Before we start reviewing the MIX Fold 3, let me show you a table. You can see that the Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 is in the top 3 in terms of thickness and weight, except for the much smaller Find N2.
After you get to know the weight and thickness of the Mix Fold 3, keep watching the video and you can see why I would say it’s the best foldable phone.
Design
The MIX Fold 3 has one more camera compared to other foldable phones. From ultra-wide-angle cameras to telephoto cameras, you can pick the right one depending on the situation. It should be the first foldable phone to stuff four cameras in such a thin body. But you need to put up with the protruding camera module wobbling on the desk.
The Fold 3’s SIM card slot still holds two Nano SIMs, which is nice. With symmetrical stereo speakers, the volume to your left and right ear are the same. NFC and IR emitters are there too, even wireless charging isn’t missing. You know, some foldable phones remove wireless charging to reduce weight, that’s a really dumb decision.
And then, USB 3.0. We’ve already seen it on the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, but after this, I’m guessing that Xiaomi will put it on all of its flagship phones in the future.
Display
The MIX Fold 3’s inner display and cover display are both Samsung E6 panels, but they have evolved again. Peak brightness is all the way up to 2600nit, which should make it the brightest foldable phone. The protective glass is also UTG and Corning Victus 2. I can’t find any significant drawbacks either, except for the lack of high-frequency PWM dimming and the stylus not being supported.
Oh, and there’s also one small problem, the inner display is just too easy to get greasy. Not only Xiaomi, but all foldable phones have this problem. It’s really tiring to have to clean the screen so often.
Hinges
And yes, finally the Fold 3’s hinges are able to unfold and stop at any angle. The experience is also much smoother when unfolding or closing than its previous gen. Although the crease doesn’t look very flat, it feels a lot better than it looks. I’ve heard that the new hinge provides better drop protection for the inner screen, but you wouldn’t want me to drop-test a $1200 phone, right? There’s still no IP8 waterproof support which is not as good as the Samsung Z Fold 5.
Performance & Gaming
The processor in the MIX Fold 3 is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Lead Edition. Simply put, it’s an overclocked version of the 8 Gen 2. It’s already a great processor in its regular version, and overclocking it or not doesn’t really make a significant difference. Let’s check out the gaming experience.
As with the OnePlus Ace 2 Pro, Genshin’s tests are all underwater. It performed, Emm…not bad. Since foldable phones are all so thin, heat dissipation is a big issue, so the gaming experience has never been particularly good. The MIX Fold 3 at least keeps a stable frame rate in games. Even with a larger screen than a regular phone, power consumption is well controlled. When it’s folded up, the gaming experience isn’t improved drastically either. I still prefer to play games unfolded than with that small frame rate increase.
Foldable phones may not have much of an advantage for watching online videos, but the gaming experience can be better than many regular phones. When you unfold it to play a game, the hot areas are all out of reach from your hands. Well, the two speakers will blocked, but it won’t burn your hands.
One interesting thing you may not know, the maximum resolution in Genshin on both the Xiaomi and Redmi phones has been a little bit higher than other Android phones lately. The MIX Fold 3 is even better, even the internal screen resolution is higher than others. Combined with the excellent E6 OLED, I’m still enjoying playing games on this phone.
Camera
Take a look at the focal lengths of these four lenses, isn’t it déjà vu？ Yes, those four lenses on the Xiaomi 13 Ultra have the same focal lengths. I think Xiaomi’s obsession with these four focal lengths is to allow you to get the composition you want in any position.
You don’t have to think about the image quality getting worse when you zoom in, and random shots can also look really good. This is the biggest advantage of the MIX Fold 3 over other foldable phones.
I’d also like to brag about this telephoto camera, which has a very short focusing distance. At the same distance, the 3.2x lens is out of focus, but the 5x telephoto lens still gets sharp photos. It’s as stunning as a photo taken with a macro lens.
Since working with Leica, Xiaomi phones can take photos with high contrast. Especially in the NIGHT MODE, which makes the darker areas even darker. These photos were taken in Leica Vibrant mode, as for what kind of photos Leica Authentic mode can take, you can check out our Xiaomi 13 Ultra review. there are many photos taken in Leica Authentic and Pro Mode, and their color styles are the same.
The Fold 3’s camera also has a drawback: except for the main camera, all the other camera sensors are too small. That’s why nighttime photos aren’t as sharp as daytime ones. If you’re photographing moving objects, the clarity will be even worse, and the 3.2x and 5x telephotos can’t record video in 4K resolution either, which is a shame.
Battery & Charging
The MIX Fold 3 is still using a combination of 67W wired charging and 50W wireless charging. Ten minutes to charge 31%, a full charge will only take about 45 minutes.
4800mAh battery is not big, but it has been tested to have a very long-lasting battery life. 20 minutes of Genshin consumes the same amount of power as a normal cell phone, and 3 hours of continuous Genshin Impact on the inner display consumes only 67% of the power, which is very impressive.
MIUI
To be honest, I think the biggest pitfall of MIX Fold 3 is MIUI, but don’t worry this time, I haven’t encountered any bugs after using it for a few days, and it has Google Mobile Services, which allows you to install Google Play and Telegram.
Many apps have been customized for the foldable phone, such as YouTube, which works perfectly on MIX Fold 3. It also automatically splits the screen when unfolded, and the size of each partition has been adjusted.
But for apps not customized for foldable phones, such as Twitter, I mean, X, it’s just an enlarged version of the phone’s interface, and there’s even a black border on the left side. Just to be clear, it’s not all Xiaomi’s fault, other foldable phones have similar problems. So for the software part, the MIX Fold 3 should get a passing grade.
Conclusion
I think a good foldable phone should not only be about good specs but also be lighter and thinner. The MIX Fold 3 has the whole package, it’s the best foldable phone I think. Unfortunately, the Fold 3 won’t be released globally, so if you want to buy it, you can check out the link. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, we have a lot of new phones we want to review next.
