 mm unfolded and 15.8 mm folded. Well, it’s good to have such a thin form factor (even if the Mix Fold 2 is not much lighter than the Z Fold 4 with 262 against 263 g).

Especially since the Xiaomi Mix Fold has two parallel panels when folded. It folds flat, unlike its competitor, Samsung, which folds a bit diagonally, irritating my OCDs. But what is more interesting is the 6.56-inch diagonal of the cover screen in 21:9 format. It’s a lot more ergonomic than the cover screen of the Z Fold 4, which is too narrow.

Apart from that, the finish of the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 is flawless. The matte coating on the back is very friendly and pleasant. The frame is made of aluminum. Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus protects the back and the cover screen. The only problem is that we need an IP index to certify the phone’s water resistance.

Too bad for a widget that sold at least 1500 balls. We don’t have a microSD port, but that’s sadly the norm in this price range. I also found the fingerprint sensor on edge relatively unresponsive (the one under the cover screen worked well).

Screen

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 offers two quality screens: the main screen and the cover screen. But some design choices, especially for the hinge and the selfie camera, left me needing clarification.

The Good Points Of The Xiaomi Mix Fold2 Screen:

The giant unfolded screen with a diagonal of 8 inches
Very well-calibrated colorimetry
Main screen with LTPO 2.0 technology
Cover screen in 21:9, usable as a standard smartphone

The Bad Points Of The Xiaomi Mix Fold2 Screen

The crease in the middle of the main screen is visible
No selfie camera under the main screen

It is an OLED panel with a resolution of 1914 x 2160 p, a refresh rate of 120 Hz, a maximum brightness of 1000 nits in HBM mode, and 1300 nits in peak. Folded, the cover screen measures 6.56 inches diagonally, and it is an AMOLED panel with a resolution of 1080 x 2520 p with a refresh rate of 120 Hz. The main screen is equipped with LTPO 2.0 technology, which allows you to vary the refresh rate more precisely and thus preserve the battery.

I found the screen very bright and the colorimetry very well calibrated once I switched to Advanced mode and P3. On the other hand, as with Samsung, we see and feel the crease in the middle of the screen very clearly. And there’s no hidden selfie camera under the main screen. We cannot, therefore, take selfies with the smartphone unfolded, except by using the rear photo module.

The cover screen is much more pleasant to use than the Z Fold 4. It is in 21:9 format, so it feels like having a typical smartphone in your hands. Finally, instead a Sony smartphone. But it’s already more normal than the 23.1:9 aspect ratio of the Galaxy Z Fold 4. A final point concerns the hinge. It is less rigid than on the Galaxy Z Fold 4, but it suddenly seems a little less solid.

And above all, it only allows the screen to be tilted at different angles. It would be best if you used a case with a stand to use the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 in laptop mode. Otherwise, the smartphone unfolds 180° on its own. The shell may be included in the box, but I find this design choice lame.

Interface

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 runs Android 12 with a particular version of MIUI 13 called MIUI Fold 13. Xiaomi could have gone further, offering the equivalent of a Flex mode from Samsung, for example. My software experience could be more convincing since I was entitled to a Chinese ROM.

So I’m not going to comment on the overall quality of the interface, especially since it remains almost identical to that of MIUI 13, which I have already spoken about many times (see my MIUI 13 test ). I will focus on the “Fold” in MIUI Fold 13. Xiaomi needs to go further in adapting its interface to the foldable format. Native apps and system settings are well laid out, like in One UI on the Galaxy Z Fold 4.

We have the essential information and commands on the left pane and the detailed information on the right pane. But Xiaomi does not offer continuity for applications when switching from unfolded mode to folded mode. So you often have to restart the applications in progress when you fold/unfold the Mix Fold 2.

Sometimes there are illogical UI design choices. When you scroll down the notification pane, it occupies the entire unfolded screen, so the adaptation has been made. But the Control Center is displayed on the far right. Why exploit only one-half of the screen?

The arrangement of icons on the home screen is also a bit “silly” on Mix Fold 2. On Fold 4, you can have a different and independent arrangement on the main and cover screens. This is different from the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2. So we end up with one of the two home screens untidy when you fold or unfold the smartphone.

Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 – Performance

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 features Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC paired with 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of UFS 3.1 storage. And its performance is relatively stable.

