When the Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 was released, I commented that this foldable flagship did not continue to “roll” thin and light, but changed its mindset, it is more concerned about the overall experience, and in the configuration of the better.
But who would have thought? Just a year (or even half a year) later, the folding flagship on the market not only become thinner and lighter, but also on the basis of a large battery, good image and wireless charging ...... “bucket” folding flagships have lost their footing at once, and have not yet begun to power it! The company has already been “outdated”.
Well, the familiar Xiaomi still did not let us down, once again transformed Xiaomi MIX Fold 4 is here.
Sleeker body design
Compared to the sharp straight lines of its predecessor, the Xiaomi MIX Fold 4 has a lot more rounded lines. The first is the center frame, which is still very narrow and has been replaced by a rounded design from the previous generation's straight frame, further emphasizing its slimness and making it feel more rounded and restrained in the hand.
The outer screen of the Xiaomi MIX Fold 4 has also been rounded, with a quad micro-curved panel, making the transition between the upper and lower parts of the body more rounded and more comfortable to the hand, and the look and feel is closer to that of a straight screen. Of course, it's still a bit narrower on the side near the pivot, so it's not exactly a “deep quad-curve”. Incidentally, the pivot is also naturally curved, so it feels good in both folded and unfolded forms.
The Xiaomi MIX Fold 4's image module has also seen some changes, first of all, the four cameras are still arranged in a rectangular shape, but the lower edge of the decorative surface has been replaced by a curve, and with the multi-level transition, it's not easy to feel a pinch when your fingers are resting on the bottom of the image module. In addition, its decorative surface also reveals a layer of detailed diamond lattice texture, further increasing its exquisite sense of view.
Farewell to the “full-size” inner screen, but it is indeed too thin and light.
Although not noticed by users, but the size of the folding screen is actually very easy to trick a small detail, want to do more than 8 inches of “full-size”, the weight of the body will quietly increase quite a lot, Xiaomi MIX Fold 4 this time also from 8.03 inches to 7.98 inches, a subtle reduction of some.
While the numbers don't seem to have changed too much, the MIX Fold 4's internal screen is significantly “shorter” when compared to its predecessor, and that's due to the fact that the ratio has gone from 1:1.127 to 1:1.108, which means it's become squarer. After such a small change in size, the resolution of the internal screen has also been significantly improved, upgraded to 2488×2244, with a pixel density of 418ppi, which is the same as the external screen, and the display effect has been significantly upgraded.
In addition to the upgraded screen display, the Xiaomi MIX Fold 4's body also achieves a more extreme weight of 226g under the new dimensions, with a thickness of 4.59mm and 9.47mm in the unfolded and folded states, respectively, which is really quite exaggerated. We also measured the folded thickness of 9.5mm and weight of 232g without removing the film, which is quite light in the hand.
According to the official statement, the Xiaomi MIX Fold 4 has implemented very many improvements inside, such as the extensive use of carbon fiber and a three-layer, five-sided motherboard. What I'd like to commend most is the new keel pivot 2.0, which helps to further thin the body while still maintaining a good folding texture, bringing more than enough support during opening and closing, and not shaking easily, which is rare in a thin folding screen.
Amazing folding screen good image
Precisely because of the realization of the ultimate thin body, Xiaomi MIX Fold 4's image configuration is invaluable, its main camera adopts the Light Hunter 800 sensor, the secondary camera in addition to a super wide-angle lens, but also equipped with a 2x equivalent vertical telephoto (or portrait lens) and a 5x equivalent periscope telephoto, covering a very comprehensive. With such flagship-level hardware, I guess you can forgive the further increase in the height of the image module.
As usual, the main camera on the Xiaomi MIX Fold 4 still delivers the familiar texture, and shooting in the evening shows how the light looks at that time of day, making the experience quite similar to that of the Xiaomi 14 series.
The secondary camera is closer to its predecessor in terms of image quality, but the flavor of Xiaomi's imagery is still strong, and it's very close to the other three cameras in terms of style.
The telephoto end of the Xiaomi MIX Fold 4's performance is of course the most impressive part of this imaging module. With a more powerful sensor, its portrait lens is able to perform quite well in the 2x to 4x zoom range, which is a great complement to the main camera and allows for a transition to the ultra-telephoto range with minimal loss of image quality. Especially when the digital zoom goes to 4x, which is a focal length of 94mm, it gives us the illusion that it's a 4x telephoto lens - after all, it's surprisingly good in low light.
