Xiaomi wants you to rethink what a foldable phone should look like. Unlike the high and narrow form that most foldables in a book have, the 18 Fold ditches the narrow and tall and makes itself wide, like a sheet of paper, rather than a phone. It's also the first Xiaomi flagship to sport the company's own chipset, as opposed to one from Qualcomm. 

This will be Xiaomi's most ambitious foldable to date with a 6,000mAh battery, a Leica triple camera and two 4,000 nit displays. The caveat: it is only available in China and the price is definitely in the flagship realm. So, is the 18 Fold really worth the money, or is it a style over substance? Let's find out.

An In-Depth Review on Xiaomi 18 Fold

The Xiaomi 18 Fold is designed for those who want a large-screened smartphone without the need to carry a tablet. It is powered by Xiaomi's own XRing O3 chipset, has a whopping 6,000mAh battery and opens up to a bright 7.58-inch display supported by a 5.38-inch cover screen. With a Leica triple camera and super-fast charging, it's one of the more daring foldables of 2026. This review will focus on how it's designed, displayed and performs, along with its cameras, battery life, price, and overall value, for those who use it on a daily basis and are a tech enthusiast.

Box Content

This is what you get inside the Xiaomi 18 Fold box:

• Xiaomi 18 Fold Smartphone
• 67W fast charger
• USB Type-C cable
• Protective case
• SIM ejector tool
• User manual

The Xiaomi 18 Fold is likely to include the phone, a 67W charging brick, a USB-C cable, a SIM ejector tool, and Protective case and basic paperwork (user guide, warranty card). Xiaomi has not been seen offering earphones in the recent flagships, so don't expect them here.

Design & Build Quality

When you open it up, the Xiaomi 18 Fold measures 117.8mm tall and 163.8mm wide, which makes it look like a piece of paper. When unfolded, it's only 5.02mm thick, thinner than most normal slab phones, if not a folding device. The weight is 219 grams. Not light for a phone, but fair for a phone with two screens, a hinge and a huge battery inside.

The materials are positioned in the right way as a flag ship. The cover screen is placed beneath Xiaomi's Dragon Crystal Glass 3 that should be able to withstand scratches and bumps. The inner screen, however, is different and is made of plastic; as is typical with foldables, the inner screen has to bend every time you open and close the phone. You'll find glass at the rear, supported by an aluminum frame. Here there is no shortcut.

There's a good range of colours to choose from: Gray, Silver, Red and Rose Gold, so there's something for everyone from the safe and professional to the more eye-catching.

The true highlight here is durability. While most folds are water resistant, the 18 Fold is rated as IP58/IP59, which means it can withstand being dunked into up to 1-metre of water for 30 minutes. It is also 100% dustproof. It's definitely a big thing for a foldable phone, as dust ingress is always a concern.

In general, this is not a first generation experiment. It seems like a phone that is designed to be dropped in a bag, thrown in the rain, used every day and still come out looking good.

Display

Unfold the phone and the 7.58-inch AMOLED display comes with a high 1672x2364 resolution for a pixel density of 382 pixels per inch (ppi). For reading, browsing and viewing videos, it is quite sharp and free of any visible pixels. The screen to body ratio is 90.6%, so the bezels around the edge are quite thin and the only real break in the screen is a little punch hole camera in the corner.

The panel's refresh rate is 120Hz, so scrolling and animation smooth and not choppy. The brightness is at its peak of 4,000 nits, which means that it is not expected to be a problem when viewed outdoors in direct sunlight. It also features HDR10+ which means that movies and shows on its supported applications will display more contrast and colors. Dragon Crystal Glass 3 protection is added on top, which should offer protection from every day scratches.

The cover screen is not an afterthought, you close the phone. That's a standard 5.38-inch LTPO AMOLED screen with the same 1168x1712 resolution, operating at 120Hz and with the same high peak brightness of 4,000 nits. It even adds Dolby Vision and HDR Vivid support, on top of HDR10+. That's rare. Many foldables companies compromise the cover screen to cut down on expenses, but Xiaomi treated it almost as it would the main display.

This translates to no “lesser” screen in daily usage. Open or closed, you have a bright, smooth and sharp display. That's really hard to find with a foldable, with both screens being like that.

Camera

The Xiaomi 18 Fold has a decent flagship camera configuration to boast about, which is something that most foldables can't boast. There are three rear cameras: a 200MP f/1.7 lens with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), a 50MP telephoto at f/2.8 and a 50MP ultra-wide lens at f/2.4. All three feature autofocus, so you don't have to deal with a soft ultra-wide or telephoto like some of the competition.

