Xiaomi teases its take on the foldable smartphone

The race to release foldable smartphones is on. Xiaomi just teased its take on the technology through a teaser video uploaded on Weibo (the Chinese equivalent to Twitter). It shows Xiaomi’s co-founder and President Lin Bin tinkering around with a double-folding phone. It’s a unique interpretation of the trend, with the sides of the phone folding in and out to switch from a tablet to a more compact smartphone. We don’t have details beyond what’s in the video. The phone, which is an engineering mode, is said to have overcome “a series of technical problems such as flexible folding screen technology, four-wheel drive folding shaft technology, flexible cover technology, and MIUI adaptation.”

There are, of course, obvious weak points to the device. Having it fold on two ends means there are more moving parts that can be damaged. Availability is also an issue, beyond the market Xiaomi caters to. We’re also curious to see if the ends when folded to the back of the device are usable. Xiaomi is known to undercut its competition while offering good value for its devices, so we’re also curious how much this device will cost. Samsung is rumoured to be revealing its foldable phone next month, ahead of Mobile World Congress. Now, we want to see if Xiaomi will try and catch up and release any news at MWC about this phone.

Source: The Verge