What's even more amazing is that the Xiaomi MIX Fold 4's “dual telephoto” lenses have a floating focus design, which allows for telephoto macro shots and captures details as well as the Xiaomi 14 series. In addition, features like depth-of-field fusion are also available on this dual-telephoto model, making it even more versatile in terms of imaging capabilities.
Incidentally, the viewfinder on the Xiaomi MIX Fold 4 seems to have been optimized to show a clearer image even when shooting on the large screen, which is still commendable.
Overall, the Xiaomi MIX Fold 4's image performance is in the top tier of folded flagships, and in the general flagship market, it reaches a relatively good height, and all this in a thin and light body, so obviously we have to give it a more positive rating.
Bigger battery with longer battery life
With a shaped GSR battery, the Xiaomi MIX Fold 4's battery capacity has been bumped up to 5100mAh, and we've tested its battery life as we have done in the past, with the results below:
The battery life is still quite good, especially in the two scenarios of gaming and video playback, its power consumption is still kept at a relatively low level, and can last for a relatively long time, but this battery life is also obviously there is still room for optimization, and we expect that after the subsequent new version of the system update, it can achieve lower power consumption, and really show the advantages of the low-power consumption of the screen and the large battery. The Xbox 360 is a fast-charging device, and the Xbox 360 is a fast charger.
As for fast charging, the Xiaomi MIX Fold 4 continues to feature the same 67W wired fast charging that's been in use since the first generation, and of course it also supports 50W wireless fast charging. We've also measured its fast charging speed, and it can charge from 2% to 100% in 58 minutes. Judging from this result, Xiaomi really needs to step up its game when it comes to fast charging on its folding flagships.
Some detailed configuration highlights
For this final section, let's consolidate some of the smaller highlights about these new phones. The first is that after the slimmer body and upgraded configuration, it has further worked on reliability, both with the Dragon Crystal glass cover and IPX8 waterproof certification, the overall reliability is still claimed to be a bit stronger than its predecessor.
As the highest-positioned phone under Xiaomi, the Xiaomi MIX Fold 4 also rightfully supports its most powerful communication capabilities this time around, with four Xiaomi Surge T1 chips and quad low-frequency antennas to enhance signal performance, as well as providing a fairly full range of frequency bands to support, and satellite calls to support, in terms of communication to do the full in the full.
Happily, the Xiaomi Surge OS on the XiaomiMIX Fold 4 also has some small functional improvements, such as the split-screen fast-cut function that can display two large-screen windows, quickly switching between two large-screen applications; multimodal Xiao Ai also made its debut on this flagship, not only to support the identification of pictures, but also to increase the support for the content of the document, the recognition ability is more powerful.
But also need to add a sentence, although the Xiaomi MIX Fold 4 hardware form is too mature, but it is still almost interesting to the development of the folded form of the function, for example, no wallpaper management for the folded and unfolded state, and there is no resting screen stand and other functions, I hope that in the future can be added to the OTA.
Summarize
Facts have proved that the folding screen thin and light is still a process that has not reached its limit, there are always products that can refresh our perception of folding thin and light, and there are always waves that push the front waves, so that the extreme created in the past is dimmed.
At this point in time, the Xiaomi MIX Fold 4 is naturally a good enough product to amaze users, and it has done an even more extreme job in terms of thinness and lightness, with all three regular colors achieving the lightest weight of 226g (we actually weighed 232g), as well as excellent Leica imaging, improved battery and a new generation of flagship platforms, so it can be said that both the external and internal strengths have reached new heights. It's a new level of sophistication both on the outside and on the inside.
As we move into the second half of 2024, the foldable screen arms race is sure to intensify. Thin and light is something that manufacturers will have to continue to push for, but it will also lead to product homogenization and the inevitable loss of individuality and differentiation. Obviously, in addition to thin and light, manufacturers need to find more configuration highlights that can emphasize the personality of their brands in order to stand out from the competition.
In this process, the Xiaomi MIX Fold 4 has chosen to turn itself into an all-round warrior in an attempt to meet more challenges with a leaner body.
