Xiaomi 18 Fold launches in China: XRING O3 and a 6,000mAh battery

Xiaomi has launched the Xiaomi 18 Fold in China, and the foldable is already on sale there. The company is pitching it as its first mid-size foldable: a passport-style wide-fold phone with a 3nm XRING O3 chip, a 6,000mAh battery, Leica-branded cameras, and a starting price of CNY 10,999, which works out to about $1,600.

Xiaomi says the 18 Fold is meant to land somewhere between flip phones and the bigger book-style foldables. It has a 5.38-inch outer display and an inner screen of about 7.6 inches, both using an A4-like aspect ratio so the jump from one screen to the other feels more natural.

It also doesn’t weigh much for this category. At 219g, Xiaomi says the 18 Fold is its lightest foldable so far, and both HyperRGB LTPO panels use full RGB subpixels, support refresh rates from 1Hz to 120Hz, and hit 4,000 nits of peak brightness. The company also says the phone uses an aluminum alloy frame, Shield Glass 3.0, and a new three-link hinge.

Inside, Xiaomi is packing in a 10-core CPU, a 16-core GPU, LPDDR6 support, and what it claims is a 45% jump in NPU decoding performance. Charging is rated at 67W wired and 50W wireless. Camera hardware includes a Leica triple-camera setup with a 200MP main sensor, a 50MP periscope, and a 50MP ultra-wide, which Xiaomi says helps it sidestep the usual trade-offs that come with foldables.

If you’ve been waiting for a wider foldable and you’re in China, the Xiaomi 18 Fold has a lot going for it, especially with Apple’s foldable rumored to be on the way and Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 already adding more pressure in a market that’s getting crowded fast.

The Xiaomi 18 Fold starts at CNY 10,999, or roughly $1,600, and it’s available in China now. Xiaomi hasn’t said anything yet about an international release.