Xiaomi said on 2nd November that its 18 Pro series would go global this month. That post gave no date, prices or list of countries. Xiaomi’s regional pages have since started naming countries, and November only applies to some of them.
Abi Go, who works in global marketing at Xiaomi, has shared a collage of 41 of those regional posts. Europe and much of Asia are told November. Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Morocco are told December. Argentina and seven other countries are told January 2027, while Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador are told only 2027.
The series is two phones, the 18 Pro and the 18 Pro Max. They launched in China on 23rd September, starting at about USD 898 or KES 117,000 and about USD 1,048 or KES 136,000. Each has two 200MP Leica cameras and a small second screen on the back. That screen lets you use the main cameras for a selfie while you watch yourself, so each poster shows people doing that in front of something local, like the Eiffel Tower for France or Machu Picchu for Peru. The pictures carry an “AI content” label, so they tell you nothing about the camera.
Here’s what the posts in the collage say:
| When | Countries |
|---|---|
| November | Australia, Austria, Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, UK, Vietnam |
| December | Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Morocco |
| January 2027 | Argentina, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama |
| 2027, no month | Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru |
| “Soon” | Brazil, Indonesia |
Latin America has the longest wait, and the dates vary from one country to the next. Brazil’s post says only “em breve”, Portuguese for soon. Some posts are looser than a table can show. Australia’s poster says November, but its caption says “For Australia? Soon!!”. Indonesia’s says the series is going global this November and coming to Indonesia “very soon”. None of the posts says why some countries wait longer.
Go’s post also says “someone gave away a little secret in the picture”, without saying what it is. Look at the times, though. Almost every regional post in the collage is stamped 11:17 AM, and Xiaomi’s own 2nd November post went out at 11:17 China time. We think that’s the secret: 11/17, or 17th November, as the launch day. Xiaomi hasn’t confirmed a date yet.
Korea’s panel stands out too. It’s the only one branded 18 Pro Max, with a #Xiaomi18ProMax hashtag where the others name the whole series. We think that could mean Korea gets only the bigger phone, but Xiaomi hasn’t said so.
The collage doesn’t cover every market. India isn’t in it, yet Xiaomi has confirmed an India launch for the 18 Pro. No Gulf country is in it either, even though Lu Weibing, Xiaomi’s president, has named the Middle East as a launch region. And none of the 41 posts gives a launch day or a price.
Until Xiaomi does, all we have on global pricing are leaks. Stores in Italy have listed the 18 Pro from EUR 1,398.90 or about KES 203,000, and the Pro Max at EUR 1,783.90 or about KES 259,000. The same listing puts the global batteries at 6,000mAh and 7,050mAh, down from 7,000mAh and 8,500mAh on the phones sold in China.
What about Kenya?
Kenya isn’t in the collage, and Morocco is the only African country that is. Xiaomi’s Kenyan store lists Redmi phones but has no page for the 18 Pro or the 17 series. We noticed that gap in January, so we wouldn’t hold out for an official launch here.
You can already buy the Pro Max from a retailer, though. Avechi lists it with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage at KES 168,999, in stock on 9th November. Its listing gives the 8,500mAh battery, the capacity on the phones sold in China. So once global units start reaching shops, ask to see the battery capacity on the box before you pay. If the leaks are right, that’s how you’ll tell the two versions apart.
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