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Xiaomi President Showcases 'Double Foldable' Smartphone, Hints at Imminent Launch

Xiaomi President Showcases 'Double Foldable' Smartphone, Hints at Imminent Launch

By Nadeem Sarwar | Updated: 23 January 2019 14:49 IST

Photo Credit: Weibo / Lin Bin

Xiaomi’s foldable smartphone is claimed to employ a four wheel drive foldable shaft technology

Highlights

The foldable smartphone’s flexible display bends from the two sides
It is claimed to run an optimised version of MIUI
The smartphone might be named Xiaomi Dual Flex or Xiaomi Mix Flex

Xiaomi has long been rumoured to be working on a foldable smartphone which is set to arrive later this year. The company's president, Lin Bin, has now confirmed the company is indeed working on a "double folding smartphone", and has shared a video which shows a prototype of Xiaomi's upcoming smartphone in action. The foldable smartphone has a unique symmetrical double-folding design which requires users to fold the smartphone from both the edges to shift from tablet mode to a smartphone form factor. Xiaomi's foldable smartphone will reportedly run an optimized version of MIUI to seamlessly scale the screen content between the two usage scenarios.

The first live look at Xiaomi's foldable smartphone was shared on Weibo by Xiaomi President and Co-Founder, Lin Bin, and was later tweeted by Donovan Sung, the global spokesperson of the Chinese company. The video shows a device with very thin bezels whose chassis can be folded from the left and right edges to switch from tablet mode to smartphone mode. The foldable smartphone appears to flaunt a glossy finish on the rear panel and looks impressively compact and thin even when it is folded. Talking about the foldable smartphone, Xiaomi's president revealed that the company has employed a four wheel drive foldable shaft technology and a foldable display to achieve the form factor, adding that it is the world's first smartphone with a double-folding design.

Check out this special video from #Xiaomi President and Co-founder Bin Lin, showing off a very special phone prototype... 😎

What does everyone think we should name this phone? 🤔#InnovationForEveryone pic.twitter.com/1lFj3nM7tD
— Donovan Sung (@donovansung) January 23, 2019

Moreover, the foldable smartphone runs a modified version of MIUI which automatically optimises the screen content while users shift between the mobile and tablet mode. Bin's description of Xiaomi's upcoming offering on Weibo claims that the foldable smartphone is coming, but he later added that it was still in the testing phase with the company's engineering team. But more importantly, he mentioned that if the concept gains traction and generates enough interest, the company will consider launching it as a mass device.

While Xiaomi's foldable smartphone currently does not have a name, Bin added that ‘Xiaomi Dual Flex' and ‘Xiaomi Mix Flex' are the two names on his mind - but asks for suggestions. Unfortunately, details about Xiaomi's foldable smartphone such as hardware specifications and a launch timeline are yet to be disclosed. The rumours about Xiaomi working on a foldable smartphone emerged for the first time back in July last year, and earlier this year, a video of a foldable smartphone claimed to be from Xiaomi also surfaced. It is interesting to mention here that the device shown in the leaked video looks quite similar to the one appearing in the clip shared by Xiaomi's president, down to the dual-folding design and the overall form factor.

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