Xiaomi resurrects its foldable just in time for the iPhone Fold face-off

Let's be real: the "wild west" days of 2024 are long gone. Back then, the Xiaomi Mix Fold 4 was facing off against the Galaxy Z Fold 6 in a market that wasn't that mature to begin with. We haven't mass-adopted foldables in 2026 yet, but these bijous are so much more popular today than they were two years ago.

Everything's about oil, gas and petrol these days. So here's an infinite power well idea: we hook up the foldable phones rumor mill to the grid and we drown in electricity. Yeah, the rumor mill is spinning that fast.

Bring on the competition

As a rule of thumb, more competition usually means better devices, sharper pricing and fewer excuses from the big players. That's why it's easy to get excited about the upcoming Xiaomi foldable, whatever it may be called (Xiaomi Mix Fold 5 is the logical continuation of the series, but it could also be the Xiaomi 17 Fold).

Back in 2024, Xiaomi's book-style foldable had a real shot at standing out with aggressive specs and pricing, even if software polish and global availability held it back.

The biggest problem for Xiaomi is that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is expected to be another extremely refined device. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 already did the heavy lifting last year, delivering a major leap over both the Fold 6 and Fold 5, which I can't recommend anymore unless you insist on having a Samsung foldable and the Z Fold 7 is above your budget.

The Z Fold 7 fixed key pain points, improved durability and made the whole experience feel far less experimental and far more mainstream.

Sure, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is also threatened by the eventual new foldable by Xiaomi, but in the US, Sammy still outshines its Chinese competitors in terms of popularity.

And then there's the elephant

The long-rumored iPhone Fold is expected to land later in 2026. Android fans might roll their eyes at the idea, but ignoring Apple is usually a mistake.

Cupertino has a track record of stepping into existing categories and reshaping them through sheer marketing muscle. If its foldable turns out to be genuinely good (and we've all heard the whispers about a nearly crease-free display and a large battery) it won't just compete, it will bite off a chunk of the market.

And that market isn't huge to begin with. Foldables are still a niche compared to traditional smartphones.

Xiaomi isn't just trying to beat Samsung anymore; it's also trying to secure relevance before Apple inevitably grabs attention and mindshare. Since the iPhone Fold (or whatever its official moniker is) is expected towards the end of 2026, Xiaomi might have a chance to secure things with a summer product unveiling.

But wait, there's more!

Naturally, other Android brands aren't sitting still either.

The Honor Magic V6 has already raised eyebrows with a massive 7,150mAh battery (for its China-exclusive variant) – a number that sounds almost absurd for a foldable.

Then there's the Oppo Find N6, which just arrived with a near-zero crease display. That's another major pain point for foldables, and solving it gets you instant credibility. Interestingly, similar display tech is rumored to show up in Apple's foldable as well, which means expectations across the board are rising fast.

Challenges ahead

It's not enough to simply show up with a solid foldable anymore. That might have worked a couple of years ago, but in 2026, "good" doesn't cut it. Xiaomi's upcoming book-style foldable needs to hit hard in multiple areas at once.

The camera system has to be top-tier, not just competitive. Foldables have often lagged behind flagship slabs in photography. The battery needs to be bigger than what we typically see in this category, especially with rivals already pushing the limits. And the inner display has to feel premium, durable, and as close to crease-free as possible.

There's also software, which is where Xiaomi has historically had mixed results. A foldable lives or dies by how well it handles multitasking, app continuity, and large-screen optimization. That part has to be airtight.

But if it succeeds..

Given that Xiaomi manages to pull it off and delivers a foldable that genuinely competes with Samsung's polish, matches or beats rivals on hardware (hey, and lands at the right price!), then the whole picture gets interesting.

But even in that best-case scenario, the timing remains critical. By the time Xiaomi's new foldable lands, the market will already be bracing for Apple's entry, while Samsung continues to iterate on an increasingly polished formula. That leaves a relatively narrow window for Xiaomi to make a strong impression in the US before attention shifts elsewhere.

The foldable segment is no longer defined by experimentation; instead, it is now defined by execution.

The foldable market in 2026 is shaping up to be the most competitive it has ever been. Samsung is refining, Motorola is disrupting on price, Google is there… and Apple is preparing to enter with calculated precision.