Xiaomi was working on an outward-folding foldable, its prototype leaked
The first image in the gallery below will give you the best look at the phone. You will immediately notice that this phone looks very similar to Huawei’s outward-folding devices. Unlike the Mate X, Xs, and Xs 2, this phone never launched. Xiaomi seemingly opted against announcing it, in favor of inward-folding devices. The Xiaomi Mi MIX Fold and MIX Fold 2 launched thus far. Many people would probably agree that the inward-folding approach is better, as it protects the main display. Still, the outward-folding smartphones do have their benefits, as we’ve managed to find out in our Huawei Mate Xs 2 review. Well, this prototype resembles that device a lot. Its display also folds outwards, to sit right next to the vertical camera strip on the back. That way it’s flush with the camera strip when folded. When unfolded, that camera strip gives a great point to grip the phone.
The device was supposed to have four cameras on the back
There seem to be four cameras on the back of this particular prototype. They’re arranged from the largest to the smallest, reminding us of some LG designs. Kuba Wojciechowski also shared some additional details about this prototype. He says that the phone was developed in 2019, and was supposed to include the Snapdragon 855 SoC and X50 5G modem. He did not share any information on why the phone never got released. Its durability may have been a concern for Xiaomi, which is why the company went with the Mi MIX Fold design instead. It remains to be seen if Xiaomi will release something like this in the future. It’s not out of the question, that’s for sure.
