Finally, some good news: Xiaomi 18, 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max are headed to Europe! When can we expect them?

With every new flagship from China, the first question is always the same: will it actually make it here? For the Xiaomi 18 series, the answer is surprisingly generous so far — all three are aiming to come to us. The catch is that the model enthusiasts would want most won’t be among them.

Updated: Xiaomi 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max have already been officially unveiled — you can find their final specs and prices in our article from the launch.

For the first time ever, all three Xiaomi 18 models are set to go global

The info comes from the well-known leaker Yogesh Brar and was summarized by the site Notebookcheck. According to them, Xiaomi is preparing a global release of all three models at once — the base Xiaomi 18, the 18 Pro version, and the top-tier 18 Pro Max. That would be a change from the current approach, when outside China only part of the lineup appeared.

For us, this is good news especially for the Pro Max model. According to the leak, it’s supposed to cost roughly the same as the Ultra versions used to — and in practice, it would take their place at the top of the lineup. Instead of an “trimmed” series for the European customer, with the best option withheld, they’d get its replacement.

Xiaomi 18 Ultra won’t be this year

The second half of the report is worse. Xiaomi 18 Ultra won’t be unveiled outside China, and the informant goes even further — claiming the model was canceled entirely. If that’s true, the 18 series would be the first one in years without a photographic flagship tuned down to the last detail, the kind Xiaomi users have come to expect.

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It should be added that this is information from a single source, and Xiaomi hasn’t confirmed it in any way. Canceling the entire model is a pretty strong claim, so we can’t treat it as a done deal yet. What makes it even more interesting, though, is that the same move is reportedly planned by direct competitors too.

Oppo and Vivo are preparing the same scenario

According to the same leak, the two other Chinese brands will also keep their top models at home. Oppo Find X10 Ultra and Vivo X500 Ultra won’t be unveiled outside China. At the same time, like Xiaomi, both companies will ship to the world a base model and a Pro Max version — so Oppo will be Find X10 and Find X10 Pro Max, while Vivo will be the X500 Pro Max. The fate of the regular Vivo X500 Pro is still unclear.

The pattern is suddenly very clear. Ultra models are expensive, produced in smaller quantities, and their strongest weapons — partnerships with optics makers, extreme camera hardware, and Chinese software features — are difficult to sell in Western markets. Instead, manufacturers focus on the model that offers nearly the same thing for a slightly lower price and can be sold in higher volume.

When will all of this arrive?

The Xiaomi 18 series is set to launch in China sometime this month, or rather by the end of September. The global version of the base model is expected to arrive only early next year, and the release date for the Pro and Pro Max versions is still unknown. In India, there’s talk of a December launch. For us in practice, it means we’ll first review the phone through Chinese reviews for a few months before it shows up in European stores.

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