A prototype of a Xiaomi foldable smartphone with an outward folding ability has been leaked. Tipster Kuba Wojciechowski posted photos of the alleged Xiaomi foldable via his Twitter account. The device bears some telling resemblance with the Huawei Mate X series and joins a very small class of outward folding smartphone displays.
The Huawei Mate X lineup and the Royole FlexPai series are the few devices that sport an outward foldable display. Xiaomi’s existing pair of foldables (Mi Mix Fold and Mix Fold 2) are both inward folding, as the outward folding system is more complicated. The leaked images provide the first sight of the intriguing Xiaomi foldable. Wojciechowski’s photos show an outward folding design of the prototype. The photos indicate the presence of a rear camera bar similar to that of the Huawei Mate X.
As per the leaked images, there are at least four cameras in the camera bar. The pictures also show some internals of the phone including its batteries, circuitry, and other components. The tipster notes that the prototype is likely powered by the Snapdragon 856 and the X50 5G modem. Wojciechowski also says there are a few units of the model already in the public domain but was silent about why the model did not progress to commercial production. A logical reason for Xiaomi abandoning the prototype could be durability. An outward folding smartphone has to grapple with lots of problems and is less durable than inward designs. It is also prone to scratches, cracks, and other damage.
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