Xiaomi clones the Galaxy Fold, makes it 40% thinner, adds a bigger battery

• The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2. Yep, that's thin. [credit: Xiaomi ]

If you're disappointed by Samsung's relatively slow progress on foldables, say hello to the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2, which looks significantly more advanced than what we saw in this week's announcement from Samsung. But it's for China only, of course. Sorry.

The Mix Fold 2 closely follows the layout of the Galaxy Z Fold 4—it's a book-style foldable that has a phone-like front screen and a tablet-like flexible inner screen. The kicker is that the device is 40 percent thinner when folded up. We're usually not on board with the smartphone thinness craze, but the thickness of foldables is a major concern. The 16-mm-thick Galaxy Z Fold really fills out your pocket compared to a normal smartphone, so Xiaomi is making progress here.

The Mix Fold 2 is just 11.2 mm thick when folded up, with each half measuring only 5.4 mm. Xiaomi's phone is dramatically thinner than Samsung's, and Xiaomi also manages to fit in a slightly bigger 4500 mAh battery (Samsung's is 4400 mAh). The trick here—aside from Samsung not changing the Fold's thickness or battery capacity for four years now—is that the Xiaomi foldable is a bit bigger than Samsung's. When folded up, the Z Fold 4 is 155.1 mm x 67.1 mm x 15.8 mm, while Xiaomi's device is at 161.6 mm x 73.9 mm x 11.2 mm. That 161.6 mm x 73.9 mm measurement is still smaller than a top-end smartphone, with an S22 Ultra measuring 163.3 mm x 77.9 mm x 8.9 mm.