Kathmandu – Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has officially launched its highly anticipated flagship smartphones, the Xiaomi 18 Pro and Xiaomi 18 Pro Max, in China. The two devices were unveiled at a special event in Beijing.
The smartphones are powered by Qualcomm’s new chipsets built using a 2nm GAA process, marking the first smartphones to feature Qualcomm’s 2nm flagship processors, according to Xiaomi. The Xiaomi 18 Pro uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, while the 18 Pro Max comes with the higher-performance Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6.
Both chipsets feature a 2+6 all-large-core architecture with clock speeds of up to 5GHz. Xiaomi says the new Adreno GPU delivers up to 35% higher performance while consuming 40% less power than the previous generation.
One of the key features of the Xiaomi 18 Pro series is its hardware-level privacy display. The Hyper RGB Privacy Display uses Super Pixel 2.0 technology to control light direction at the pixel level, making screen content difficult for people nearby to view. Users can activate the privacy mode through a dedicated AI button.
The phones also feature location-based privacy settings and special protection for sensitive applications such as mobile banking, payments, passwords and social media. The front camera can reportedly detect when someone is looking at the screen and provide an alert.
The Xiaomi 18 Pro features a 6.4-inch LTPO AMOLED display, while the Pro Max has a 6.9-inch LTPO AMOLED display. Both support adaptive refresh rates from 1Hz to 120Hz and peak brightness of up to 4,000 nits.
Another major feature is the smart rear display. The 18 Pro has a 2.7-inch AMOLED rear screen, while the 18 Pro Max features a 2.9-inch version. The rear display can be used as a camera viewfinder, allowing users to take selfies using the main rear camera.
For photography, both models feature a triple rear-camera system led by a 200MP Light Hunter 960 main camera. The setup also includes a 200MP periscope telephoto camera with 3.2x optical zoom and a 50MP Leica ultra-wide camera. A 50MP AI selfie camera is placed on the front.
The phones are equipped with large silicon-carbon batteries, with the Xiaomi 18 Pro carrying a 7,000mAh battery and the Pro Max featuring an 8,500mAh battery. Both support 100W wired fast charging, 50W wireless charging and 27W reverse wireless charging.
The devices run on HyperOS 4 based on Android 17 and include Super Xiao AI 2.0. Connectivity features include 5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, NFC and UWB, along with IP68/IP69 dust and water resistance.
The Xiaomi 18 Pro starts at 5,999 yuan, while the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max starts at 6,999 yuan in China. Higher-storage and special transparent editions are priced up to 9,999 yuan for the Pro and 10,999 yuan for the Pro Max.
The smartphones are already available in China. Xiaomi has said that the Xiaomi 18 Pro series will reach global markets, including Nepal, India and Europe, within 2026.
