After lots of chatter, leaks and confirmations, Xiaomi has finally lifted the curtain on the new generation of its flagship smartphones. Xiaomi 18 Pro and Xiaomi 18 Pro Max debut with an iconic design, a front display that hides a pleasant surprise, and a camera system developed in collaboration with Leica.
The event took place in China but this time there is a big novelty: the Pro lineup will also arrive in Global version and the debut is scheduled by the end of the year!
Design and display: with the Xiaomi 18 Pro series comes Super Pixel 2.0
The design of the series mirrors what was seen with Xiaomi 17 Pro/Pro Max, with a large rectangular island that houses part of the cameras (two sensors out of three) and a large rear display.
This rear display has been completely revamped: besides graphical improvements (with a dynamic look and vivid colors) you can now generate small customized apps via AI, in addition to the usual predefined widgets. The panel continues to support app notifications and wallpaper customization.
Moving to aesthetics, both flagships adopt a flat unibody chassis with quad-curved micro-arc bezel, designed to improve ergonomics, with screen edges reduced to only 0.99 mm. The series is available in several colors: black, white, pink (Ice Peach Pink) and a new shade Starry Blue, with a glittery effect reminiscent of a starry sky.
The real protagonist remains the new display Super Pixel 2.0, based on the luminescent M11 system, which also includes the Smart Privacy Display feature for privacy protection at hardware and software levels. It’s a technology similar to that of Galaxy S26 Ultra, capable of darkening the screen when viewed from a side angle.
Xiaomi has developed extremely granular controls: protection can activate on individual notifications on the lock screen, on floating windows or on just half of the display during split-screen work sessions.
Turning to the specs, the Xiaomi 18 Pro features a front AMOLED flat 6.4″ panel with a 1.5K resolution (2,436 × 1,120 pixels), LTPO 120 Hz refresh rate and peak brightness up to 4,000 nits, paired with a rear AMOLED 2.7″ display, also at 120 Hz and up to 4,000 nits.
The Xiaomi 18 Pro Max offers a front AMOLED display of 6.9″, still 1.5K (2,624 × 1,208 pixels) and up to 4,000 nits, with a slightly larger rear display, 2.9″ HD and brightness up to 4,000 nits.
Hardware and software
Regarding the processor, the flagships are among the first to feature Qualcomm’s latest generation of flagship SoCs. The Xiaomi 18 Pro features the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 built on 2 nm by TSMC, with an octa-core CPU up to 5.01 GHz and an Adreno 845 GPU.
The Xiaomi 18 Pro Max steps up with the variant Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, also at 2 nm and with the same maximum clock frequency, but with a few differences. The Extreme version offers higher performance especially on the graphics and AI front, thanks to a more powerful Adreno 850 GPU with Adreno Neural Fusion and a faster NPU.
Both top-tier models offer LPDDR5X RAM configurations of 12 or 16 GB, with UFS 4.1 storage of 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB.
On the battery front, the Xiaomi 18 Pro integrates a 7,000 mAh solution with silicon-carbon technology, while the bigger Pro Max goes to 8,500 mAh; both support 100W wired charging, 50W wireless charging and 22.5W reverse charging for the Pro and 27W for the Pro Max.
Completing the package are IP68 certification and Android 17 with HyperOS 4. On the software side, this isn’t exactly a first for the Chinese brand: the first native HyperOS 4 smartphone is Xiaomi 18 Fold, launched at the start of September (before the rest of the family).
Cameras and LOFIC technology
Both models are equipped with a triple rear camera setup of 200 + 50 + 200 MP with Leica optics and optical stabilization, while the 50 MP selfie camera completes the package. The Pro’s main sensor is the Light Hunter 960 while the Pro Max adopts the Light Hunter 960L (introduced by the company as a high dynamic range solution).
What differentiates the two flagships is the LOFIC technology (Lateral Overflow Integration Capacitor), which handles excess light by collecting and processing surplus electrons in real time when pixels saturate: the Xiaomi 18 Pro uses the standard LOFIC technology (already featured in the Xiaomi 17 Ultra), while the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max introduces a more advanced LOFIC.
Xiaomi 18 Pro and Pro Max Transparent Special Edition
The big return after years of absence: both the Xiaomi 18 Pro and the Pro Max debut in Transparent Special Edition versions. The edition is characterized by a semi-transparent red shell, which lets a glimpse of the components underneath.
Both models are available in a single colossal configuration of 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage. A welcome return that pays homage to the past Explorer editions.
And Xiaomi 18? Absent from the Chinese presentation
Unlike the Xiaomi 18 Pro and Pro Max, the base Xiaomi 18 did not take part in the Chinese presentation on September 23. The most probable hypothesis is that Xiaomi chose to postpone the launch to spring 2027, to align its release timing with that of the iPhone 18, so the standard model of the range debuts closer to the launch of Apple’s competitor.
Price in China and Global release
For the first time, Xiaomi brings the Pro flagship models to Western markets as well: the global launch of the Xiaomi 18 Pro and Pro Max has been confirmed, with the international debut by the end of 2026.
We wrap up our overview of the flagships with the prices in China, while we wait to learn those for Italy.
Xiaomi 18 Pro
- 12/256 GB — 5,999 yuan ≈ €784
- 12/512 GB — 6,999 yuan ≈ €915
- 16/512 GB — 7,999 yuan ≈ €1,046
- 16 GB/1 TB — 8,999 yuan ≈ €1,176
- 16 GB/1 TB, Transparent Special Edition — 9,999 yuan ≈ €1,307
Xiaomi 18 Pro Max
- 12/256 GB — 6,999 yuan ≈ €915
- 12/512 GB — 7,999 yuan ≈ €1,046
- 16/512 GB — 8,999 yuan ≈ €1,176
- 16 GB/1 TB — 9,999 yuan ≈ €1,307
- 16 GB/1 TB, Transparent Special Edition — 10,999 yuan ≈ €1,438
For all the latest news on the brand’s ecosystem, you can find our most recent articles in GizChina.it’s Xiaomi section.
