It has been a while since the Xiaomi 17 series dropped and fans have already started waiting for the Xiaomi 18 lineup. However, before that, it appears that Xiaomi is prepping a folding phone for launch, the Xiaomi 17 Fold, after almost two long years. But the star of the show could be the brand's in-house XRING O3.
Xiaomi 17 Fold Could Run In-House XRING O3 Silicon
A new revelation made by publication XIMITIME has revealed that Xiaomi has a new folding phone in the pipeline for launch in 2026 and it is expected to arrive as a successor to the popular Xiaomi Mix Fold 4. Dubbed the Xiaomi 17 Fold, it has now been spotted inside the Mi code with the 2608BPX34C model number and Q18 internal designation and codename "lhasa".
Image Credit: XIMITIME
Image Credit: XIMITIME
For reference, Xiaomi uses the "18" nomenclature for its folding phones and given that the Xiaomi Mix Fold 4 was internally known as "N18," there is a high chance Q18 refers to the Xiaomi 17 Fold (aka Xiaomi Mix Fold 5). This is indeed an exciting development since, unlike Vivo and Oppo, who have been launching their folding phones almost every year, Xiaomi took a two-year hiatus after the Mix Fold 4.
However, the biggest talking point could end up being the folding phone's performance, as the report also states that it will be powered by the XRING O3 processor. If so, then it will be the first folding phone to ship with Xiaomi's in-house silicon and will also become the official successor of the XRING O1 chipset.
For those unaware, back in 2025, Xiaomi released a limited edition of the Xiaomi 15 with the XRING O1 chip inside. It stayed exclusive to China and boasted a deca-core Arm Cortex CPU, the Immortalis G925 MC16 GPU and Xiaomi's 4th gen Spectra ISP. For those unaware, the XRING O1 is similar to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor in terms of raw performance.
Hence, if XRING O3 launches in 2026, it could rival the likes of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset and the Dimensity 9500 processor. While the technical details of the chipset are not yet known, we can expect it to launch as a premium flagship processor.
This doesn't come as a surprise since the Xiaomi 2026 roadmap includes more self-developed chipsets, a new in-house OS and AI models. Xiaomi President Lei Jun is said to have invested almost 200 billion Chinese yuan (approximately Rs 286 crores) in the self-developed silicon department for the next five years.
That said, details about Xiaomi 17 Fold and XRING O3 are currently limited. With rumours pointing to a July 2026 launch window, we can expect Xiaomi to reveal official details in the coming months. It is unclear if Xiaomi 17 Fold will remain exclusive to China or will launch in markets like India as well.
