Xiaomi will launch the Xiaomi 18 Pro and the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max in China on 23 September at 19:00 local time, which is 2pm in Kenya. The standard Xiaomi 18 is not planned for this launch. Xiaomi has held it back to the end of 2026 or early 2027, instead of launching the whole numbered range at once as it usually does. Just like Apple did.
Xiaomi confirmed the hardware on 20 September and published black and white press images the same day: 7,000mAh on the Pro, 8,500mAh on the Pro Max, a Leica camera system on both, screen borders it measures at 0.99mm, a second display on the back, and HyperOS 4. The two devcies follow the Xiaomi 18 foldable we put compared with the Huawei Pura X Max.
Two battery sizes, the same camera resolution
The Pro Max holds 1,500mAh more than the Pro, about 21% more capacity, and 1,000mAh more than last year’s Xiaomi 17 Pro Max. Xiaomi says the cells are 32% silicon. Graphite, the standard anode material, caps how much charge fits in a given space. Silicon holds far more but swells and cracks apart within a few hundred cycles, which is why 32% without killing the cell is hard.
For a potential buyer, that is more capacity without a thicker phone. It however does not mean 21% better battery life though. That depends on usage, processor, efficiency tweaks and more. The new battery sizes are also not a record: the biggest phone batteries on sale start at 11,000mAh.
Both phones get a 200-megapixel main camera and a 200-megapixel periscope telephoto. Xiaomi has not published sensor sizes or apertures, so matching megapixel counts do not mean the two phones shoot the same quality of images.
Processor?
Xiaomi says both phones use a 2nm platform and stops there. We expect them to use Qualcomm’s latest chips. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit runs from 22 to 24 September in Hawaii, where it will name two new Snapdragon 8 Elite chips. Xiaomi launches the day after it opens.
The 2nm figure is the manufacturing process: tighter transistor packing, less power for the same work. A more efficient chip draws less from the same battery.
New rear screen
First launched with the Xiaomi 17 Series, the second screen on the back returns. This year, its bigger and flush with the camera module. There’s also AI generation for cards for the screen: you describe what you want and HyperOS 4 builds it.
Prices
We don’t know yet. And in a year where smartphone prices are crazy. we expect higher launch prices than last year.
The Xiaomi 17 Pro started at CNY 4,999 and the 17 Pro Max at CNY 5,999, about KES 96,000 and KES 116,000. Xiaomi president Lu Weibing said in May that memory for a 12GB/512GB phone now costs about CNY 1,500 more than in early 2025. That’s the same reason behind Apple’s USD 100 rise across the iPhone line.
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