As Xiaomi’s first truly mass-produced folding screen mobile phone, the hardware specifications of this one are top-notch, especially the core paper parameters are enough to compete with the folding screen flagships of Huawei and Samsung.
And in terms of price, Xiaomi Mi MIX FOLD will also drag the folding screen flagship to the sky-high price. The starting price of less than 10,000 yuan means that more general public can start with a flagship folding screen mobile phone at the lowest cost.
Last month, we have completed the comprehensive evaluation of Xiaomi Mi MIX FOLD for the first time, you can go to learn more. However, due to the early start time, many functions of the early firmware have not yet been adopted, such as the exclusive feature gameplay such as the handheld PC mode, which is a pity.
A good meal is not afraid of late. Recently, Xiaomi MIX FOLD finally ushered in a firmware upgrade. The version number is MIUI 12.0.10. Finally, the long-awaited Xiaomi MIX FOLD has successfully unlocked 5 major functions: handheld PC, parallel window, and free window. Drag, 3D surround sound, one-key stealth.
Kuai Technology completed the upgrade of the latest version of the firmware for the first time, and used it for a long time it feels really cool to watch the video while shopping while refreshing the information. The belated handheld PC also makes the MIX FOLD this The huge internal screen can finally be put to good use.
Design & Appearance
As the saying goes, “the bigger the screen, the stronger the productivity.” Compared with “flip phones” such as Galaxy Z Flip and Moto Razr, the Mi MIX FOLD with an 8.01-inch true full screen is more like a foldable tablet. The excellent audio-visual, reading, reading, and writing experience brought by the giant screen is undoubtedly the most distinctive and prominent feature of MIX FOLD as a folding screen.
Unlike a TV, the screen quality of a mobile phone is very important. This 8-inch giant screen is also an AMOLED primary color screen with 2K resolution and P3 color gamut. The PPI pixel density of 387 has also reached the level of fine retina. Based on such a screen, with Harman Kardon’s four speakers, it is definitely a smartphone. The most efficient productivity tool among them.
Let’s first look at the display effect of a single picture, which can be called a leap-forward improvement.
Since the current mobile phone CMOS ratio is mostly 4:3, and the full-frame camera is mostly 3:2, the photos taken by both are extremely suitable for the 4:3 screen ratio of the MIX FOLD folding screen. This is a photo taken by the author at will. When the picture is opened, the display area is almost twice that of a conventional mobile phone, and the visual impact may be far more than twice.
MIX FOLD’s improvement of picture reading will be integrated into the reading experience of various pictures and texts, such as mail, Word, PPT, and other conventional pictures and text files.
It is worth mentioning that compared to traditional mobile phones, MIX FOLD can also improve the reading efficiency of plain text-in short, each line has more text content and reduces line breaks. The longer the text, the more obvious the improvement in the text experience.
We also noticed that in order to facilitate typing with both hands, the input method keyboard of Xiaomi MIX FOLD supports left and right separation of the keyboard, and a double space design is added. There is a space bar on the left and right sides of the keyboard, whether you are used to left-handed space or right-handed space, Both can be easily input, and currently supports the Xunfei input method and Sogou input method.
Application split screen and multi-screen drag and drop
Application split screen has always been used to solve the trouble of constantly switching applications during multitasking operations.
The screen of Mi MIX FOLD supports split-screen function, which can split the screen into two and display the complete content of the two apps at the same time, such as using Douyin on the left, chatting on WeChat on the right, Weibo on the left, chasing drama on the right, etc. . Opening method: recent tasks → long-press the app → split-screen button → open other apps in the new split-screen.
Moreover, the application display area can be dragged to the left and right, and you can communicate with colleagues/clients while browsing the web so that you can compare documents without exiting the interface during emails, and you can chat in real-time while viewing video data.
