Poll of the Week: Xiaomi's new foldable phone - Hot or Not?

Well now that you have noted to your heart's content and the results are in, let's see what the NextPit community has to say about the emerging trend of foldables. 

Mi Mix Fold as a complete package - hot or not?

We start with the most obvious question: is the Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold something you aspire to own? From Brazil to the USA and India to France and Germany, the NextPit community was unanimous on this one: No.

The rejection rate was particularly high in France and the debate did trickle into the comments section as well. Our French readers believe that the foldable space is yet to mature. Then we have our German readers who were a bit more open to foldables but then even here, the general trend indicates people are not into foldables. Our English speaking readers  - primarily from the US, UK and India are also rocking the same boat.

Which foldable phone did you like so far?

In the next question, we wanted to know which of the already announced foldable phones you guys liked. As you might be aware, there are several manufacturers like Samsung, Motorola, Huawei, Xiaomi, Royole and Microsoft,  vying for your attention in the foldable smartphone space.

The easy part of the analysis first: Nobody loves Royole, and Huawei has a difficult time around the world as well. But of course, who wants to pay a four-digit sum for a smartphone when the manufacturer's future remains uncertain? The surprise package was the Microsoft Surface Duo which garnered between 10 and 20 per cent of the votes and is well ahead of the Motorola Razr 5G. Ouch.

For a newly released phone, the Mi Mix Fold did manage to do well on this poll with the device managing to share a sizable number of votes in its favour and coming next only to Samsung. Looks like people seem to quite like the inward folding form factor for foldables. We wonder if this is also why the Razr 5G is met with so little approval?

Does the concept of a foldable phone interest you?

In the last question, we asked you, the reader to tell us if you find this entire concept of foldable smartphones interesting in the first place.

Turns out you bunch of nerds do find foldables exciting. Well, at least some of you are willing to give the form factor a chance. But there is no denying that you guys still think the technology is not ready yet. 

Conclusion

While the Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold could not convince the majority of you what we inferred from the poll results was the reality that foldable smartphones - even though exciting - have still some way to go before they become commonplace. Until then, we can expect them to be uber niche devices that might never come below the $1000 price mark for the foreseeable future. 

 

Original Article below

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In a mega event earlier this week, Xiaomi unveiled its latest foldable phone – the Mi Mix Fold. This phone is not only a continuation of the ever-interesting Mi Mix series but also a huge step for Xiaomi in terms of its showcasing its capabilities as a smartphone band. The company has more or less asserted its position among the biggies especially considering that not many smartphone brands offer foldable smartphones. We wonder if with the Mi Mix Fold, has Xiaomi unveiled the best foldable smartphone currently available?

The journey of the foldable smartphone, right from the start, has been sort of bumpy. Remember the massive issues these devices had with their displays? Tech journalists like us were initially very excited about these devices. However, the massive issues that the first generation of foldable handsets faced was a serious dampener to the future of foldables. It got to a point where Samsung had to release an improved version of the original Samsung Galaxy Fold a few months into the products announcement. 

Although the Galaxy Z Fold 2 fared well in Antoine's review, there is no denying that interest in foldable smartphones doesn't quite seem to match the initial enthusiasm any more. They are deemed too expensive, the displays too plasticky, and are blamed for being too unwieldy. 

Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold a big step towards market readiness?

Now that Xiaomi has showcased its own foldable smartphone, is the market finally ready for widespread foldable smartphone adoption? At the press conference, Xiaomi asserted that the Mi Mix Fold is free of all the nagging issues that plagued the first and second-generation foldable smartphones. It claims that the hinges are now better and that the display and every related component are rated to withstand over 200,000 folds. The spec sheet is pretty good too and the phone packs in the Snapdragon 888 Soc, a 5,000mAh battery with 67W fast charging support.

The triple camera on the back can be turned into a quad-cam via a trick. A fluid camera lens used on the phone lets the Mi Mix Fold transform the telephoto camera into a microscope camera with support for 30x magnification. Even with all these features (and 256GB storage), the Mi ix Fold 2 isn't too expensive by foldable standards at just under EUR 1,300.

If I did everything right while writing this article, you could just participate in a survey. I would like to ask you what you think about the concept of the phone because we tech journalists are sometimes too critical at the end of the day. Your vote counts and if you feel like it, you can also participate in the other polls.

Mi Mix Fold: The most promising foldable yet?

The ranks of foldable smartphones include the aforementioned Galaxy Z Fold 2, as well as models like the Royole Flexpai and the Motorola Razr. Huawei has also tried its luck with foldables in the form of the Mate X and Mate X2. Hence the question to you: Which among these already released foldables do you like the most?

By the way, there are always rumours that other industry giants like Google or Apple are working on their own foldable phones. However, since smartphones aren't quite Google's main focus and Apple likes to really mature technologies, this could drag on for a bit. So, to avoid talking about devices that little is known about yet, I have one last question for you.

Would you buy a Foldable when they mature and become affordable?

Although Antoine thought that the Galaxy Z Fold 2 was very good,  one thing that I have continuously been hearing is the fact that no one could afford this phone anyway.

But in a few years, when and if foldables become as commonplace as phones with triple or quad cameras, would you buy one?

As always, we'll have the results of our survey next week, and we'll also take a look at the other countries where NextPit is read. I'm curious to see how the interest in foldables is doing in Germany, France, Brazil, the USA and India.