Xiaomi 18 Fold is here with the Xring O3 SoC, a wide format, and a cherry red colorway

What changed: Xiaomi has launched the 18 Fold in mainland China. It is the company’s first book-style foldable since the Mix Fold 4, and it moves to a shorter, wider shape than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8.

Who is affected: buyers in China can preorder it now. Everyone outside China should wait, because Xiaomi has not confirmed whether the phone will launch internationally.

The headline items are the Xring O3 chip, the roughly 1.4:1 screens, the 6,000mAh battery, and a red finish that stood out in hands-on photos. The source confirms Xiaomi lists the color as red, not an official “cherry” name.

What Xiaomi announced

The Xiaomi 18 Fold is a book-style foldable with an inner OLED display and an outer OLED display. Both screens use a short and wide format instead of the taller foldable shape Samsung used for years.

The confirmed China launch details are straightforward:

• Preorder price: ¥10,999, about $1,600
• Official sales date: September 10
• Launch market confirmed so far: mainland China
• International launch: not confirmed
• Color options: black, white, red, plus a pink ceramic special edition
• Pink ceramic run: 1,500 units

The Verge got hands-on time with the phone behind closed doors at IFA. Its early impression was that the Xiaomi 18 Fold looks and feels close enough to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8, while carrying higher listed specs in several areas.

The wide format is the main design change

The Xiaomi 18 Fold uses a 7.58-inch inner screen and a 5.38-inch outer screen. Both are roughly 1.4:1 in aspect ratio. That makes the phone shorter and wider than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8.

The result is a foldable that is compact when closed, with a cover screen The Verge found comfortable for one-handed use. Opened up, the shape is aimed more at movies and reading than at a tall split-screen work layout.

Xiaomi still includes multitasking tools. The confirmed options are:

• Split-screen apps
• Floating windows

Expect the inner screen to look broad and squat compared with many foldables. The outer display also has rounded corners, according to the hands-on report.

Xring O3 brings Arm’s new mobile graphics hardware

The Xiaomi 18 Fold is the first Xiaomi phone powered by the company’s own Xring O3 chip. The chip includes Arm’s Mali G2-Ultra NX GPU.

That GPU matters because it brings Arm’s Android graphics acceleration work into a shipping phone. Arm calls the set of techniques “neural graphics.” The idea is similar to Nvidia’s DLSS approach on PCs, where AI helps produce higher-resolution images or extra frames instead of rendering every pixel and frame the old way.

Arm’s confirmed features include:

• Neural Super Sampling, for AI upscaling
• Neural Frame Rate Upscaling, for generated frames
• Neural Denoising, for ray reconstruction-style cleanup

Arm says the GPU has an alleged 85 percent performance increase over the GPU Xiaomi used previously, and a 14 percent increase over Arm’s previous flagship in non-AI gaming. Arm also claims up to four times the framerate when Neural Super Sampling, Neural Frame Rate Upscaling, and Neural Denoising are used together.

There is a catch. The Verge notes that games will not necessarily feel four times faster, because part of that gain comes from generated frames. Frame generation on PC can add latency, and Arm’s mobile version is still arriving in stages.

The rollout is phased:

• The first titles will largely use super sampling
• Frame generation is planned for early 2027
• Denoising is planned soon after that

The first confirmed games are Where Winds Meet, Infinity Nikki, and Arena Breakout: Infinite. Game developers need to integrate Arm’s features. Arm does not expect players to flip one switch and apply them to any game.

Battery, charging, display brightness, and cameras

The hardware list is stronger than the thin foldable body suggests. Xiaomi put a 6,000mAh silicon-carbon battery in the 18 Fold. For comparison, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has a 4,800mAh battery.

Charging is also confirmed:

• 67W wired charging
• 50W wireless charging

Both OLED displays deliver up to 4,000 nits of peak brightness. That figure is peak brightness, not a guarantee that every app or full-screen scene will sit at that level.

The rear camera system is a triple setup backed by Xiaomi’s Leica partnership. The confirmed rear cameras are:

• 200-megapixel main camera with a 1/1.56-inch-type sensor
• 50-megapixel 3.5x periscope telephoto
• 50-megapixel ultrawide

The Verge notes that these specs still trail Xiaomi’s slab-style flagships. They are still a clear step up from the camera setup that held back its Galaxy Z Fold 8 review.

The red finish looks strong, but durability details are missing

The red finish is the color getting attention. The Verge described it as striking and called it a deep red finish in photo captions. Xiaomi also offers black and white.

There is also a pink ceramic special edition, but Xiaomi is making only 1,500 of that version. The sources do not confirm whether that edition will be sold outside China.

The open question is durability. Xiaomi has not announced any IP rating for the 18 Fold. That means there is no confirmed dust or water resistance rating from Xiaomi in the available sources.

The Verge also found the crease more obvious than on this year’s Samsung foldables. Oppo’s Find N6 was cited as the foldable that has all but removed the crease. Xiaomi has not made the same claim for the 18 Fold.

The phone is also slightly heavier and thicker than the Galaxy Z Fold 8, according to the hands-on report. Xiaomi has not been quoted in the supplied sources with a durability explanation or tradeoff.

Should you buy it or wait?

If you are in mainland China and want a wide foldable with high-end specs, the Xiaomi 18 Fold is worth watching now. The combination of the Xring O3, Mali G2-Ultra NX, 6,000mAh battery, and triple camera system gives it a strong spec sheet.

If you are outside China, wait. Xiaomi has not confirmed an international launch, and importing a phone can mean missing local support, network details, warranty coverage, or software expectations. Those items are not confirmed in the supplied sources.

For gaming, treat the GPU as early hardware for a staged software rollout. Super sampling arrives first in supported titles. Frame generation and denoising come later, and only games with support will use the full set of Arm features.

For durability, the missing IP rating is the line to watch. If water resistance is a deciding factor, do not assume it has one.

Conclusion

The Xiaomi 18 Fold is a wide-format foldable with stronger listed specs than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 in several areas, including battery size, charging, peak display brightness, and rear camera hardware. Its Xring O3 chip also makes it the first Xiaomi phone to ship with Arm’s Mali G2-Ultra NX graphics hardware.

Buyers in China can evaluate it at launch from ¥10,999. If you are outside China, wait for Xiaomi to confirm availability, support, and the final market details before spending money.