Is it a foldable smartphone made by Xiaomi, or is it fake news from someone messing up with a reliable serial leaker?

Evan Blass of international technology site VentureBeat, who goes by the handle @evleaks on Twitter, shared a video of an upcoming handset that’s supposedly manufactured by Xiaomi.

SEE ALSO: Redmi, now a separate brand, to launch 48MP-camera phone soon

It’s so dark that you can hardly see anything — much less a brand logo — except the screen and what’s on it. And from the stuff we can make out, the device is running Android 9.0 Pie-based MIUI 10.

Can't speak to the authenticity of this video or device, but it's allegedly made by Xiaomi, I'm told. Hot new phone, or gadget porn deepfake? pic.twitter.com/qwFogWiE2F

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) January 3, 2019

Fake or not?

Unlike the prototype that Samsung showed off at its developer conference in the U.S. last year, which becomes a phone when folded like a book, the one seen in the video has a three-panel design. You can fold the left and right panels backward to turn the unit into a smartphone.

READ ALSO: Meet Samsung’s phone-tablet hybrid with a flexible screen

Not sure if it’s a prototype, but as it is, the device already looks pretty neat and makes us want to see more of it. Everything seems to work smoothly as well.

Could the foldable mobile seen here be the rumored mystery product that Google is supposedly working with Xiaomi?

Don’t want to stoke “Ultra” conspiracies, but: I just remembered there is *one* piece of evidence of Google doing something unusual. Partnering with Xiaomi for some mystery device.

(Which we were told is “not a Pixel”, so take that for what you will.) https://t.co/TU7aa6ngJA

— Stephen Hall (@hallstephenj) September 21, 2018

Google-Xiaomi partnership at the 16:10 mark in the podcast

Whatever the answer may be, one thing’s for sure: The foldable-phone category will get more interesting, as Samsung will not be the only major player in the market; the Korean tech giant will reportedly be joined by companies like Huawei, OPPO, and LG, to name a few.

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