Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 First Review
Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 is way ahead
Xiaomi’s press conference on August 14, 2023 is a very important press conference. Xiaomi announced the upgrade of its technology strategy, and announced a new generation of folding screen flagship Xiaomi MIX Fold 3, the performance king Redmi K60 Extreme Edition, two new mobile phones, as well as the ultra-large tablet Xiaomi Mi Pad 6 Max 14, Mi Band 8 Pro, and a new bionic quadruped Robot CyberDog2 and other five new products.
What kind of mobile phone is Xiaomi MIX Fold 3? It can be said to be one of the most cost-effective and exploratory folding screen phones on the market. Why do you say that? Let us take a look at its performance and functions in all aspects.
First of all, the most eye-catching part of Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 – the keel shaft. The keel shaft is a new type of shaft structure developed by Xiaomi. It adopts a three-stage linkage design and has as many as 14 movable joints, which can achieve better screen protection and space utilization. It is made of 1800MPa super steel and high wear-resistant carbon ceramic steel, with high strength and high toughness, which can effectively avoid excessive deformation of the screen due to the force of falling. It has also passed the 500,000-fold worry-free certification from Rheinland, which ensures the reliability of the hinge.
The application of the keel shaft makes the folding thickness of Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 only 10.86mm, and the unfolding thickness is only 5.26mm, which has reached the ultimate lightness and thinness among folding screen mobile phones. The hinge or shaft of Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 has the following advantages from the perspective of professional mobile phone engineering structure: Simple structure: the keel shaft adopts a three-stage linkage design, which is easier to manufacture than other complex hinge structures and maintenance. Small space occupation: The keel shaft makes use of the internal space and distributes components such as batteries and cameras on both sides, making the overall thickness thinner.
High strength: The keel shaft uses high-strength materials such as super steel and carbon ceramic steel, which can withstand greater torque and impact. Good durability: The keel shaft has passed the 500,000-fold worry-free certification, indicating that its lifespan far exceeds the needs of ordinary users. Smooth opening and closing: The keel shaft adopts multiple movable joints, which can realize smooth and flexible opening and closing actions.
The disadvantage is that there may be certain gaps and noises: due to the simple structure of the keel shaft, it may not be completely closed, resulting in a certain gap between the screens, which affects the appearance and dustproof. At the same time, during the opening and closing process of the keel shaft, some friction and collision sounds may be generated, which will affect the comfort.
Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 using the hinge as a reference object, Huawei Mate X3 and Samsung Z Fold5 are selected for comparison.
Huawei Mate X3 uses a new self-developed double-rotation water drop hinge, which is a new type of hinge structure, which can achieve better screen protection and space utilization. It adopts a double-track rotating shaft direct drive unit, which can be precisely linked to achieve the effect of seamless folding and flattening. It is also equipped with high-precision cam transmission, which can achieve stable hovering, and can feel smooth when opening and closing. The application of the double-rotation water drop hinge makes the folding thickness of Huawei Mate X3 only 11.08mm, and the unfolding thickness is only 5.3mm, which has reached the ultimate lightness and thinness among folding screen mobile phones.
From the perspective of professional mobile phone engineering structure, the hinge or shaft of Huawei Mate X3 has the following advantages: Precise structure: the double-rotation drop hinge uses a dual-track shaft direct drive unit and high-precision cam drive to achieve precise and stable opening and closing control. High space utilization: The double-rotation water drop hinge utilizes the internal space, and distributes components such as batteries and cameras on both sides, making the overall thickness thinner. High strength: The double-rotation drop hinge uses high-strength materials such as high-strength steel and carbon fiber, which can withstand greater torque and impact. Good durability:
The double-rotation drop hinge has undergone strict reliability tests, showing that its lifespan far exceeds the needs of ordinary users. Smooth opening and closing: The double-rotation water drop hinge adopts multiple movable joints, which can realize smooth and flexible opening and closing actions. Low noise: The double-rotation drop hinge adopts special lubricating materials and sound insulation design, which can reduce friction and collision sounds during opening and closing, and improve comfort.
The disadvantage is that the structure is complex and the cost is high: due to the precise structure of the double-rotation drop hinge, more parts and processes are required, which increases the difficulty and cost of its manufacture and maintenance.
The Samsung Z Fold5 uses a new ultra-closed Seiko hinge that allows it to be fully closed without leaving a gap between the screens. It uses a special spring mechanism that keeps it stable at different angles. It also comes with a brush structure that prevents dust and dirt from getting inside the shaft. The hinge design of the Samsung Z Fold5 has also undergone 200,000 fold tests to ensure durability. The Samsung Z Fold5 has a thickness of 13.4mm when folded, a thickness of 6.1mm when unfolded, and a weight of 253 grams.
From the perspective of professional mobile phone engineering structure, the hinge or hinge of Samsung Z Fold 5 has the following advantages: Compact structure: The hinge design of Samsung Z Fold5 adopts a hinge structure similar to a book, which can realize the complete closure of the screen, while No gaps are left between screens, improving aesthetics and dust resistance.
Dustproof and waterproof: The hinge design of the Samsung Z Fold5 is equipped with a brush structure that prevents dust and dirt from entering the interior of the hinge, protecting the cleanliness and safety of the screen and hinge. Stable opening and closing: The hinge design of the Samsung Z Fold 5 uses a special spring mechanism to maintain stability at different angles, providing a variety of usage modes and viewing angles.
