Xiaomi has officially launched the Xiaomi 18 Pro and Xiaomi 18 Pro Max in China, only a few hours after Qualcomm announced its newest flagship chipsets. The standard model is the first phone on sale with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, while the Pro Max becomes the first device to use the even faster Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. Both handsets bring bigger batteries, new periscope cameras, privacy screens and a smarter rear display.
The Xiaomi 18 Pro uses a 6.4-inch LTPO AMOLED panel, while the Pro Max steps up to a 6.9-inch screen. Both displays run at 2K resolution with an adaptive 1Hz to 120Hz refresh rate and can reach a peak brightness of 4,000 nits. Xiaomi has protected the glass with its own Dragon Crystal Glass 3, and both phones carry an IP69 rating against dust and water.
A new hardware-level privacy display is one of the most interesting additions. It prevents people sitting nearby from reading the screen at an angle and can switch on automatically in selected locations. It can also hide notifications, floating windows and split-screen apps from side viewing, and users can trigger it through a dedicated AI button on the left frame.
Xiaomi 18 Pro Cameras, Rear Screen and Performance
Both models share the same triple camera setup. The main 200MP Light Hunter 960 sensor measures 1/1.28 inches, while a second 200MP periscope telephoto lens offers 3.2x optical zoom at a 75mm equivalent focal length. A 50MP ultrawide camera with a 102-degree view completes the system, and the front of the phone houses a 50MP selfie camera that records 4K video at 60fps.
The small rear display returns with more features than before. Owners can now create mini apps for the back screen through the Xiao AI assistant, with Xiaomi showing examples such as water-drinking reminders, egg-boiling timers and recipe ideas. The rear panel can also show AI wallpapers and widgets, and it works as a viewfinder so users can take high-quality selfies with the main cameras.
Under the hood, both phones use Qualcomm’s 2nm platform with two Prime cores clocked at up to 5.0GHz and six Performance cores at 4.0GHz. They run Android 17 with Xiaomi HyperOS 4 and come with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 1TB of UFS 4.1 storage. Colour options include black, white, pink and blue, plus a special red edition with a transparent back.
Battery, Charging and Price Details
Battery life gets a major boost this year. The Xiaomi 18 Pro packs a 7,000mAh silicon-carbon battery, around 11 percent larger than the previous model, while the Pro Max carries an 8,500mAh cell, a 13 percent increase. Both phones support 100W wired charging, 50W wireless charging and 27W reverse wireless charging for accessories such as earbuds and smartwatches.
In China, the Xiaomi 18 Pro starts at around $895 for the 12GB/256GB model and goes up to $1,343 for the 16GB/1TB version, while the Special Edition costs $1,492. The Pro Max starts at $1,045 and tops out at $1,492, with its Special Edition priced at $1,642. Xiaomi has confirmed that the series will launch in global markets later this year, and fans in Pakistan can expect local availability soon after the international rollout.
Read more: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 unveiled with 2nm design and 5GHz CPU.
