Xiaomi presented two of its latest and most original smartphones in Romania in mid-December: the Xiaomi 12T Pro Daniel Arsham Edition and the foldable Xiaomi MIX Fold 2.
PHOTO Adrian Pogîngeanu
None of these are available for purchase in Romania, but the Xiaomi 12T Pro Daniel Arsham Edition, produced in a limited edition, is still available in several European countries at a price of 900 Euros.
The Xiaomi 12T Pro Daniel Arsham Edition has the same hardware as a Xiaomi 12T Pro, but with a case and interface created in collaboration with the artist Daniel Arsham.
The back and edges of the smartphone are made of a material that is difficult to describe to the touch, probably a combination of metal, plastic and glass. It looks original and the UI is also customized to match the case and box.
If it’s worth 900 euros? Everyone decides for himself. I can only say that I went to the American artist’s website and quickly looked at 3 items there: a dragon, a pokemon turtle “chip” and a toy car. None were in stock. Instead you could buy them from an auction site: the price of the dragon is over $13,000, of the turtle over $3500and al the car over $3000.
So, after this foray into the art market, I’m tempted to say that, by comparison, the Xiaomi 12T Pro Daniel Arsham Edition can be had for a low price.
The Daniel Arsham Edition comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, matching the flagship version of the Xiaomi 12T Pro smartphone. As I said above, hardware side there is no difference, the device has a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and a 6.67-inch AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate.
The Xiaomi 12T Pro Daniel Arsham Edition looks like an object of art, but retains the utility of a smartphone. Even the box is personalized, as is the charger.
If I’m not mistaken, this is my first encounter with a Xiaomi foldable. MIX Fold 2 seemed interesting to me at first glance, primarily because the external screen has the dimensions of a classic smartphone, that is, it has a diagonal of 6.56 inches.
The upside is that you don’t have to open its 8.02-inch main screen too often, instead it’s larger and thinner than models in Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold series. Perhaps even more difficult to maneuver with one hand, with an observation. It’s easier to open with one hand than the Z Fold 4, but it doesn’t always stay where you put it and tends to open all the way.
It is as thin when unfolded as the Mate Xs 2, at 5.4 mm, and when folded, it is 1 mm thicker than the Huawei smartphone, at 11.2 mm.
The outer screen is beautiful, but the inner one is gorgeous, and the materials feel and look premium, both are AMOLED with a maximum brightness of 1300 nits and HDR10+. I haven’t tested its performance but it seemed to run smoothly and with the available hardware it couldn’t be otherwise. Main specifications: Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, 12GB RAM + 3GB, 512GB storage, Android 12, MIUI Fold 13 interface.
Xiaomi MIX Fold 2 is only available in China, and the price of the basic version (256GB/12GB RAM) starts at around $1300.
Why did they present it in Romania if it is not available? Because they want to demonstrate that they can also make this type of smartphone. Apart from Apple, there is no manufacturer in the global top 5 that does not have a great foldable device in its portfolio.
