Xiaomi's got a new flip phone coming, and it's a slap in the face of Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 6.
The Xiaomi Mix Flip, as it's called, hasn't been officially unveiled yet (that should happen on July 19), but CEO Lei Jun shared a couple of teasers on social media.
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The first thing that catches the eye are the two massive camera eyes on the outside. The second thing that catches the eye is the large, 4.01-inch, edge-to-edge outer display, with just a thin, black strip of bezel around it. The third thing that catches the eye is the fact that the phrase "catches the eye" becomes weirder each time you repeat it, but I digress.
It's hard not to draw comparisons with Samsung's recently launched Galaxy Z Flip 6, whose outer display has far larger, fatter bezels. It's worth noting that bezels sometimes protect you from accidental touches, so we'll have to wait and see whether Xiaomi's approach works well in practice.
From what we see in Jun's pictures, the Mix Flip's outer display looks to be highly customizable, with an always-ready software camera button and a full-sized (though still pretty tiny), 26-letter keyboard, meaning you can do all sorts of stuff on this phone without even flipping it open. According to Jun, it also has a dedicated mic and speaker on the outside, so you can make and receive calls without opening the phone.
Other specs of the Mix Flip include a 3rd gen Snapdragon 8 chip, Leica optics, and a 4,780mAh battery.
Besides the Mix Flip, Xiaomi is also launching a foldable phone on July 19, the Xiaomi Mix Fold 4. It will undoubtedly be a powerful device, but the real question is whether Xiaomi will launch it globally, as its predecessors have only been available in China.