The Good Points Of The Performance Of The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2

Very stable performance
More powerful than the Galaxy Z Fold 4
No overheating

The Bad Points Of The Performance Of The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2

In terms of raw power, the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 exceeds the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 yet is equipped with the same SoC. The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 is, unsurprisingly, capable of running all Play Store games at least 60 constant FPS with the graphics pushed to the max. Daily, I never felt the slightest slowdown or overheating.

The performance of the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 also and above all, stands out in terms of stability. On 3DMark’s WildLife Stress Test benchmark, which lasts 20 minutes, the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 achieved a stability rate of 93.2%. So he offered almost the same level of performance from the beginning to the end of the benchmark.

The temperature has consistently remained below 50°C without any significant framerate loss. The thermal clamping is very subtle on the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2. It is currently the most efficient foldable smartphone on the market.

Picture Quality

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 has a triple camera module on the back carried by a 50 MP primary lens, a 13 MP ultra-wide angle lens, and a dedicated 8 MP telephoto lens. The selfie camera offers a resolution of 20 MP.

The Good Points Of The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 Photo Module

The Sony IMX766 primary sensor is a safe bet
A dedicated telephoto lens for 2x optical zoom

The Bad Points Of The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 Photo Module

Zoom is too limited beyond x2 magnification
Too many inconsistencies in ultra-wide angle compared to wide angle

Contrary to many rave reviews that I have read, I was disappointed with the photo quality of the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2. We are far from the excellent results of the Xiaomi 12S Ultra (test), which won our last blind photo test. The primary 50 MP lens incorporates the Sony IMX766 sensor that we know very well, which does well in almost all situations.

The photos are sharp, and the dynamic range is wide. I took my pictures with the primary mode, without using the Leica Authentic or Leica Vibrant modes, and deactivated the AI mode to have the most natural rendering possible.

The 13 MP ultra-wide-angle lens shows this photo module’s first signs of weakness. Colorimetry and exposure must be more consistent with the rendering of the primary lens. Photos are always darker than at a wide angle.

And we logically have fewer details. In short, it is much less pretty. The telephoto lens is disappointing since it only offers 2x optical zoom. I already find that Samsung is resting on its laurels with its x3 zoom, so there. We should have the ultimate in photography for a smartphone sold for at least 1500 euros.

At night, I found only the photos taken with the primary lens were correct. Xiaomi’s night mode is quite effective, but the same criticisms at an ultra-wide angle and daytime zoom apply at night. On the video side, the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 can shoot up to 8K at 24 FPS with the rear photo module and up to 1080p at 60 FPS with the front camera.

Autonomy And Fast Charging

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 has a 4500 mAh battery that accepts 67-watt wired fast charging but not wireless charging.

The Good Points Of The Autonomy Of The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2:

Decent battery life to last all-day
Full recharge in 40 minutes with the 67-watt charger
The charger included in the box

The Bad Points Of The Autonomy Of The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2:

No wireless charging

Unfortunately, I did not run the PC Mark benchmark on the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2. I, therefore, have no precise measurement to give you as to its autonomy. Daily, with my average screen time of 5 hours, I held a day quite calmly without running out of battery. But I had to recharge it in the evening to avoid running out of juice the next day. The autonomy could be more exceptional.

But it is quite correct, especially for a smartphone with a very greedy processor and two screens powered by a relatively small 4500 mAh battery. The 67-watt fast charge is also decent and allowed me to charge the Xiaomi Mix Fold from 0 to 100% in more or less 40 minutes. The charger in the box was Chinese, but I could use an official European Xiaomi charger lying around at my house.

Technical Sheet

Direct comparison between Xiaomi 12T and Xiaomi 12T Pro

Conclusion

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 will never be available in France, so who cares a bit about this test? Well, no, because this smartphone shows what Xiaomi can offer in this segment of foldable smartphones. One thing is sure: Samsung will finally have to move the loaves if Xiaomi launches a Mix Fold 3 in Europe next year.

The competition looks tough. The software experience still needs to be more organized; it needs more maturity. I was not overwhelmed by the photo quality, which should be the least of things with such an expensive smartphone.

But the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 is the foldable smartphone with the best form factor and performance I have tested. If it were available in France, it would undoubtedly have its place in our selection of the best foldable smartphones and the best Xiaomi smartphones of the year.

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