Alongside its broader ecosystem showcase at IFA 2026, Xiaomi also had the Xiaomi 18 Fold on display, and it understandably grabbed a lot of eyeballs. Full specifications aren’t official yet, but we have seen leaks and reports about the foldable over the past few weeks. Today was our first official look at the passport-style foldable, and Xiaomi has only confirmed a few details so far, so this first look is based on what we saw up close and what the company has shared in its official announcement.
The design of the Xiaomi 18 Fold is similar to the leaked images that surfaced a few days ago. It is Xiaomi’s passport-style foldable, similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Fold8. The foldable showcased at IFA 2026 today was housed in a deep maroon-red glass box, so I couldn’t hold the device to get a feel for its size and weight. Suffice it to say that it looks compact even from a distance.
Folded shut, the Xiaomi 18 Fold has a single circular punch-hole camera, while the inner display tucks the camera into the top corner, which I feel is the right place to keep the sensor so it doesn’t get in the way of your content. There was also no visible crease on the inner display, but then again I was looking at it from a distance, so it’s too early to tell exactly how creaseless Xiaomi has managed to keep it.
While Xiaomi hasn’t confirmed the specifications yet, reports so far suggest the Xiaomi 18 Fold features a 5.38-inch cover display and a 7.58-inch main display when unfolded. It is also expected to be the first wide foldable to house a 6,000mAh battery, which would be impressive for a foldable this compact. The phone is also tipped to come with an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, making it the second foldable to have this rating after the Pixel 11 Pro Fold.
The horizontal camera strip houses three sensors, an LED flash, and Leica branding. The camera system includes a telephoto lens, but the megapixel count hasn’t been officially revealed yet.
What Xiaomi was able to officially announce today at IFA 2026 is that the Xiaomi 18 Fold is its first smartphone powered by the company’s in-house XRING O3 chip, a 3nm deca-core chipset said to deliver impressive benchmark scores and raw performance. Xiaomi’s adoption of an in-house chip places it firmly within a growing industry trend where major players like Apple and Google are seeking greater control over their hardware and software integration, potentially leading to optimised performance and unique features.
The foldable should launch with up to 16GB of RAM. Speaking of its launch, the foldable will be announced in China on September 7th, which is when we will have the official specifications and China pricing. As for its India launch, it’s still unclear if Xiaomi plans to bring this foldable to the country.
Disclosure: The writer is attending Xiaomi’s debut IFA 2026 showcase in Berlin on Xiaomi India’s invitation.
