--- title: "Xiaomi Teases Flexible Smartphone That Folds Like a Birthday Card" description: "## Weird Flex" date: "2019-01-23" modified: "2019-01-23" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/xiamoi-flexible-foldable-dual-flex" categories: - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "foldable phone" - "foldable screens" - "the digest" - "xiaomi" --- # Xiaomi Teases Flexible Smartphone That Folds Like a Birthday Card ![In a short clip, Xiamoi co-founder Lin Bin showed off the company's latest creation: a foldable smartphone that folds on both sides like an envelope.]() *\Image: Weibo\* ## Weird Flex It's official: Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi has confirmed that it's working on a flexible smartphone. In a [short clip]() posted to Chinese social media site Weibo today, Xiaomoi co-founder Lin Bin showed off an engineering sample of a smartphone with an astonishing display. The clip shows Lin folding the screen backwards on both sides, like a triptych or a birthday card. ## Mass Effect Lin said that Xiaomi is considering mass-producing the device, depending on how consumers react to it. He also asked Weibo users for suggestions for a name for the device. The clip also shows off some additional features of the "world's first double folding phone": the power button is on the top, where you'd expect it to be on a traditional slab smartphone, and the interface scales and rotates as Lin moves it. The experience looks fairly smooth, especially considering this is just a prototype. ## Growing Trend Xiaomi isn't the first company to announce a foldable smartphone in the last couple of months. Samsung executives [announced]() that a foldable Galaxy smartphone will be released in the first half of 2019. And US-based electronics company Royole got a lot of attention for its [FlexPai smartphone]() at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month. It's only January, but it's already looking like foldable smartphone displays are a potential future for consumer devices in 2019. And that's an exciting prospect: who wouldn't want a tablet that can fold to fit in their pocket? **READ MORE:** [Xiaomi's flexible phone concept folds on both sides]() \[*Engadget*\] ***More on foldable smartphones: [Here's What Samsung's Foldable Phone Will Probably Cost]()*** ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()