A Chinese tech company has ramped up the foldable phone war, launching its design more than a month before Apple’s Duo — and for roughly $1000 less.
Harrison Christian
A Chinese tech company has ramped up the foldable phone war, launching a lighter and slimmer design more than a month before Apple’s Duo — and for roughly A$1000 less.
Beijing-based Xiaomi got the jump on its Silicon Valley competition last week, releasing the Xiaomi 18 Fold two days before Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo, which won’t be widely available until October 23.
Xiaomi’s phone costs CNY¥10,999 or about A$2300, compared with a starting price of $3499 for the iPhone Duo.
For now though, the 18 Fold is only available in China, positioned to compete with Apple and local rival Huawei, and Xiaomi has not announced plans to release a global version.
Chinese consumers have grown increasingly loyal to domestic tech giants like Xiaomi, Huawei and OPPO, which have already been perfecting foldable designs for several years.
Because these local brands manufacture at home, they can offer prices that Apple simply cannot match.
The Duo will be sold worldwide but may struggle to penetrate the competitive Chinese foldable market.
Cheaper price-tag aside, many features of the 18 Fold are a technological flex over the Duo.
It is lighter and more compact, weighing in at 219 grams against the Duo’s 254 grams.
It also has a bigger battery, higher-resolution cameras and brighter screens.
Where the Duo wins out is with a stronger grade 5 titanium frame, compared with the 18 Fold’s aluminium.
It also has higher-resolution screens, an under-display camera for a more seamless look than the 18 Fold’s hole-punch camera, and it maxes out at 2TB of storage, doubling the 18 Fold’s limit.
The foldable phone market is currently worth about USD$39 billion (A$54.5 billion) and only represents about 2 per cent of smartphone sales.
But it’s growing much faster than traditional “slab” phones, surging 30 per cent this year amid multiple product launches.
These include last month’s release of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8.
The Fold8 is lighter and thinner than both the 18 Fold and the Duo, and significantly cheaper than the latter, starting at A$2700.
So Samsung offers ultimate portability, while Xiamoi has the hardcore specs and Apple is the premium option.
For years, buying a foldable meant owning something significantly heavier, thicker and lacking in battery life compared with a traditional phone.
But a wave of recent engineering breakthroughs has finally eliminated those compromises.