Xiaomi Mi MIX FOLD can support at most a split screen in the form of a floating window. When the user is browsing materials, there is no need to exit the current interface, and the floating window can quickly respond to pop-up messages; in the office scene of reading or editing documents, there is no need Quit the work being processed, pull down the floating notification, and quickly reply to the message directly through the floating window.
Of course, the advantages of the large screen and the split-screen functions are just the basis and bottom line of whether the Mi MIX FOLD tablet form is easy to use. Looking more deeply, we have to talk about multi-screen drag and drop.
If you have content production requirements, such as taking notes and doing PPT, you can use multi-screen drag and drop to transfer pictures, text, and documents between different applications in both directions.
For example, in the process of making PPT, you can directly drag and drop the materials in the mobile phone album into the PPT for use. For meeting recorders, you can drag and drop the pictures in the album into the memo as a note at any time.
Users can also drag photos directly from the photo album to WeChat; scan Weibo while writing documents, search for information in the information stream, and see the appropriate pictures can be dragged directly from Weibo into the document, eliminating the need for “save to local”, “Insert document from local” two steps trouble.
Parallel windows
App adaptation to the horizontal screen is an embarrassing problem often encountered by tablets and folding screen devices in the Android camp, especially after Google has actually abandoned the Android tablet system. If you want to do something different, manufacturers in the Android camp have to do it themselves. Up.
In response to this, Xiaomi has developed a parallel window function for MIX FOLD: in the horizontal screen state, different interface information of an application can be displayed in two windows at the same time.
For example, in Weibo, after opening the parallel window, you can edit the private message while refreshing the popular headlines. Moreover, when you encounter pictures and videos that you want to view carefully, you only need to click on them and they can be played independently on the right side. Not only do you watch them carefully, but they also don’t affect the microblogging, so that users have a better experience when using them on the horizontal screen.
The parallel window solves the pain points of the Android horizontal screen experience. It not only supports dual-screen display and dual-screen operation but also perfectly integrates full-screen gesture navigation, which is efficient and quick to operate.
The parallel window function of Xiaomi Mi MIX FOLD looks similar to the split-screen function of previous Android tablets, but in fact, the two are not the same thing. Split-screen only displays an additional interface, while parallel window displays an APP interface in a split-screen. It seems simple, but behind it is a huge amount of work.
First of all, we must understand which applications support the parallel window function. You can find the option of the parallel window in the settings, which will list the apps that support this function according to the applications installed on the mobile phone.
As far as we know, at least the following apps support parallel window functions, specifically: Learning Power, Zhihu, WeChat, QQ, Taobao, Pinduoduo, Baidu, Toutiao, iQiyi, Jingdong, Weibo, Bili Bili, Nice Video, Job Gang, Huya Live, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, QQ Mail, 58.com, Vipshop, Dianping, Suning.com, Fliggy.
If your frequently used APP is on the support list, it is easy to use. Open the relevant APP, the main interface will be centered instead of a full-screen display, which shows that the parallel window is effective.
Open Weibo, click on a video, and the video playback interface will pop up on the right side here you can experience the charm of parallel windows because it really splits the information of different interfaces of an application into two windows at the same time. Display, this is more in line with usage habits, so that when operating the folding screen, both left and right hands can be used. The left interface selects the menu, and the right interface displays the video (or text), instead of clicking-return-like ordinary tablet devices. -Click the frequent operation again.
The left and right interfaces brought by the parallel windows are also much more convenient. The two latest windows of the application are always displayed on the screen. Compare the prices of two products, and you can also communicate with customer service while browsing the product details.
Pocket PC mode
In order to further improve efficiency, Xiaomi has also adapted the handheld PC mode for MIX FOLD development. It can be seen that the UI of the handheld PC mode is very close to the Win10 interface, and even the basic operation and interaction logic is similar. People who are used to PC can easily get started-such by dragging windows, zooming windows, or even on the desktop Create a new file or folder.
