Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 review

A versatile quad camera on the back

One of the key improvements on this year's Mix Fold is in the camera department - the large foldable now gets a proper quad-camera system with not one but two telephotos. The main camera remains the same upon a passing glance, but it isn't quite, and the ultrawide sees a bit of a downgrade - we can't have it all, apparently.

Starting off with the telephotos, there's one that offers a 75mm focal length equivalent (or a 3.2x zoom ratio) and another one that stands at 115mm (5x zoom). Both lenses are stabilized and the 5x is a periscope, and the apertures are f/2.0 and f/2.9 respectively. Each of these cameras uses a 10MP Samsung S5K3K1 sensor (1/3.94", 1.0µm.), same as on the Galaxy S23s.

The main camera is officially listed at 50MP, but Xiaomi also states it's using the Sony IMX800 sensor, which is nominally a 54MP unit with an somewhat unusual 1.43:1 aspect and a resolution of 8,768x6144px. Xiaomi is cropping a 8,192x6,144px portion from it, however, so both claims are technically correct. Of course, it's a Quad Bayer design, so the phone bins pixels 4-to-1, resulting in 12.5MP images by default.

With 50-ish million 1.0µm pixels, the resulting sensor arrangement is equivalent to the old one, only the Mix Fold 3 arrives there in a different manner. Well, there's also the potential that this newer sensor is likely superior to the IMX766 of the old model.

This primary camera's lens has a 23mm equivalent focal length and an f/1.8 aperture. The lens is stabilized too.

The ultrawide camera is based on an OmniVision OV13B10 imager which should technically be a 13MP unit, but the Mix Fold 3 is capturing 12MP images with it and that's the number that's in the specsheet. The same sensor was used on the Mix Fold 2, but packaged with a different lens - a better one, we might say, because the old phone had autofocus on its ultrawide, and this one doesn't. Then again, the Mix Fold 2's ultrawide couldn't focus all that close anyway, but we'd argue that even a 30cm minimum focus distance and AF is better than fixed focus.

You get two identical 'selfie' cameras, one per display. The phone reports it's using the OmniVision OV20b sensor for them, and information on it is somewhat scarce. The phone does report a 23mm equivalent focal length and an f/2.25 aperture.

Camera app

The camera app on the Mix Fold 3 is a tweaked version of the one we saw on the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, with further subtle touches to accommodate the foldable form factor. Naturally, basic operation like switching modes and changing zoom level is straightforward.

When in 'phone' state, the viewfinder has a couple of toggles on the far end, one for the Leica mode (Vibrant or Authentic), and one for the flash mode. Around here is sort of a status bar, where indicators for other settings appear when you switch them on (for example, the Auto HDR) and tapping on those indicators deactivates the feature and remove the indicator.

If you want to enable the feature once again, you either pull down from anywhere in the viewfinder, or tap on the little arrow button to open up a contextual settings menu. That varies depending on which mode you're in - in Photo mode it includes things like aspect ratio, Timed burst (a.k.a. intervalometer - neat), tilt-shift and timer.

There's a full-featured Pro mode where you can adjust exposure settings (white balance, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation). Naturally, you can also use manual focus here. Several aids are available, including a live histogram, focus peaking, and zebras.

Camera UI, phone mode

The 'tablet' UI moves things around and places the zoom selector on the opposite side, so you'll need one hand to operate the shutter and the other for zooming. It's probably a good idea to use both hands in the unfolded state anyway, so perhaps that's Xiaomi's way of ensuring you do that.

There are two buttons in the top left corner. One of them enables the cover screen preview for your subject to look at themselves. The other engages a split-screen mode of sorts where the viewfinder takes up the right half, while the left turns into a filmstrip with the last captured images. If you're holding the device in 'portrait' orientation and you bend it just a little from the fully unfolded state, you get this split-screen view automatically.

Camera UI, tablet mode, vertical orientation

If you're in 'landscape' orientation and bend the handset into an intermediate position, it switches to a different type of split screen view, where the viewfinder can be in either half, depending on shooting scenario - waist-level or overhead shooting, for example.

Camera UI, tablet mode, horizontal orientation

Daylight photo quality

We proceeded to shoot most of our samples in the Leica Vibrant mode with the AI toggle switched off - this is the default state of the options and the way Xiaomi intended for most people to take their photos. We also have a handful of shots captured in the Leica Authentic mode lower down.

Mind you, while the Leica Vibrant mode is indeed the one that will get you the more expressive and more universally pleasing results, it's by no means overly colorful or saturated beyond reason. Quite the contrary - the photos have what we'd call just the right amount of pop, both in terms of saturation and contrast. The auto white balance has been treating us well and dynamic range is hard to fault either.

These overall excellent images pack great detail and the way it's rendered is also very mature so random textures look nicely natural. There's the finest of grain in areas of flat color, but only if you deliberately go looking for it.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x)

The differences brought by Authentic mode are quite subtle and not nearly as objectionable as we've seen on some other Leica-enhanced Xiaomi Ultras. For example, there isn't the heavy vignetting and general gloominess we witnessed on the 13 Ultra. You only get slightly less lush greens and just barely different blues in the skies in outdoors scenes. Perhaps surprisingly, reds tend to be more intense in Leica Authentic mode too.

We're ending up in a situation where we complained the Authentic mode on the 13 Ultra was too aggressive in its 'authenticity', and now that it barely makes a difference on the Fold 3, we have to wonder what's the point of two modes in the first place. Never quite satisfied, are we?

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), Leica Authentic

The Mix Fold 3's 50MP mode doesn't give you a upscaled version of the regular photos, but we wouldn't say it offers a meaningful detail advantage either.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), 50MP

The 2x zoom images from the main camera look more or less identical to the 50MP ones on a pixel level from a detail standpoint - not great, but decent, particularly if you're dealing with more straight lines than random textures. Noise performance is noticeably better here than in the full-res mode, which is nice.

Daylight samples, main camera (2x zoom)

The Mix Fold 3's zooming prowess extends way beyond the 2x capability of its main camera, though, and both the 3.2x and 5x modules deliver excellent results. Images are sharp on both while noise is minimal on the 3.2x module and a bit more pronounced but not too troublesome on the 5x one. Contrast is also quite nice on both modules.

Minor color variations can be spotted between the two telephotos, and between them and the main camera. We'd dismiss them as negligible and only really noticeable in side-by-side comparisons.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3.2x)

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (5x)

The ultrawide camera's output is very consistent with the main unit's in terms of color, with only a hint of extra saturation in this scene or that. The ultrawide shows rather impressive dynamic range and excellent contrast. Detail is also great. The one issue here is the fixed focus, which means nearby subjects will inevitably end up blurry.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x)