Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 review

Low-light photo quality

As is the norm, the Mix Fold 3 applies some form of Night mode processing when it deems necessary in Photo mode. The amount of difference that you'd be able to spot between shots taken in both modes varies by camera and scene. A general observation that applies to the Mix Fold 3's output at night is that it does relatively little shadow brightening, making for a truer, if not necessarily quite as pleasing rendition of reality, particularly in darker scenes.

Main camera

We found ourselves hard pressed to find differences between the main camera's photos in both modes, when shooting at 1x - other than the way neon signs and other bright colorful lights are rendered, and even then the differences aren't subtle.

As already mentioned, shadows are fairly dark and highlights in some scenes can be that extra bit more blown out than what we'd call ideal. Still, the Mix Fold 3's relatively contrasty and somewhat 'classic' photographic look isn't bad - it's just that we've gotten used to a more HDR-y rendition.

We can't really complain about color - the phone's auto white balance does an expert job, even in scenes with mixed light sources. Saturation is on point too.

Low-light samples, main camera (1x)

Detail is excellent either way - there's no water-color effect and things are nice and sharp. The lax noise reduction is doubtless partially responsible, but we'd certainly take a bit more grain when it means extra detail.

Low-light samples, main camera (1x), Night mode

There is no 2x zoom button in the Night mode viewfinder, but the phone does allow you to pinch your way to 2x. These being captured on the main camera that's already proven to be fairly consistent between modes, we're inclined to say that there's no point in the extra steps - just use Photo mode. If anything, the Night mode shots here are a tiny bit softer. To be fair, in both cases you won't be getting too much per-pixel sharpness anyway.

Low-light samples, main camera (2x zoom)

Low-light samples, main camera (2x zoom), Night mode

Telephoto cameras

The actual telephotos certainly deliver sharper, better detailed results - evident upon 1:1 examination. Distant facade details come close and are drawn very well, even if a little noisy. Colors are mostly accurate, with only occasional missteps in the white balance (compare the 5x result on that seventh scene to the 3.2x photo), and a hint of desaturation.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (3.2x)

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (5x)

Switch to the dedicated Night mode, and on both the 3x and 5x cameras we're observing consistently softer images - the difference is small, but it's there. It's also worth keeping in mind that the sharpness penalty in Night mode comes with no observable benefits in the other properties of these images - you don't get better dynamic range or improved color reproduction. We'd stick to the full auto.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (3.2x), Night mode

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (5x), Night mode

Ultrawide camera

Things are quite similar on the ultrawide, where Photo mode is delivering solid results. Exposures are good, white balance is dependable and saturation is well maintained in the dark. Shadows can be a little noisy, but still quite detailed and sharpness is very good overall. Night mode softens the noise into oblivion and we'd rather have the better detail of Photo mode.

Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x)

Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x), Night mode

Once you're done with the real world samples, head over to our Photo compare tool to see how the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 stacks up against the competition.

Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 against the Galaxy Z Fold5 and the vivo X Fold2 in our Photo compare tool

Portraits

The Mix Fold 3's portrait mode defaults to the 3.2x zoom camera and there's no apparent zoom selector, though the quick settings menu reveals a 'Full body' mode that switches to the main camera - a bit counterintuitive, but you do ultimately get both options.

The default 3.2x zoom level offers you a very comfortable shooting distance and a perspective that's flattering to facial features. Per-pixel quality on the subject is pretty good too, even in relatively dim indoor conditions, so you're not sacrificing image quality to get the perspective. The default blur level is a bit excessive though, and the subject detection, while mostly good, can sometimes struggle.

Portrait mode samples, 3.2x

The Full body mode appears to be doing a better job with subject detection, but its background blur effect is also a touch too strong. Image quality is better here, after all.

Portrait mode samples, Full body mode, 1x

Selfies

There are a whole bunch of ways you can take selfies on the Mix Fold 3, and we'd argue the best one is with the main camera and the device unfolded. You'd be getting crisp detail, pleasing skin tones (and great color overall, of course), and wide dynamic range. Plus some natural background blur to make the subject (yourself, obviously) stand out.

Selfie samples, main camera

Then there's the ultrawide. While admittedly lacking autofocus, its focus distance is such that your face will be just about acceptably sharp when shooting at arm's length - particularly if stretch your arm a bit. That will let you get more people in the frame, or add context. However, if you want distorted perspective close-ups - tough luck, you'll be blurry.

Selfie samples, ultrawide camera

For both of the above sets of samples we used the palm shutter release method, because the Mix Fold 3 can be unwieldy to handle in tablet mode and we'd rather not drop it. A Bluetooth ckicker can also be used.

There's also the option to lean the phone against a wall and use the telephoto cameras with the cover screen acting as a viewfinder - to record TikTok dances from afar, or whatever it is youngsters are doing these days.

If you can't be bothered to open the Fold, you can also use the cover screen's selfie camera. As best as we can tell, these are upscaled from the 4-to-1 binned 5MP output of the sensor and aren't pin-sharp. They can't quite match the main camera for dynamic range either, but it's not half bad and you'd still be getting nice colors, too.

Selfie samples, cover camera

The internal camera should capture the same images, only with a larger viewfinder and more cumbersome handling. That said, we're fairly convinced we're seeing an ever so slightly warmer and more saturated color rendition on this one. We could be wrong though.

Selfie samples, internal camera