By default, the handheld PC mode desktop retains only a few commonly used applications. The desktop can hold 6 in a vertical row. You can also start applications quickly in the multitasking menu, and a whole row can hold 10 applications.
A three-in-one all-in-one mobile phone, tablet, and PC! Xiaomi MIX FOLD experience: Folding screen can finally be used. More applications can be browsed and searched in the start menu. Of course, users can also select fixed shortcuts to the desktop or multitasking bar in the start menu. The information bar and notification center are placed on the right side of the desktop, which is consistent with the logic of Win10.
It is worth mentioning that all applications opened in the handheld PC mode keep the window state, and the window size can be adjusted, and the window position can also be moved by dragging. Due to the limited desktop space, there are currently at most 4 windows placed on the desktop, and redundant applications will be minimized.
For users, the handheld PC mode of MIX FOLD has no learning cost and can be used as a “Windows computer”. Regrettably, Xiaomi does not provide a dedicated Bluetooth mouse and keyboard for MIX FOLD, but the handheld PC mode is optimized for touch screen operations, such as long-pressing instead of the right mouse button to bring up the menu. In addition, Android devices natively support a mouse and keyboard. If necessary, you can purchase a set of third-party brand Bluetooth keyboards and mice for use.
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Summary
Mobile work, watching movies, and playing games have become a trend today, and mobile phones have to play more and more roles. Naturally, users’ demand for large screens is becoming stronger and stronger. Folding screens have also become an ideal device that can find a balance between portability and large screens.
We believe that Xiaomi Mi MIX FOLD surpasses the iPad mini’s industry’s largest 8.01 inches, 387 PPI pixel density, 4:3 screen ratio, and 2K resolution, supports P3 wide color gamut and 1.07 billion colors. The absolute strength is less than 10,000 yuan. Based on its starting price, it can be regarded as the flagship benchmark for folding screens.
With the screen closed, Xiaomi Mi MIX FOLD is only the size of a normal mobile phone, no matter whether it is held in the hand or put in the pocket, it is no burden. After unfolding the industry’s largest 8.01-inch folding screen, you can immediately get a larger screen than the iPad mini, and the display area also exceeds that of all current mobile devices.
After our two experience tests, this large screen not only provides hardware support for a mobile office, but also the investment made by Xiaomi MIX FOLD in terms of a software system.
The screen of Xiaomi Mi MIX FOLD supports split-screen function, which can split the screen into two and display the complete content of the two apps at the same time, such as using Douyin on the left, chatting on WeChat on the right, Weibo on the left, chasing drama on the right, etc. . At most, it can support a split screen in the form of a floating window. When the user is browsing data, there is no need to exit the current interface, and the floating window can quickly respond to pop-up messages.
If you have content production requirements, such as taking notes and making PPT, you can use multi-screen drag and drop to transfer pictures, text, and documents between different applications in both directions, eliminating the two steps of “save to local” and “insert document from local” Trouble.
App adaptation to horizontal screen is an embarrassing problem often encountered by tablet and folding screen devices in the Android camp. In response to this, Xiaomi has developed a parallel window function for MIX FOLD: in the horizontal screen state, different interface information of an application can be displayed in two windows at the same time. This solves the pain points of the Android horizontal screen experience. It not only supports dual-screen display and dual-screen operation but also perfectly integrates full-screen gesture navigation, which is efficient and quick to operate.
In order to further improve efficiency, Xiaomi has also adapted the handheld PC mode for MIX FOLD. The interface close to win10 makes it easy for people who are used to PCs. For users, there is no learning cost and it can be used as a “Windows computer”.
All in all, the software system function adaptation of Xiaomi Mi MIX FOLD greatly improves user efficiency, enriches the use scenarios of folding screens, brings users a new horizontal screen interactive experience, and solves most applications on Android large-size devices. It can be said that many of the problems brought new thinking and innovative models to the interactive design of the entire Android large-screen devices and folding screen devices, which are worth experiencing.