Technology 3 min read

Xiaomi's New Foldable Tablet Could Blow Samsung Away

kmls  / Shutterstock.com

kmls / Shutterstock.com

The latest leak from Xiaomi shows their seemingly foldable tablet could be the next leap forward in smartphone tech.

Late last year, Samsung announced a new foldable phone known as the “Infinity Flex Display”. But now, a leak from a new competitor threatens their status as the only name in the foldable tech game. Was this “leak” planned in time to spur excitement ahead of CES 2019?

New Video Shows Smoothly Folding Device

The video above showcases the supposed leak from Xiaomi. Though brief, it clearly shows someone using a tablet, then folding it into a smartphone sized-device.

Otherwise, the room is dark, illuminated only by the device’s screen. As the person in the tweet @evleaks asks: “Hot new phone, or gadget porn deepfake?”

For those unfamiliar with “deepfakes”, the Washington Post just recently covered them in an opinion piece. For a more neutral description, just check out the Wikipedia page.

This supposed leak comes after Samsung announced its foldable tech — the Infinity Flex Display — at its fifth annual developers’ conference in 2018.

Their device simply folded in half, while this one folds into thirds. If you, like me, follow the KonMari method of folding, thirds are the way to go.

From a usability standpoint and not just aesthetics, folding by thirds makes more sense. You can have more tablet real estate while folding down into a more realistically-sized smartphone device.

This also makes it easier to travel with, in theory. Of course, Xiaomi isn’t the only one to compete with Samsung in this arena.

Foldable Tablets are the new Black

What you see above is NOT the Samsung device; it is something called the FlexPai from Royole. It features a 7.8-inch hybrid screen that can fold into a bulky phone that gives the Note a run for its money.

The device launched in China for $1,300 USD and is still a very early prototype. It has 128GB of storage natively, but more expensive versions offer more.

The company stated the developer model would be in preorders until the new year, but their website still says that they are in preorders. The launch may come during the Chinese New Year (in early February) instead.

Since CES 2019 unofficially started today, it will be interesting to see how Samsung and Royole move forward with their devices.

There was also that Lenovo device, as well, from 2017. However, sources suggested that it was meant to have launched in October of last year. Perhaps CES 2019 will clear up the mystery there.

Even more interesting is the LG patent for foldable devices which supposedly features a hinge mechanism.

As for the Xiaomi device, perhaps the next few days of CES 2019 will unveil more details about the leak or confirm that it wasn’t a leak at all.

Be sure to check Edgy.app for more CES updates!

Which foldable tablet do you think represents a more usable device for your everyday needs?

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Juliet Childers

Content Specialist and EDGY OG with a (mostly) healthy obsession with video games. She covers Industry buzz including VR/AR, content marketing, cybersecurity, AI, and many more.

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