Xiaomi explains how it'll build its first foldable phone, 3D renders revealed

Xiaomi’s foldable smartphone has been subject to several leaks over the past few weeks. A couple of **videos** surfaced on the internet with the company’s co-founder Linbin posting a hands-on demonstration and confirming the existence of the foldable phone last month. [caption id=“attachment_6073371” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”] Xiaomi’s three-panel foldable smartphone. Image: Evan Blass[/caption] **Xiaomi's** global PR team has now shared an official statement describing the phone’s design and offering insight into its development. The statement, first spotted by Dutch tech website LetsGoDigital, reveals that this innovative device from Xiaomi will be a “double folding smartphone.” The company in the press release explains that the foldable screen of the smartphone has been co-developed in partnership with a ‘supply chain partner.’ The Chinese OEM further discussed how it overcame some of the challenges with the flexible display, stating that they conducted extensive research to develop a “robust folding mechanism.” Xiaomi claims that besides the front panel, the foldable smartphone’s design, folding mechanism and software has been developed by the company in-house. While the handset maker offered some background on the foldable smartphone’s development, there are no details on the conventional specs yet. However, LetsGoDigital published a few 3D renders of the Xiaomi double-folding smartphone. The renders which are based on previous leaks, show off the phone having two folding sections that bend backwards and wrap behind the phone, shifting the UI to the middle of the screen. The report claims that the MIUI skin seen in the renders are not final and that it might change when the phone officially debuts. [caption id=“attachment_6073381” align=“alignnone” width=“850”] Xiaomi’s foldable smartphone 3D renders reveal the device having two folding sections. Image: LetsGoDigital[/caption] When folded the phone turns into a relatively compact, pocketable device. Once the foldable screen is opened, it transforms into a large tablet with thin bezels and offers a wider screen. Interestingly, the renders don’t show any camera sensor on the phone. Reports predict that the rear camera might be placed on the rear of the centre panel and that one of the panels will have to be left open when clicking pics. At the bottom of the device one can see a USB-C port while at the top there is a button. Apparently, Xiaomi is considering two names for its foldable display smartphone- ‘Xiaomi Dual Flex’ and ‘Xiaomi MIX Flex.’ Xiaomi has not shared any details as to when it plans to unveil its ‘innovative’ foldable smartphone, however, reports indicate that the company might showcase it at MWC 2019. Notably, the Chinese OEM is not the only one working on a foldable smartphone. Popular smartphone brands like Samsung, Huawei, Motorola and even LG are said to be **developing smartphones** with foldable and flexible displays.