Highlights:
In January, Xiaomi co-founder Lin Bin showed off a foldable phone announcing the company's entry into the bendable devices market. Since then, Huawei and Samsung have been stealing the limelight after launching their respective devices, and little was heard about Xiaomi’s handset. The phone has now been teased in another video hinting at what one should expect from the device if and when it launches commercially.
In the 10-second video, a person is seen playing around the phone in an unfolded state, scrolling through what looks likes a social media site. The operator then folds the phone and keeps it on a cup. As it was shown in the previous video, Xiaomi is using a double fold in its device, and the latest video reaffirms the design. The operator is also seen using gesture controls while navigating.
The gesture controls suggest that the phone runs on MIUI 9 baked atop Android 9 Pie. Gesture controls are a significant feature in the latest OS and are developed so that users can easily navigate with one-hand, especially on phones which have large displays. The video shows the foldable Xiaomi phone in a portrait position and aspect ratio seems to be 3:2. The last video showed the phone in landscape position where it sported a 4:3 display aspect ratio.
The operator then tilts the phone in the landscape position and folds it from the sides. Other phones, like Royole FlexPai, Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X, have only one fold in the centre. There have been reports that the Samsung Galaxy Fold has a crease in the centre. Xiaomi's foldable phone is expected to pack the Snapdragon 855 chipset and the display is said to be co-developed by Xiaomi and Visionox.
In a previous Weibo post, Bin said that the double folding mobile phone is coming and the company has fixed the problems of the foldable display. “After conquering a series of technical problems such as flexible folding screen technology, four-wheel drive folding shaft technology, flexible cover technology, and MIUI adaptation, we made the first folding screen mobile phone, which should be the world's first double folding mobile phone,” he said.
“This symmetrical double-folded form perfectly combines the experience of the tablet and mobile phone, which is both practical and beautiful. Although it is still an engineering machine, it is sent out for everyone to see,” the executive added. A previous report claimed that Xiaomi will launch the phone in the second quarter of 2019 at a price of $999. In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Fold’s price starts at $1,980, the Huawei Mate X is priced at a whopping $2,600.
Related Read:
Meet FlexPai: The world's first foldable smartphone
Samsung foldable smartphone with new Android UI unveiled at SDC
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