Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 review

Video recording

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 records video up to 8K24 with its main camera, where you also get 4K at 24, 30, and 60fps. The ultrawide maxes out at 4K30 (so no 4K60, and no 8K), but it too can do 4K24.

On the surface, 4K is available all the way up to 5x zoom, but don't be fooled - it's all coming from the main camera. So don't expect it to be looking nice at all at the far end of the zoom range - we'd refrain from going above 2x in 4K and even that may be a bit of a stretch. The actual telephoto cameras max out at 1080p resolution and the 3.2x unit can go up to 60fps, while the 5x module is capped at 30fps. It's quite the hodgepodge of limitations to keep in mind, indeed.

The main camera's 4K footage looks identical at 24fps and 30fps, with 60fps clips having an edge in sharpness - the lower frame rates aren't quite as crisp, if still okay. All the other aspects of image quality are the same between the three modes - white balance is dependable, color saturation makes things look pleasing without going to extremes, dynamic range is excellent.

The 8K clips have that usual upscaled watercolory artificial look of smartphone 8K with little benefit in terms of detail over 4K. Colors and dynamic range are the same as 4K, though, so there's that.

The main camera's 2x output is slightly less detailed on a per-pixel level than the 8K capture and is not super sharp, but it's still usable.

Once again, we wouldn't shoot in 4K at anything beyond 2x. The 3.2x camera's 1080p 30fps results are excellent, though. Detail is great as 1080p goes and it's rendered in a relatively natural way. Colors and dynamic range are on point too. The 60fps mode does bring notably more aggressive sharpening, which spoils the look a bit.

No such issues on the 5x telephoto - it simply doesn't support 1080p 60fps. The 1080p 30fps clips, on the other hand, are great.

The ultrawide's 4K30 is a bit more contrasty than ideal and its shadows can be too dark for our liking. The color saturation is also a touch higher than on the main camera. Detail is very good though, albeit it with some noise in there as well.

Stabilization is predictably excellent on the Mix Fold 3. Both the main camera and the ultrawide are great at compensating for walking shake and there are no weird wobbles or jelloing. Pans are generally smooth, though we did often encounter a somewhat sharp transition from panning to stillness. If you're just pointing the phone in one direction the footage is nearly tripod-grade steady.

The telephotos are similarly impressive in their stabilization, though we did observe the less than perfect panning here as well.

In low light, the main camera captures solid 4K30 clips. It exposes well and has good dynamic range, while also maintaining color saturation and fidelity.

The telephotos are nowhere as praiseworthy. The 3.2x unit returns rather soft clips, while the somewhat sharper 5x module suffers from severe astigmatism (those vertical streaks originating from point light sources).

The ultrawide's 4K30 footage at night isn't remotely remarkable either with the shadows being particularly soft and noisy.

Selfie videos from the Mix Fold 3's main camera are good to very good. Detail is alright, albeit not quite as sharp when examined from up close as we'd like. The stabilization isn't impeccable either - we got both some walking shake and slightly odd panning motion - though if you're mostly stationary, you should be perfectly fine. Dynamic range and color reproduction leave little to be desired, and the subject separation provided by the large sensor/close shooting distance combo is most welcome.

Ultrawide selfie videos will tend to leave your background sharper because of the fixed focus. While you could make a conscious effort and keep your arm stretched out as far as it can go for stills, maintaining that position for video capture isn't nearly as feasible. Colors are looking nice and dynamic range is okay, if not super wide.

Here's a glimpse of how the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 compares to rivals in our Video compare tool. Head over there for the complete picture.

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