Xiaomi Files Patent For Tri-Fold Phones, Will It Be Launched In 2025?

Illustration of a tri-fold Xioami that has already obtained a patent. (photo: x@HCNewsroom)

JAKARTA Xiaomi is again shaking the world of technology with its latest patent filing for a tri-fold phone design, which could be part of a new revolution in the folding smartphone market. Patents proposed in December 2022 and newly published by China's National Intellectual Property Administration, provide a clear picture of Xiaomi's vision for the future of flexible smartphones.

Design More Realistic

This tri-fold design is a step forward from a patent filed by Xiaomi in 2019, which is considered too complicated to implement. Unlike the old concept that seems "funky" and difficult to realize, Xiaomi's latest design is simpler and more functional. This phone has one screen that can be opened into a full screen, or folded so that only a third of the parts are visible.

The camera module on this design looks smaller than the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate, its main competitor in the foldable phone market. However, this small size may be just a hope in the patent, as to maintain a reasonable device thickness, each tri-fold phone segment should be quite thin, which would normally push the camera module to be thicker.

Likely To Be Part Of The Mix Fold Series

Rumors have circulated since August that Xiaomi will showcase a prototype of this tri-fold mobile phone at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) event in February 2025. The phone will reportedly be part of the Xiaomi Mix series, although it is not yet clear whether this is the development of the Mix Fold or a new stand-alone series.

Apart from Xiaomi, several other manufacturers are also working on three-folding phones. Samsung, for example, has demonstrated the Flex G concept in 2022 that folds the screen twice into the form of the letters "G". Oppo and Tecno are also developing similar foldable phones, while TCL has shown the concept of a trifold screen in 2020. Even Microsoft had filed a patent for Surface phones with a trifold design, although the Surface series itself seems to have been discontinued.

Smartphone Revolution Potential In 2025

With more companies competing to develop tri-fold phones, 2025 is predicted to be an important moment in mobile device evolution. This folding design offers a major innovation in terms of user experience, with a display that can be expanded to tablet size and folded into a smaller and more practical phone.

If Xiaomi successfully launches its tri-fold phone by 2025, this device could be one of the most significant innovations in smartphone history, following in the footsteps of foldable phones such as the Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Huawei Mate X. The appearance of this tri-fold phone can also be the first step of a new era in the world of technology, where foldable devices are rolled up, and transformed into various forms into new norms.

With these developments, Xiaomi seems ready to continue to compete at the forefront of global smartphone innovation, presenting devices that are not only functional, but also futuristic in design. We just have to wait until the MWC 2025 event to see if these tri-fold phones really come true and meet the expectations of technology enthusiasts around the world.