Xiaomi’s next foldable might be the ugliest phone of 2026 You Should Know
Xiaomi’s wide foldable has leaked in the form of some less-than-flattering hands-on shots. And boy is it looking ugly.
When the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 arrived a few weeks ago, we were quite taken by its compact, pocket-friendly shape.
Rivals were bound to show up in short order, especially with the iPhone Ultra (rumours of which arguably kicked the whole thing off) almost upon us.
We had heard about the Xiaomi Mix Fold 5 before, and had even seen the first official-looking images of the phone from the front.
None of that prepared us for what the phone could possibly look like from behind. Ropey hands-on images of the device here being referred to as the Xiaomi 18 Fold (a name I like a lot better) have been shared on Weibo.
Where to start?
Carl Peter on Weibo
All kinds of ugly
How about the fact that the top-down image of the phone is terrible. As in, why did they even bother sharing it? It’s dark, poorly framed and totally out of focus.
Even so, it gives us a (vague) indication of the poster’s key complaint – that this looks more like an engineering prototype than a final product.
The material finish of the two halves of the phone seems to be different, as does the size, with the rear section extending beyond the top forming some form of underbite. Is there some form of partial protective case fitted to the phone in this picture? I hope for Xiaomi’s case that there is.
Luke Baker
As for the image of the rear of the phone, it’s slightly less problematic. It’s in focus and better lit for one thing, but it also shows a more normal-looking handset.
It’s still uglier than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 though, with an off-putting two-tone colour finish and a pretty clunky-looking camera module.
Here’s hoping this isn’t the final model, and that Xiaomi has tidied its new wide foldable up before release. Now is not the time to fumble what could be the most important smartphone form factor of the next 12 months.
