Xiaomi 18 Fold Could Fix Two Of My Biggest Galaxy Z Fold 8 Annoyances

Xiaomi is the latest entrant in the resurgence of passport-style foldables. The Xiaomi 18 Fold is taking on Samsung (and Apple, if the iPhone Ultra rumors are true) with a short and wide design, which looks more compact than the new Galaxy Z Fold 8. The foldable phone is all set to launch in its home market next week, but Xiaomi gave us a first look at IFA Berlin 2026.

The Xiaomi 18 Fold Looks Shorter Than Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8

At its huge IFA booth spanning over 380 products across smartphones, smart home devices, cars, AI, and a whole lot more, Xiaomi put the upcoming foldable behind a glass box to reveal its first look. Unlike Samsung's boxy design, the Xiaomi 18 Fold has a D-shape, thanks to its curved corners on the top- and bottom-right sides. We weren't allowed to touch the device, but from my first impressions, it looks shorter than the Galaxy Z Fold 8. I'm curious to see if it leads to less letterboxing (thick black borders on the top and bottom in videos) on the inner screen.

I can't say if the Xiaomi 18 Fold is better or worse than Samsung's wide-fold, but it does have two design distinctions that could put it ahead of its rival.

First, the punch-hole camera is located on the top-right corner of the folding screen as opposed to Fold 8's more central positioning. As I wrote in my review for ZDNET, that camera cutout is frustrating to look at when you're reading in full-screen mode. Xiaomi's camera positioning could result in a better reading experience.

Second, the Xiaomi 18 Fold has a triple rear camera setup, which likely includes a telephoto camera for dedicated optical zoom. The text on the camera bar also suggests a focal range of 17mm - 80mm. It could mean that the ultrawide and main cameras are accompanied by a tele sensor with support for ~3x optical zoom. This is a feature I've dearly missed on my Galaxy Z Fold 8, which relies on digital zoom due to the lack of a telephoto camera.

Interestingly, Xiaomi isn't using a Qualcomm or MediaTek chip on its upcoming foldable. The upcoming foldable is powered by the company's in-house XRing O3 chip. This is the first time that Xiaomi is adding its own chip to a flagship phone. It is also confirmed to be paired with ChangXin Memory Technologies' next-generation LPDDR6 RAM, which is claimed to deliver up to 12,800Mbps speeds.

We are yet to get a detailed spec sheet, but I expect Xiaomi to give us new teasers leading up to the China launch on September 7.

As for IFA Berlin 2026, the upcoming foldable is only a small part of Xiaomi's 3,300 square meters of exhibition space. "This year's IFA marks a significant milestone in Xiaomi's global journey," said Xu Fei, Xiaomi's chief marketing officer, in a press release. "This goes beyond bringing more products to Europe. It is about bringing Xiaomi's technology and ecosystem capabilities to more users across the region."

This article was originally published on Forbes.com