GoKawiilI love Xiaomi’s phones and gave the recent Leitzphone — made in collaboration with photography icon Leica — an Editors’ Choice award. But the company has fingers in pies far beyond mobile phones; You’ll find the Xiaomi name on everything from cars, fans, air fryers and robot vacuums, and the company has a trio of home tech products it’s launching at this year’s IFA tech show in Berlin, along with a new passport-shaped foldable set to do battle with Apple’s rumored upcoming folding iPhone.
Leading the company’s home tech lineup is the Mijia Refrigerator Pro Cryo Fresh. The company says this double-door fridge uses tech, including air circulation and nano blue light sterilization, to help keep your food fresher for longer. A weapon against food waste? Quite possibly, but I’ll just be happy if it means I can keep my bell peppers from going all squishy after just a few days.
Why three drums? Honestly, I’ve no idea. Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Then we have the Mijia Tri-Drum Washer Dryer Pro, which uses three separate drums for your clothes washing, with a promised 35% increase in energy efficiency. And finally there’s the Mijia Conditioner Turbo Pro, which boasts huge power for both cooling and heating a room.
The common thread here? The Mijia brand name. While some of Xiaomi’s smart home products have already been available to buy across Europe, the company is using IFA to bring its wider Mijia brand to Europe.
“This year’s IFA marks a significant milestone in Xiaomi’s global journey,” said Xu Fei, Xiaomi’s chief marketing officer, in a press release. “This goes beyond bringing more products to Europe. It is about bringing Xiaomi’s technology and ecosystem capabilities to more users across the region.”
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
The company has already announced its plans to bring its range of electric cars — including the SU7, first shown off at MWC 2025 — to Europe starting in 2027.
Xiaomi also used IFA to show off its upcoming new foldable in the flesh (well, behind glass) for the first time. The Xiaomi 18 Fold will be the first to use the company’s own in-house Xring 03 processor. The phone has been heavily teased already, but seeing it in person I was struck by its similar dimensions to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 and what we expect to see from Apple’s folding iPhone Ultra in September. Not that that’s a bad thing — this wider format is clearly the way the foldable industry is moving. I appreciate the resulting wider inner display, which is better for watching videos. I’m yet to get my hands on Xiaomi’s new phone but I’m looking forward to trying it out.
Broader specs aren’t yet known — nor are prices or regional availability — but it’s an interesting move to see the company build its own processor rather than rely on Qualcomm’s chips as it has on previous phones, including the Leitzphone. Both Apple and Google have opted to cook up their own processors for their phones and Xiaomi clearly agrees that this is the better long-term strategy when it comes to building a wider ecosystem.
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