The age of the foldable phone is almost on us and if anyone needed more proof of that, here is one – a foldable phone believed to be that from Xiaomi has leaked online providing us with a brief but clear idea of what such a device will be like when, if ever, it is commercially launched.
The short video clip depicts an unknown person using the device in tablet mode, with the looks seemingly matching with the MIUI skin used by Xiaomi on its mobile devices. In fact, the status bar icon at the bottom of the screen together with the lock screen shortcuts happens to be the biggest give-away of that.
The device also seems to be running Android 9.0 Pie, as is evident in the manner the time is shown at the top left of the device when held in smartphone mode. The overall language used in the device also points to its Chinese origins.
Can't speak to the authenticity of this video or device, but it's allegedly made by Xiaomi, I'm told. Hot new phone, or gadget porn deepfake? pic.twitter.com/qwFogWiE2F
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) January 3, 2019
What is also interesting is the manner the device transforms into the tablet from a phone, with there being two bends each along the sides of the phone to extend the display further sideways. This way, screen real estate about half the size of the smartphone’s screen gets added on either side of the phone, thereby revealing one seamless stretch of the screen.
The manner the screen folds is quite different from the several concepts we have seen so far where the display is almost always shown to bend along the middle, either longitudinally or horizontally. The video again is shot in completely dark conditions which makes it nearly impossible to make out anything about the bezel depth along the edges.
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Also, it being foldable along the sides, those again shows curved edges that is reminiscent of the Galaxy Edge series of phones. And those give a nice feel to the smartphone as well though further details of the device are keenly awaited.
