While Samsung is all set to launch its foldable smartphone — Samsung Galaxy Fold, at a launch event on 20th February, another smartphone brand has confirmed that a foldable smartphone is under development — Xiaomi.

The concept 3D renders of Xiaomi’s upcoming foldable smartphone have surfaced online, showing the phone’s double folding design which turns into a table when unfolded.

Last year, it was reported that Xiaomi is developing a foldable smartphone. At that time, it was also reported that the said foldable smartphone from Xiaomi will be launched in the second half of 2019. A couple of weeks ago, China-based Xiaomi publicly confirmed that a folding smartphone in development.

Lin Bin, co-founder and CEO of Xiaomi, went a step further and published a video showing a prototype of the bendable smartphone. The smartphone with flexible display has a very unique design as it can be folded twice. The phone’s display is on the outside and is folded around the housing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3-aDOMI6Mk

He said that the company has already overcome several technical problems, such as the flexible display, the folding mechanism, and the MIUI adjustment. He further added that the symmetric double folded design perfectly combines the experience of the tablet and a mobile phone, which is both practical and beautiful.

According to the reports, the company is currently in the process of finalizing the name of this prototype from these two — Xiaomi Dual Flex and Xiaomi MIX Flex. It is said that the company is still open for more suggestions.

The render images show that the phone can be folded from the two sides of the screen and then close seamlessly, exactly in the middle, on the back of the device. Once folded, it’s a relatively short and wide smartphone and when unfolded, it seems like a table. On top, there’s an ON/OFF button while there’s a USB-Type C port on the bottom.

While the video shared by Xiaomi CEO shows the camera icon on the smartphone, information related to the camera module on the foldable smartphone still remains a mystery. Interestingly, no camera can be seen around the screen as well as on the phone’s back.

In a statement regarding this development, Xiaomi said that one of the key components of the phone — the flexible folding screen — is co-developed by Xiaomi and its supply chain partner. Aside from the screen, its design, folding mechanism and MIUI adaptation are developed by the company itself.

Read More: Xiaomi patents smartphone design with four-sided curved edge display

While Xiaomi’s foldable smartphone is still under development, the company is expected to officially launch the 5G variant of its Mi MIX 3 smartphone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain later this month, along with other products.

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At the start of this year, a leaked video showing the foldable phone from Xiaomi was leaked by popular tipster Evan Blass. The leaked video had revealed that the left and right portions of the screen could be folded to transform into a compact device. Today, Xiaomi President Lin Bin shared a hands-on video of its foldable phone. It appears to be the very same device that was leaked by Blass earlier this month. The company is yet to announce the official name of its phone with double folding design. Bin has said that he has thought of names like Xiaomi Dual Flex and Xiaomi MIX Flex for the foldable phone. He has asked Weibo users to suggest a good name for the phone.

Samsung is expected to debut its first foldable phone in the coming month. The smartphone can be opened like a book to access its foldable 7.3-inch display. However, Xiaomi’s upcoming foldable phone will be sporting a unique design. Xiaomi President Lin Bin claims that it will be the world’s double folding mobile phone. As it can be seen in the video, the screen of the phone can be folded from right and left sides.

Bin has stated that the device shown in the video is an engineering unit. The company had overcome various technical difficulties to build a phone with double folding design. Some of the problems the company was able to overcome are related to flexible folding screen technology, four-wheel drive folding shaft technology, flexible cover technology, MIUI system adaptation and so on.

Bin has claimed that the double-folded form factor of the Xiaomi Dual Flex / MIX Flex allows it to deliver a combined experience of a tablet and a smartphone. In the video, the Bin can be seen holding the unfolded device in between his thumb and little finger which suggests that it could be featuring a screen of around 6 inches. After folding the square-shaped device from both sides, it can metamorphose into a device with a small screen with a width of around 3 inches. There is a button at the topside of the phone for locking the display of the phone.

• Read More: Xiaomi phones dominate list of phones with Quick Charge 4+ support

There is no information on the specs of the Xiaomi Dual Flex / MIX Flex. Probably, it could be packed with specs like Snapdragon 855 and 8 GB of RAM. Xiaomi has confirmed that it will be present at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019 tech expo on Feb. 24. Probably, the Xiaomi Dual Flex / MIX Flex device may get unleased at MWC.

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