Chinese phone manufacturer Xiaomi is returning to the experimental Xiaomi Mi Mix brand this year. Rumoured to be the company's upcoming folding phone, the presumed Mi Mix 4 will be revealed alongside the new Mi 11 phone.
Announced by the phone company in a Weibo blog, the return of the Xiaomi Mi Mix is a fantastic opportunity to innovate. While the company's mainline flagships remain traditional glass sandwich devices, the Mix line has always brought new form factors or killer features.
”I’M COMING BACK”, reads the announcement via GSM. "Xiaomi MIX, after two years, has returned strongly! With endless technical strength, we can live up to the expectations of hundreds of millions of users. At 19:30 on March 29th, we will have a chat about Mi MIX."
What is the Xiaomi Mi Mix 4?
The unannounced Xiaomi Mi Mix 4, or 4 Pro, has been leaked as the brand's first folding phone. Other phone companies have already released foldable devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Fold. However, Xiaomi and many other phone manufacturers are currently behind the curve.
Leaked prototypes of the the upcoming folding phone liken it to a traditional Galaxy Fold device. The phone appears to have a horizontal fold with a Samsung-like hinge. To keep the folding screen fun over time, there's also a standard outer screen for quick use. The phone appears to have a triple camera setup in leaked images.
Most impressively, the upcoming Mi Mix phone reportedly includes liquid lense technology for its cameras. Liquid lenses allow cameras to act more like the human eye, improving focus capabilities.
Read More: Apple is making a folding iPhone?
History of Mi Mix phones
The Xiaomi Mi Mix brand isn't a long-running line of hardware. However, the phone brand has always introduced new features into the smartphone space.
For example, the first Mi Mix phone abandoned the traditional widescreen aspect ratio for a taller display that would eventually be copied in Sony phones. Two years ago, the Mi Mix 3 was part of the hidden camera craze. The device had a sliding camera that users could bring up with the pull of their thumb.
The last Mi Mix phone to be announced never released. Mi Mix Alpha aimed to be the company's first rollable device. The phone featured a massive screen that rolled all the way around the device that would've been a fantastic looking piece of kit despite its limited uses.