The primary sensor can capture images up to 16000x12500 pixels, which should allow you to crop in without missing out on a lot of detail. Manual features such as exposure compensation and ISO sensitivity adjustment are also included along with HDR mode and continuous shooting for fast action. The additional features include face detection and touch-to-focus, a custom watermark, dual video recording and slow motion.

Daylight Photo:

With a big 200MP sensor, a wide f/1.7 aperture and OIS, it should be sharp, detailed and well exposed in the light, and have decent dynamic range in HDR mode. The telephoto should also be quite usable as well, as OIS will help stabilize zoomed shots in good lighting.

Low-Light Photo:

The main camera features f/1.7 aperture and OIS, which are both positive features for nighttime photography as they allow more light to pass through and minimize the effect of shaky hands. Like most phones, the 50MP ultra-wide will probably face a worse challenge as the light fades.

Selfie and video calls are powered by just one 16MP f/2.2 camera inside. Close the phone and the same 16MP f/2.2 camera is repeated on the cover screen as well, giving you a mirror image selfie experience, regardless of which side you hold the phone. Selfie video tops out at 1080p, at 30 or 60fps.

This camera setup is most effective when used with video. It offers up a maximum of 8K resolution (7680x4320) and reduces to 4K in certain modes, or can operate at standard 1080p at 24, 30 or 60 fps.

Performance & Software

That's where the Xiaomi 18 Fold really shines. Unlike just about every other flagship, Xiaomi has its own chipset, called the XRing O3 and to this day, it remains a mystery how the Chinese manufacturer managed to create one. This marks the first in-house silicon usage for Xiaomi's foldable and it seems it's not only software that the company wants to control.

The chip comes in a 10 core design with three levels of power. 2 high performance Arm C1-Ultra running up to 4.35GHz, 4 mid-tier Arm C1-Premium cores running up to 3.68GHz and 4 efficiency-based Arm C1-Pro cores running up to 3.15GHz. The layered approach is designed to optimize power usage and ensure a longer battery life, with the more powerful cores used only when necessary and the lightest ones for everyday use.

It is manufactured on a 3nm process, the same advanced manufacturing process technology that's used in the best chips currently available. Be sure that it will help to control heat, as well as be faster per watt; smaller manufacturing is more beneficial. Graphics are from the Arm G2-Ultra NX GPU which should be fine for general purposes, multitasking and casual gaming, but if the partner is into heavy AAA gaming, then it is a bit of a ask for the body to be so thin.

On the software end, it runs Android (version v17), with the addition of HyperOS built by the Chinese handset maker, Xiaomi. This is Xiaomi's newest user interface, which emphasises the integration of their phones, tablets and other Xiaomi devices, as well as smoother animations and improved the multitasking features that are suitable for the larger foldable screen.

To sum up, the XRing O3 is an impactful statement chip. Not much can be said about it because it's new, and it doesn't have a long track record to compare with the competition such as Snapdragon or Dimensity chips. It's designed in a way that's obviously intended to be a flagship, not a first try.

Battery & Charger

Folding phones have never had a great battery life, but that's where Xiaomi is going the extra mile. The 18 Fold has a huge 6,000mAh battery, which is one of the largest among foldables, and one of the largest in the world so far. It's only a two-day battery this size; the phone should last a full day even with dual AMOLED screens and heavy usage.

There are charging stations with just as much strength. It supports PD3.0 and 50W PPS charging standards, and 67W wired charging, it should be compatible with a wide variety of fast charging equipment, not just Xiaomi's. The wireless charging speed is capped at 50W – which is quick for wireless, particularly with a foldable, where wireless charging is not always possible and/or slow.

You can use the phone to top up another device such as earbuds or another phone in case, also there is reverse charging support.On the connection front, it features USB Type-C 3.2 Gen2, enabling it to transfer files at a higher speed than before as well as charge the phone, which is especially helpful when you transfer large files such as photos or videos from the phone.

This is a single of one of the best charging and battery setups for any foldable at this time, not only Xiaomi's, but all foldables.

Xiaomi 18 Fold price in Bangladesh

Unfortunately, Xiaomi has yet to introduce the Xiaomi 18 Fold in the market in Bangladesh as it has restricted it to China only. The unofficial price of the 12GB+512GB variant is approximately ৳263,000. This is the price which includes importation costs, taxes and reseller mark-up, and not a retail price in the local market. When purchasing an import unit, be prepared for a China ROM, lack of local warranty and possibly additional steps to set up in the Play Store.

Final Word

The Xiaomi 18 Fold is one of the most comprehensive foldables we've seen. It feels far from experimental with a mammoth battery, speedy charging, matched bright screens and a true flagship camera package. The chip from Xiaomi is helping towards that dream. However, the captures are authentic; it is China only and is not available for import and the camera's performance in the real world is not yet proven. This is a foldable that shouldn't be taken lightly if you can ignore that.