After a year of hiatus, Xiaomi’s foldable lineup is set to return this summer but with a name change. The category of devices should move from the long-standing MIX family to the Rule series: so there wouldn’t be any MIX Fold 5, but an unreleased Xiaomi 17 Fold – at least according to rumors so far.
Whatever the phone’s name, in the last few hours clues about the design have arrived directly from the Chinese brand’s software. HyperOS 4, currently in internal beta, may have revealed the look of the new foldable, with a style unlike either the company’s standards or those of its rivals.
HyperOS 4 has unveiled the design of Xiaomi 17 Fold: here is what the design of the first foldable in the series will look like
Images have leaked from HyperOS 4’s system launcher: these aren’t renders or real photos, but screens showing the shape of the next foldable. There are no references to the name, so the Xiaomi 17 Fold vs Xiaomi MIX Fold 5 rivalry may still be open, but the device type is clear.
The images show a foldable smartphone with decidedly rounded corners: when closed the device has the shape of a “D” and an external panel (this is therefore a model with an in-fold design), while when open it reveals its large internal screen.
There are also various interface details related to multitasking, a sign that Xiaomi is dedicating attention to improving the experience with the foldable format.
The Xiaomi 17 Fold launch is awaited in July and will almost certainly remain a Chinese exclusive. The reason for the limited localization is linked both to past (the brand has never brought a book-style foldable to Global markets) and to the leaks about the specs. In fact, it’s said to be powered by the future proprietary SoC XRING O3: despite the clock frequency above 4 GHz, at the moment the brand has no plans to introduce its chipsets internationally.
