Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 review

MIUI Fold 13 on top of Android 12

Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 comes with standard Android 12 and MIUI Fold 13 UI. Not having Android 12L like the Galaxies means the Mix Fold 2 cannot offer as flexible UI as Samsung's competitors.

Having such two large and amazing screens gives you a choice - work on a smartphone or on a tablet display. Indeed, the Mix Fold 2 is more like a foldable tablet, and its UI across the large screen is tablet reminiscent. And switching between those is always a breeze.

The Mix Fold 2 is exclusive to China and will probably remain this way. If you decide on importing it, you will meet the Chinese version of MIUI that is a bit different from the international, and while it has built-in Google Services, you need to install the apps like Play Store, Maps and Chrome from the Xiaomi app store.

So, the first things you will notice are differences in the software package - there's a lot of pre-installed Chinese apps. Thankfully, you can remove pretty much all of them.

The default keyboard has the usual Chinese input capabilities and is somewhat difficult to operate from a Western user's standpoint, but Gboard is right there in the Play Store.

Still, there will be remains of Chinese elements here or there in the UI or in the system apps. Plus, we can't be certain if one or another software peculiarity wouldn't become an issue in the long run for more niche use cases. There's the Netflix SD cap, for one.

Chinese apps • GetApps • Xiaomi Browser • Keyboard • Play Store

Then there's the fact that some things in the UI and feature set are just different and that we find odd.

For example, in some system apps (like the Clock) where the global MIUI builds use icons for different tabs, the Chinese build has simple text labels. The File Manager has that difference too, plus a different look of the Recent tab.

There are other things as well. The Mix Fold 2's Chinese MIUI has a new and improved widget interface, with better-defined categories, tons of widgets and a search feature. Admittedly, a lot of the widgets we're getting are in Chinese, and we did remove nearly all of the pre-installed apps, yet there are still so many of them, but the new interface is still better.

Clock • File Manager • File Manager • Widgets

Next up, Xiaomi's own take on the Privacy Dashboard. Google released this privacy hub with Android 12, and different makers have been implementing it in their own ways, and Xiaomi itself has done it in two different ways depending on localization. Here the permissions are designated with icons, as opposed to the text labels in the global MIUI builds. Still, you get essentially the same functionality for keeping track of what app has used what permission when - it's just organized in a different way.

It doesn't end there, naturally. We found no way to revert to a classic notification shade with quick toggles as the norm on most Androids - the Mix Fold only has the two-pane option with notifications on the left and Control center on the right. Similarly, you don't get to choose the UI of the Recent apps - it's just the MIUI standard two-cards-per-row interface.

Privacy • Privacy • Privacy • Notifications • Control Center • Recent apps

None of these differences take away from the MIUI experience. Depending on how you like your Xiaomi to behave, you might not notice that certain things are different or missing.

Always-on display functionality is there with all the customizability you can ask for.

AoD • AoD settings

The homescreens are business as usual - they are populated with shortcuts, folders, and widgets. You can choose whether to have an app drawer or not - that option has not been taken away. The leftmost pane is reserved for widgets only - it's not the Google Discover.

Lockscreen • Homescreen • Homescreen • Folder view • App drawer • Widget pane

You unlock the screen via the side-mounted fingerprint scanner. It's always-on, fast and amazingly reliable, no complaints there. It can be set to trigger either on Press or on Touch. The latter may yield misreads due to its position, and that's why Xiaomi has set its default operation to be on Press.

Aside from the fingerprint reader, you can unlock the phone using 2D Face Unlock, but it is far less secure than the fingerprint option.

Biometric security • Fingerprint settings • Face unlock

MIUI comes with its proprietary multimedia apps - there's Gallery, and Music and Mi Video. And, of course, a Mi Remote app that uses the integrated IR blaster.

Then there's the Security app. It can scan your phone for malware, manage your blacklist, manage or restrict your data usage, configure battery behavior, and free up some RAM. It can also manage the permissions of your installed apps, define the battery behavior of selected apps, and apply restrictions only to certain apps.

Gallery • Music • Video • Mi Remote • Security

We'll reiterate that the division in design and functionality between Chinese and global MIUI builds perplexes us, but there could be some regional and cultural nuances that Xiaomi gets, and we don't. You could seemingly use the Mix Fold 2 just fine outside of China, though you'll never be able to completely remove all references to Chinese apps and services, and some specific things may not work at all.

Now, let's look at the larger UI for the foldable screen.

For starters, the screen always shows two homescreen panes instead of just one. And the leftmost widget page from the default UI now pops up on top of the default homescreen.

The Notification Shade drops down at the center of the display, while the Control Center always takes the left part of the screen - as intended.

Homescreens • Homescreens • Widget pane

The larger display allows for a larger dock, which in addition to six docked apps, also shows the three most recent ones.

Notification center • Control Center

Some apps, like Settings, Notes, File Manager, make use of the larger screen by offering split-screen UI.

Settings • Notes • File Manager

There is a special 'Features for foldable devices' menu, which explains the things you can do on the foldable screen.

Floating windows and conversation bubbles is the first category. Floating Windows work in a familiar fashion - there is a Sidebar where you choose from a list of customizable apps. Once you tap on the app icon, it will launch within a floating window with full functionality.

Features for foldable devices

You can work with the floating app and move it around. You can also open it in full-screen, snap it on the left/right side to open split-screen view, or simply close it by swiping on its bottom part.

You can have up to two floating windows at the same time, and one or two apps in full-screen/split-screen mode opened in the background - this makes a total of four active apps on the screen.

Floating Windows

The split-screen view is neat - but you cannot change its size - it's always 50/50, and the border is where the foldable display's crease is.

