A report surfaced quite recently, suggesting that there’s a possibility Xiaomi is developing a tri-fold smartphone. Its design patent basically surfaced. Well, it turns out that Xiaomi has not one, but two tri-fold smartphones in the works, or so it seems.
Xiaomi is allegedly working on two tri-fold smartphones
A second tri-fold smartphone has popped up on the IMEI certification. This particular smartphone is tipped to arrive in 2026. The previous one could launch a bit earlier, in 2025, based on rumors.
The new device has a model number 26013VP46C, and was spotted by Smartprix. Why do they think that it will launch in 2026, though? Well, the ‘2601’ part seems to suggest it’s coming in January 2026, based on what the source is saying. The ‘C’ stands for China, apparently, as that’s a China model of the device.
The first model is expected to launch in 2025, and could be buttonless
What’s also interesting from this report is that the first tri-fold, codenamed ‘zhuque’, could end up being buttonless. It remains to be seen, though. You should definitely take this report with a grain of salt.
As many of you know by now, Huawei announced the world’s first tri-fold handset. The device’s name is the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design. It launched in China, but it’s coming to global markets in Q1 2025.
The Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design is the world’s first tri-fold smartphone
That smartphone managed to get a lot of attention, for a good reason. We actually had some time to use it recently and ended up being quite impressed. Huawei managed to pack that tri-fold phone in a rather compact body. The device is barely thicker than the Galaxy Z Fold 6 when folded.
It offers a 10.2-inch, a 7.9-inch, and a 6.4-inch display form factors. When fully unfolded, you do get access to that gorgeous 10.2-inch 3K AMOLED panel, though, of course. Huawei also made sure to include a compelling camera setup on this device.
Xiaomi wants to compete with its own tri-fold device as soon as possible, and the same goes for HONOR, it seems. HONOR plans to make a tri-fold that is 10mm thick, allegedly. It remains to be seen if that’s true.