If you’ve kept in touch with the smartphone world over the last decade, you would have seen how Xiaomi has boomed into the leading brand it is today. Speaking strictly in terms of smartphones, the Chinese brand has established an extensive catalogue of phones under their belt, including four generations of foldables that never made it to Malaysia.

While it is unfortunate that we lost out with the foldables, we’re more than delighted to have the brand’s first ever flip phone – the Xiaomi MIX Flip – here in Malaysia. Keep in mind, this is a first generation phone, which simply means there’s still room for improvement.

Even so, the Xiaomi MIX Flip looks to have nailed down several features that could potentially rival the longstanding competition.

Simplistic design

Simplistic is the word to use here, as the Xiaomi MIX Flip doesn’t really don outstanding design. In Malaysia, the phone comes in two colours: black and purple. If you’re buying overseas, you might get a white model too. Otherwise, you’ll only have the choice between the former two.

Our review unit came in purple that’s stylized with a bit of reflective shimmer on the non-screen panel.

As intended with flippables, the phone itself is very pocketable when it is flipped closed. It measures a very slim 16mm, easily fitting into a shirt pocket or small handbag.

What’s on the flip side?

The one thing that struck me the moment I saw the MIX Flip is that the entire half portion of the phone is dedicated to the outer display. Unlike the Samsung Z Flip6’s outer screen that sports a cutout so as not to encroach onto the camera lenses, the MIX Flip unabashedly wraps around the cameras to give you more screen real estate.

This amounts to a 4.01″ display offering 1392×1208 resolution and plenty of brightness peaking at 3,000nits. Bezels here are incredibly thin, and I reckon you’ll have a more immersive experience here compared to the Z Flip6.

Outer display functionality

As for functionality, the external display on the Xiaomi MIX Flip is good enough for light usage. For example, setting your alarm, firing up your calculator, or scrolling through your Spotify playlist. You can even reply WhatsApp messages with the full QWERTY keyboard if you have the finger dexterity to navigate small keypads. My stubby fingers could never, and I could only get away with one-word replies.

On that note, app compatibility is rather impressive. Apart from the ones mentioned earlier, you’ll be able to run Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Chrome, and even Subway Surfers on the outer display. However, by virtue of having the app loaded in a compact format, it’s just not as enjoyable as having it in full with the internal display.

All things considered, the outer display feels great for decisive usage. That is to say, if you are only going to pick it up to do something quick (like any of the aforementioned actions), and set it down again – it works well. The side fingerprint sensor is accurate nine out of ten times too and makes the whole process seamless.

Plus, and I get maybe this is me, but I love the dynamic lock screens with cute animal animations. A gimmick perhaps, and certainly one I’ve bought into as it at least gives the phone some personality.

Camcorder-style recording

One of the prime ways brands are taking advantage of the flip form factor is to enable camcorder-style video recording. If you’re into that, you’ll be pleased to know you can do it on the MIX Flip too. Unfortunately, this is also where we encounter the first fault in this first-gen phone. The issue isn’t so much with the recording but rather with the hinges.

The hinges are palpably loose when fixed at a 90-degree angle and shimmies whenever I make quick movements. It’s definitely still usable, but the looseness does bug me slightly and gives the impression that it is weak – which isn’t ideal for a phone that costs nearly RM5,000.

Nevertheless, camcorder-style recording isn’t my main reason for buying a flip phone; so if you’re in the same alley as me, it won’t bother you nearly as much.

Leica cameras steal the show

Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to review the flagship Xiaomi 14 and the upper mid-range 14T Pro – both of which are decked with co-engineered Leica cameras. Long story short, I had a ball of a time working those cameras and they proved the main highlight for me.

Needless to say, I was more than happy to see the Leica brand stamped across the MIX Flip too.

For the record, the Leica-enhanced camera array consists of just two lenses: a 50MP main camera supported by the Light Fusion 800 image sensor, and a 50MP telephoto lens. Like the Xiaomi 14 and 14T Pro, there’s the choice between the Leica Authentic and Leica Vibrant filters. A nice touch is that Xiaomi has integrated the multifocal Master-lens system for portraits as well.

The quintessential flip phone experience is available, that is, you can use the external display as a preview for selfies. How do all these fare in terms of quality?

Personally, I found the cameras to be one of, if not the best feature on the MIX Flip. Both the main and telephoto lens proved to be highly capable of capturing vivid colours and excellent sharpness. It performs decently in poorly lit environments too, but I would say not quite as good as its 14 Series cousins.

Beyond photo quality, the MIX Flip’s shutter was snappy and a joy to use, and the subsequent image processing was just as quick.

Smooth sailing performance

The MIX Flip runs on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. It’s no longer the top-line Android chipset as that honor now goes to the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Nevertheless, an older chipset doesn’t always mean it’s inferior.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 still holds up well in overall performance. I did not encounter any glitches, lags, or stuttering whether flipped or unflipped. This is to be expected from a flagship Qualcomm CPU after all, and it’s the best you can find on flippables in Malaysia.

On the topic of usage, I must say that Xiaomi has done a great job in minimizing the crease. The best credit I can give is that I’d forget I was even using a flip phone when it’s unflipped.

While performance is on par with its flipping rivals, the MIX Flip batters the competition with its sheer battery size. There’s a hefty 4,780mAh battery powering the phone with support for 67W wired charging.

For comparison, the Samsung Z Flip6 only packs a 4,000mAh battery with 25W wired charging, while the OPPO Find N3 Flip (released in 2023) comes with a 4,300mAh battery and 44W wired charging. The newly-introduced Infinix ZERO Flip – also Infinix’s first-gen flip phone – falls slightly short with 4,720mAh but packs quicker 70W wired charging.

At least on the spec sheet, the MIX Flip takes the flip phone battery throne in Malaysia. This translates to real-world usage too, with the phone dropping only 12% after two hours of continuous YouTube streaming.

For such a small device, the MIX Flip aces the performance checklist while providing impressive battery endurance that earns it some well-deserved points.

The verdict

Xiaomi deserves its plaudits for making their first-generation flip phone this good. It’s got great outer display functionality, a flagship chipset, and a long-lasting battery that outdoes other flippables. Not to mention, the Leica-backed cameras are top drawer and provide a similar experience to the flagship 14 Series.

It’s also worth noting that at RM4,999, the MIX Flip retails at the same starting price as the Galaxy Z Flip6. However, with the MIX Flip, you get 512GB storage instead of the Z Flip6’s 256GB – which already scores well in my books.

The only real gripe I had with it was the hinges that just doesn’t seem worthy of that RM4,999 price tag. Once they’ve nailed that down – hopefully by the next generation – the MIX Flip could be the next big flip hit in the market.

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