(VIDEO) 10 Things To Know About Xiaomi's Upcoming 18 Fold Ahead Of Its September 7 Launch

Xiaomi is preparing to launch its newest foldable smartphone, the Xiaomi 18 Fold, on Sept. 7 in China, with the company gradually revealing details about the device in the weeks leading up to its debut. Here are 10 things to know about the phone ahead of its official unveiling.

It launches Sept. 7 alongside other major Xiaomi products. Xiaomi President Lu Weibing confirmed the Xiaomi 18 Fold will officially debut on Sept. 7, two days before Apple's expected iPhone event, where Apple is separately rumored to unveil its own first foldable device. Xiaomi's September event will not be limited to the foldable phone; the company has said it will also use the occasion to announce new electric vehicles and its Xiaomi Mi Pad 9 Pro Max tablet.
It adopts a wide "mid-fold" form factor. Xiaomi has described the 18 Fold as a "mid-fold" device, a form factor that sits between traditional large book-style foldables and smaller flip-style phones. The device features a 5.38-inch external cover screen and a 7.58-inch internal display when unfolded, giving it a notably wider and shorter profile compared with many of Xiaomi's earlier foldable releases, drawing comparisons from tech outlets to Samsung's rumored Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Huawei's Pura X View.
It's powered by Xiaomi's new self-designed chip. The Xiaomi 18 Fold will run on the company's new XRing O3 chipset, the successor to last year's XRing O1 and Xiaomi's latest self-designed smartphone processor. The chip features a 10-core, or deca-core, CPU architecture paired with Arm's new G2-Ultra NX graphics processing unit and eight integrated NX neural accelerators for AI processing tasks, and supports the newer LPDDR6 RAM standard.
Xiaomi claims aggressive performance benchmarks for the new chip. According to figures shared by Xiaomi, the XRing O3 has scored more than 5.2 million points on the AnTuTu V11 benchmarking test, though independent third-party testing will ultimately determine whether those figures hold up under real-world conditions. Xiaomi has also claimed the chip delivers graphics performance up to 85% faster than its predecessor in some tests and as much as 182% faster specifically in ray-tracing workloads, while also touting a 64% improvement in power efficiency and a 45% improvement in AI processing performance compared with the prior-generation chip. The company has said the new processor outperforms Apple's A19 Pro chip across all three GPU benchmark tests it has shared publicly, though those comparisons have not been independently verified.
The chip's raw clock speed still trails some rival processors on paper. Despite Xiaomi's performance claims, the XRing O3's CPU tops out at a clock speed of 4.35 gigahertz, which falls below the rumored 5.01 gigahertz peak expected for Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chip and the 4.55 gigahertz reportedly planned for MediaTek's Dimensity 9600 Pro, both of which are expected to power competing flagship devices from other manufacturers in the coming months.
It features a triple-lens Leica camera system. Leaks shared by the Weibo-based tipster Digital Chat Station, corroborated by Xiaomi's own official reveal, indicate the 18 Fold will include a Leica-branded triple-camera setup on its rear camera island, comprising a main camera with an f/1.7 aperture, a telephoto lens offering 3.5x optical zoom at f/2.8, and a 17-millimeter ultrawide lens. The three-camera array marks a notable addition compared with most other wide-form-factor foldables currently on the market or expected to launch soon, several of which typically include fewer rear cameras.
It introduces a redesigned hinge Xiaomi calls the "dragon bone" hinge. Xiaomi has touted significant durability improvements tied to the phone's new hinge design, claiming a 258% increase in resistance to damage from sharp-object impacts and a 214% improvement in drop resistance against steel-ball impact testing, both measured against Xiaomi's prior MIX Fold 4 foldable. The company has also confirmed a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for unlocking the device, positioned along the phone's frame rather than embedded beneath the display.
Battery capacity reaches 6,000 milliamp-hours despite the foldable design. The Xiaomi 18 Fold will include a 6,000 milliamp-hour battery built using what Xiaomi calls its "Jinshajiang" battery technology, which relies on high-density silicon-carbon stacking with a 20% silicone content formulation, achieving an energy density of 920 watt-hours per liter, according to figures shared by the company. The device supports 67-watt wired charging and 50-watt wireless charging, relatively fast charging speeds for a foldable device of this size and battery capacity.
It will launch first in a striking red colorway, with pricing expected around 12,000 yuan. Xiaomi has so far shown off the Xiaomi 18 Fold specifically in a red finish ahead of its full unveiling, though additional color options are expected to be announced alongside the phone's official launch. Reported pricing for the device in China is expected to start around 12,000 yuan, roughly equivalent to $1,680 at current exchange rates, positioning it among the more expensive entries in Xiaomi's smartphone lineup, consistent with pricing for premium foldable devices from other manufacturers.
Global availability remains unconfirmed. While Xiaomi has locked in a Chinese launch date and revealed a growing list of specifications ahead of the Sept. 7 event, the company has not yet confirmed whether, or when, the Xiaomi 18 Fold will be released outside of China. Key details including international pricing, final global specifications, and specific market availability remain unannounced, meaning consumers outside China interested in the device will likely need to wait for further updates following the phone's initial domestic debut.

Xiaomi's rollout of the 18 Fold comes as competition in the premium foldable smartphone segment continues to intensify, with rival manufacturers including Samsung, Huawei and, reportedly, Apple all working on their own wide-form-factor foldable devices expected to reach the market around the same period. Xiaomi's decision to reveal design details and key specifications incrementally in the weeks leading up to its official launch reflects a now-common strategy among smartphone makers seeking to build anticipation ahead of a major product reveal, while also allowing the company to respond to early public and media reaction before the device's full specifications and pricing are locked in at launch.

As Sept. 7 approaches, additional details about the Xiaomi 18 Fold, including its complete specification sheet, full pricing tiers across different storage configurations, and any announcements regarding international availability, are expected to be confirmed directly by Xiaomi during its official launch event in China.