Xiaomi Samsung Galaxy Z Flip-like foldable tipped by suppliers
Two clamshell-style foldable display-toting smartphones were released in the past few months, one from Samsung, the other from Motorola. Both received relatively standard market releases, though both were released in slightly smaller numbers than your average headliner. Now it would appear that Xiaomi wants in on the party, with a rumor springing up about a device with a look that could very easily be mistaken for Samsung's approach.
One report from ZDNet Korea via XDA Developers suggests that Xiaomi's requested clamshell-type flexible OLED displays for a new smartphone. These displays would be exceedingly similar to those used in the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip. This is not the first time we've heard of Xiaomi looking into the creation of a foldable display smartphone such as this.
The imagery you see here of a Xiaomi foldable smartphone comes from Waqar Khan, posted to WindowsUnited. This is a concept for a Xiaomi smartphone based on patent filings from the company. As we've learned from Xiaomi filings in the past, patent filings CAN give a basic idea of what a company might, one day, create, but don't often tell the full story.
While we can see a couple of important details here, we do not yet see how Xiaomi will manage their iteration of Android. We don't know if they'll be attempting to clone Samsung's front and back camera setup – this is especially important given the appearance of a display on the back of the head of the phone.
Remember too, Xiaomi's been working on foldable phones for quite some time now. Just about as long as any other major smartphone manufacturer, if you believe the preview videos.
If Xiaomi can create a high quality foldable clamshell smartphone like what we see here and they're able to offer said phone for a reasonable price, they might have a winner on their hands. If, on the other hand, they create a device that's as expensive as the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip with a quality as questionable as the Motorola RAZR foldable smartphone, they won't make much of a dent.