Xiaomi 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max arrive with latest Snapdragon chips, privacy displays and more useful rear screens

It only took a couple of hours for the first phones with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 chips to go official in China. The Xiaomi 18 Pro is the first Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 phone on the market, while the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max claims dibs on the 8 Elite Extreme variant.

Xiaomi 18 Pro (left) and 18 Pro Max (right)

Outside of the new flagship chips, the Xiaomi 18 Pro series brings larger batteries, hardware-level privacy displays, updated telephoto cameras, and they retain the rear screens from their predecessors .

But Xiaomi is adding extra functionality with its new AI capabilities. Users will now be able to create their own rear-screen mini apps with the help of Xiaomi’s Xiao AI assistant. Xiaomi showcased several examples, which include a reminder app for drinking water, an egg cooking timer, and a recipe recommendations mini app.