The Xiaomi 18 Fold has appeared in what appear to be its first real-life images, giving us a good look at the company’s upcoming foldable ahead of its September launch. The images leaked by MyDrivers, show a wider body, a horizontal camera module and a deep red finish that looks similar to the Dark Cherry colour reportedly coming to the iPhone 18 Pro. The phone also marks a significant change in Xiaomi’s foldable naming, with the company moving away from the Mix Fold branding. Xiaomi has also confirmed that the 18 Fold will be the first phone powered by its new Xring O3 chipset, marking a shift from its association with Qualcomm for their flagship Snapdragon chipset.
Xiaomi 18 Fold design
Interestingly, the Xiaomi 18 Fold was previously expected to launch as the Mix Fold 5, following the Mix Fold 4. Xiaomi has instead named it the Xiaomi 18 Fold, bringing the foldable into the same naming family as its main flagship phones. The move appears intended to position the foldable as a top-tier member of the Xiaomi 18 lineup rather than as a separate Mix product line.
The design is also a clear departure from the Mix Fold 4. The older foldable had a taller, narrower shape and a large rectangular Leica camera island on the rear. The leaked Xiaomi 18 Fold appears wider and flatter, with a horizontal pill-shaped camera bar containing three cameras and an LED flash. Images of the side profile also suggest a slim body. The wider format brings Xiaomi closer to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, which has helped make wider book-style foldables more mainstream. Apple is also expected to use a wider design for its first foldable iPhone. For buyers, the format could mean a more useful cover screen and a roomier inner display, although the wider body may be less comfortable for some one-handed use.
That red finish in the images is hard to miss. The leaked phone is shown in a deep red or burgundy finish, similar to the colour used on the Redmi K100 Pro Max. It also bears a resemblance to the Dark Cherry shade reportedly planned for the iPhone 18 Pro, which leaked a few weeks ago. Xiaomi has not suggested that the colour is inspired by Apple, but the timing makes the comparison interesting, particularly as the iPhone 18 Pro series is also due for launch in September. This won’t be the first time Chinese OEMs draw inspiration from Apple, as Cosmic Orange from the iPhone 17 Pro lineup also started its own trend.
Xiaomi 18 Fold chipset
The other major change is under the hood. The Xiaomi 18 Fold will be the first phone to use Xiaomi’s Xring O3, the company’s latest in-house flagship chip, marking a major shift from its association with Qualcomm. Xiaomi says it scored 5.22 million points on AnTuTu V11, while Geekbench 6.5 results have reached 3,945 in single-core and 15,221 in multi-core.
The 10-core chip uses two cores clocked at up to 4.35GHz, four at up to 3.68GHz and four at up to 3.15GHz. Xiaomi also claims up to an 85 percent graphics performance improvement over the previous Xring O1 and support for LPDDR6 memory with 113.8GB/s bandwidth.
The benchmarks still need independent verification, but the combination of a wider design, new naming strategy, distinctive finish and Xiaomi’s own flagship silicon makes the 18 Fold one of the more interesting foldables to watch in September. India availability remains questionable, as Xiaomi hasn’t brought any of its foldables to the country yet.