Split screen

Conversation bubbles from supported apps like Messages, Mail, and social networks are supported, too.

The second option in the special Fold menu is to enable/disable Keep the screen after folding. This basically decides where you will continue to use the phone after you fold it or it will simply lock itself.

Wallpapers for foldable devices is pretty much self-explanatory - you will find plenty of cool wallpapers for your 8-inch screen here.

More foldable features

And finally, the last tab just explains how the default Baidu IME for MIUI keyboard is designed for this foldable device - with split-screen ergonomic UI, resizable, and with duplicated G and V letters for convenience.

The special foldable-oriented keyboard

Another function you can enable is during photo/video capturing - you can duplicate your viewfinder on the cover screen - a neat option if you are taking group shots or portraits.

Outer display preview

And that's about it.

Some apps may not look good in the square aspect, while others are forced to run in landscape mode for whatever reason and we needed to rotate the phone. These didn't ruin the overall experience but were peculiarities that bothered us a bit.

Performance and benchmarks

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 utilizes the most current Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 5G chipset coupled with 12GB of RAM. While it does offer a minor performance boost in both CPU and GPU speeds, its most significant improvement is actually efficiency, thanks to a switch from Samsung to TSMC for the manufacturing (still at 4nm, technically).

As far as raw benchmark scores are concerned, the Mix Fold 2 has the most powerful Android processor on the market.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  4368
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 (cover display)
  4349
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  4300
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 (cover display)
  4028
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4
  3981
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1440p)
  3657
• Oppo Find N
  3478
• Oppo Find N (cover display)
  3478
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G
  3239
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G (cover display)
  3239
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  3131
• Huawei Mate Xs 2
  3079

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  1374
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 (cover display)
  1342
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4
  1337
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  1324
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 (cover display)
  1316
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1440p)
  1180
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G
  1095
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G (cover display)
  1095
• Oppo Find N
  985
• Oppo Find N (cover display)
  985
• Huawei Mate Xs 2
  900
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  884

Same goes for the GPU benchmarks - there is no more powerful GPU on the market, and it thrives under the HRR displays.

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 (cover display)
  72
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 (cover display)
  62
• Oppo Find N (cover display)
  45
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4
  42
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  41
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  39
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G (cover display)
  34
• Huawei Mate Xs 2
  34
• Oppo Find N
  33
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1440p)
  29
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  21
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G
  18

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 (cover display)
  51
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  51
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  50
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4
  50
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 (cover display)
  43
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1440p)
  35
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  31
• Huawei Mate Xs 2
  31
• Oppo Find N
  30
• Oppo Find N (cover display)
  29
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G
  19
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G (cover display)
  19

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 (cover display)
  98
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 (cover display)
  80
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G (cover display)
  60
• Oppo Find N (cover display)
  60
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4
  59
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  52
• Oppo Find N
  51
• Huawei Mate Xs 2
  51
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  51
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G
  38
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1440p)
  37
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  28

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  104
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 (cover display)
  102
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4
  102
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  101
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 (cover display)
  92
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1440p)
  76
• Oppo Find N (cover display)
  75
• Oppo Find N
  73
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  72
• Huawei Mate Xs 2
  71
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G
  55
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G (cover display)
  55

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 (cover display)
  121
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 (cover display)
  120
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4
  118
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  118
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  117
• Huawei Mate Xs 2
  105
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1440p)
  104
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  83
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G
  64
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G (cover display)
  60
• Oppo Find N
  60
• Oppo Find N (cover display)
  60

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  268
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4
  266
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 (cover display)
  264
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  261
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 (cover display)
  249
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1440p)
  182
• Oppo Find N
  179
• Oppo Find N (cover display)
  178
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  172
• Huawei Mate Xs 2
  168
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G (cover display)
  102
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G
  100

Finally, the compound AnTuTu 9 test put the Mix Fold 2 scores on top of our all-time chart.

AnTuTu 9

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  1050139
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 (cover display)
  1046152
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  1039412
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1440p)
  968359
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4
  964530
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 (cover display)
  958817
• Oppo Find N
  822513
• Oppo Find N (cover display)
  799386
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G
  752218
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G (cover display)
  724906
• Huawei Mate Xs 2
  658825
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  641608

So, as far as raw performance is concerned, the Mix Fold 2 is on top of the smartphone chain right now.

There is a but, of course, and it's quite obvious. The Mix Fold 2 is an incredibly thin smartphone, which means it's impossible to cool its flagship chipset in a meaningful enough way. While Xiaomi did advertise its heat-pipe cooling solution and graphite layers, we still cannot imagine it will be adequate.

And as far as GPU stability is concerned - it is not. The 3D Mark Stress Test cannot finish on either screen. The phone overheats after 7-8mins of peak GPU performance and kills every process, but the most essential ones needed to run the OS.

Overheating messages for GPU tests

The CPU stress test, which we usually leave running for 60 minutes, also heated the phone to some critical levels, and this led to killing unnecessary background tasks. But it never killed the foreground ones, such as the test itself, like it happened with the GPU stress test. And the CPU Throttle app did finish on both screens, and it scored 71% stability on the cover display and 75% stability for the inner screen - excellent scores all things considered.

CPU Stress tests

During these stress tests, the phone healed a lot just under its camera island, and it was nearly impossible to put your fingers on this place for more than a couple of seconds. This is a spot where you rarely, if at all, rest you fingers, but still.

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 is an incredibly powerful smartphone, that can handle anything. Modern games run smooth and make use of the high refresh rate well. We had no issues with games - none of the ones we tried managed to overheat the phone, but the potential for overheating is there, and if you intend to use the Mix Fold 2 as a gaming device - you should seriously consider this issue, or even reconsider entirely.