Xiaomi has published repair part prices for the 18 Fold, and replacing the inner folding screen costs CNY 3,600 or about KES 70,000. A replacement motherboard for the 16GB RAM and 1TB storage version costs CNY 5,930 or about KES 115,000. The phone starts at CNY 10,999, so the inner screen on its own is a third of a new one.
The 18 Fold is Xiaomi’s first wide foldable, with a 5.38-inch screen on the outside and a 7.58-inch one inside when you open it. Earlier this month, we compared it to the Huawei Pura X Max spec for spec. Both phones start at CNY 10,999 or about KES 213,000.
What each Xiaomi part costs
| Part | China price | About, in KES |
|---|---|---|
| Inner folding display, standard colours | CNY 3,600 | 70,000 |
| Inner folding display, ceramic edition | CNY 3,800 | 73,000 |
| Outer display | CNY 750 | 14,500 |
| Motherboard, 12GB / 256GB | CNY 3,900 | 75,000 |
| Motherboard, 12GB / 512GB | CNY 4,300 | 83,000 |
| Motherboard, 16GB / 512GB | CNY 4,600 | 89,000 |
| Motherboard, 16GB / 1TB | CNY 5,930 | 115,000 |
| Main rear camera | CNY 200 | 3,900 |
| Telephoto camera | CNY 190 | 3,700 |
| Ultrawide camera | CNY 55 | 1,100 |
| Front camera | CNY 40 | 770 |
| Battery | CNY 259 | 5,000 |
| Back cover, standard colours | CNY 250 | 4,800 |
| Back cover, ceramic edition | CNY 1,045 | 20,200 |
The inner screen is 4.8 times the price of the outer one. All four cameras together come to CNY 485 or about KES 9,400, which is less than a single outer display. Choosing the Ceramic Special Edition also quadruples the back cover, from CNY 250 to CNY 1,045, or from about KES 4,800 to KES 20,200.
Match a motherboard to the phone it came out of. The inner display is the same part on every configuration, so measuring it against the CNY 10,999 entry model is fair. A board is not. The 16GB/1TB version sells for CNY 14,999 or about KES 290,000, and its CNY 5,930 board is 40 per cent of that. Huawei’s trifold Mate XT 2, whose parts we went through on 13 September, lands at 39 per cent for its 1TB board.
Against the Huawei Pura X Max
Huawei published the Pura X Max’s parts list when the phone went on sale in April.
| Part | Xiaomi 18 Fold | Huawei Pura X Max |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | CNY 10,999 (KES 213,000) | CNY 10,999 (KES 213,000) |
| Outer display | CNY 750 (KES 14,500) | CNY 899 (KES 17,400) |
| Motherboard | CNY 3,900 to 5,930 (KES 75,000 to 115,000) | CNY 3,499 (KES 68,000) |
| Battery | CNY 259 (KES 5,000) | CNY 299 (KES 5,800) |
| Back cover, standard | CNY 250 (KES 4,800) | CNY 399 (KES 7,700) |
| Main rear camera | CNY 200 (KES 3,900) | CNY 759 (KES 14,700) |
| Telephoto camera | CNY 190 (KES 3,700) | CNY 809 (KES 15,600) |
| Front camera | CNY 40 (KES 770) | CNY 379 (KES 7,300) |
The inner screen is the one line that won’t sit in a table. Huawei prices the flexible panel on its own at CNY 1,799 or about KES 34,800. A full assembly, which adds the middle frame and the battery, is CNY 4,399 or about KES 85,000 if you hand the broken one in. Keep it and the price is CNY 5,199 or about KES 100,000. Huawei also sells a CNY 2,299 assembly, about KES 44,400, that works normally but has small cosmetic flaws. Xiaomi publishes one inner screen figure and doesn’t say which of those it matches. So Xiaomi’s CNY 3,600 is double Huawei’s bare panel, and CNY 799 or about KES 15,400 under Huawei’s full assembly.
Huawei gives a single motherboard price, CNY 3,499 or about KES 68,000, and that is with the old board handed in. Xiaomi’s cheapest board is CNY 401 more, about KES 7,800. Everything else on the Xiaomi list is cheaper: the outer screen, the battery, the standard back cover and every camera. The camera gap is the widest. Xiaomi’s main and telephoto cameras together cost CNY 390 or about KES 7,500. That’s about a quarter of the CNY 1,568, or about KES 30,300, that Huawei charges for the same pair. The Pura X Max also has six cameras on its parts list to the 18 Fold’s four. It lists a CNY 379 front camera, about KES 7,300, for each screen.
What the numbers leave out
These are material prices only. A real repair bill is the part plus labour, and postage on top if the phone is sent in. When one repair uses several parts, Xiaomi charges a single labour fee, the highest one among them, rather than one per part.
The prices also apply only in China.
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