The disadvantage is that it takes up a lot of space: the hinge design of the Samsung Z Fold5 needs to be fully closed, resulting in a large thickness when folded, reaching 13.4mm, and a heavy weight of 253 grams, which affects portability and comfort. Low strength: The hinge design of the Samsung Z Fold5 may not be able to withstand excessive torque and impact due to the use of a spring mechanism, resulting in damage or loosening of the screen or shaft. Unsmooth opening and closing: The hinge design of the Samsung Z Fold5 uses a brush structure, which may increase the friction during the opening and closing process, resulting in unsmooth opening and closing, or even jamming or jamming.
To sum up, I think that the hinges or hinges of Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 and Huawei Mate X3 are more in line with the requirements of folding screen mobile phones, with little damage to the folding screen of mobile phones and long service life. The hinge or hinge of Samsung Z Fold5 is relatively poor, which will cause great damage to the folding screen of the mobile phone and have a short service life. If I had to choose one of these three phones, I would be more inclined to the Mi MIX Fold 3 because of its simple hinge or hinge structure, small space occupation, and high strength.
In terms of configuration, Xiaomi Mix Fold3 is equipped with Snapdragon 8Gen 2 leading version processor, which adopts 5nm process, has 8 cores, the highest main frequency reaches 3.2GHz, supports LPDDR5X 8533Mbps and UFS4.0 storage technology.
Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 has an 8.03-inch 2K+ ultra-clear internal screen and a 6.56-inch external screen, both of which use new E6 OLED light-emitting materials, support 1300nit global brightness, 2600nit peak brightness, 120Hz high refresh rate and HDR10+ technology, which can present delicate images The picture quality and realistic colors are at the top level among folding screen phones.
It is equipped with Leica Optical’s full-focus four-camera, including a 50-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, a 10-megapixel 75mm portrait lens and a 10-megapixel 115mm periscope telephoto lens, supporting 5x optical zoom And 45°~135° large-angle hovering photo mode. Equipped with a 4800mAh Xiaomi surging battery, using silicon carbon anode technology, supporting 67W wired fast charging and 50W wireless fast charging, there are also two Xiaomi surging G1 power management chips and one Xiaomi surging P2 fast charging chip.
It also supports multi-functional NFC chip, door card simulation, infrared remote control, dual speaker stereo, Dolby Atoms, Hi-Res Audio certification, X-axis horizontal linear motor and other functions. It also supports innovative features such as multi-angle hovering, the first liquid lens, and PC mode
Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 has excellent performance in many aspects, but it is not perfect. Its internal screen refresh rate is only 60Hz, which is a bit behind compared to the 90Hz of the external screen and the 120Hz or higher of other flagship phones. This may affect the fluency and visual effects of users watching videos, playing games or browsing the web on the internal screen.
Its external screen ratio is 21:9, which is very slender, which causes display adaptation problems for some applications, such as Douyin, WeChat and other common software. When used on the external screen, the screen will be cut by the left and right sides, and the field of view is also very small.
Although its hinge or shaft has the advantages of simple structure, small space occupation, high strength, good durability, and smooth opening and closing, there may also be certain gaps and noises. Due to the simple structure of the hinge or rotating shaft, it may not be completely closed, resulting in a certain gap between the screens, which affects the appearance and dustproof. At the same time, during the opening and closing process of the hinge or rotating shaft, some friction and collision sounds may be generated, which affects the comfort.
The camera does not support full-focus 4k 60fps, and the main camera is imx800, which should have the same 2x high-pixel cropping as Xiaomi Mi 13. Adding the 3.2x telephoto macro, this phone is equivalent to having:
- 1 0.6x super wide-angle
- 1 1x main camera
- 1 2x telephoto (equivalent cropping, called when the light is good)
- 1 3.2x long One focal point
- 5x telephoto
- One telephoto macro,
it’s not good to pick one alone, and the ultra-wide-angle has low pixels and cannot autofocus. But put it together to focus on a full coverage.
It weighs 259 grams (255 grams for the dragon scale fiber version), which is heavier than other folding screen phones such as Samsung Z Fold5 (253 grams) and Huawei Mate X3 (250 grams). This may affect the user’s portability and comfort when using it in the folded state.
To sum up, Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 is a very advanced and innovative folding screen mobile phone. It has excellent performance in many aspects, but it is not perfect. Its advantages are thin and light keel hinge, four-camera at all focal lengths, second-generation Snapdragon 8 leading version processor, 2K+ ultra-clear internal and external screens, 4800mAh Xiaomi surging battery and other excellent configurations, as well as multi-angle hovering , the first liquid lens, PC mode and other innovative functions.
Its disadvantages are that the refresh rate of the internal screen is only 60Hz, the proportion of the external screen is too small, there may be gaps and noise in the hinge or shaft, the main camera sensor is a mid-range sensor, and it is heavy. I think it has a high status and competitiveness in the folding screen mobile phone market, and it is a mobile phone worth watching and buying. My opinion on this phone is: it is an ultimate exploration of folding screen mobile phones, it shows Xiaomi’s unique understanding and innovative spirit of folding screen mobile phones, it allows us to see the infinite possibilities of folding screen mobile phones.
