Xiaomi reveals the back screen features for the global version of Xiaomi 18 Pro. What do we get in Europe, and what did they leave out?

A week before the European premiere, Xiaomi started showing what the rear display of the global Xiaomi 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max will be able to do. On its X account, it shared a short video and three images with it, in which the small screen next to the cameras also shows Google services. Navigation on it runs in Google Maps and, via the rear display, you can also talk to the Gemini assistant. On Tuesday afternoon, Xiaomi added more images, according to which the rear display can also handle Spotify, YouTube Music, and the travel app Trip.com.

In the Chinese version we covered in October, the rear display had instead of Google services Chinese AMap and DiDi, and Xiaomi at the time didn’t say whether the global models would also get apps created by artificial intelligence. It’s clear from the new video that they will. We went through it frame by frame, and everything Xiaomi shows in it you’ll find below.

You can see calls, messages, and the alarm without turning the phone

Xiaomi dedicated the first image to notifications. When the phone lies on the table with the display facing down, the rear screen shows an incoming call with buttons to accept or decline, a new message, a reminder, or a ringing alarm that you can turn off right there. Under the green button, the video shows the call description “Speaker”, so after accepting it, it will likely switch to speakerphone just like in the Chinese version.

The video also includes music controls with an album cover and track-skip buttons, so you can skip a song without rotating or unlocking your phone.

When it comes to music, Xiaomi didn’t just stick to a video. On two new images, the rear display plays a track from both Spotify and YouTube Music, and on both you also get the album cover art, the track title, and the pause as well as skip buttons. In the post, Xiaomi tagged the Spotify account and thanked it, hinting that it collaborated with them directly on supporting the rear display. For YouTube Music, Xiaomi reminded that the service has over 300 million songs and emphasized that you don’t need to unlock the phone to switch tracks.

Google Maps and Gemini instead of Chinese services

The biggest difference compared to the Chinese version is in the second image. The rear display shows navigation from Google Maps with an arrow and the distance to the nearest turn, so you can see your direction even when you’re holding the phone with the display facing your palm. Next to it is a voice-call card with the assistant Gemini Live, which has buttons to end the call and mute the microphone.

Chinese AMap and DiDi don’t work properly in Europe, which is why the French outlet Frandroid didn’t even try them during its test. According to promotional materials, their global version will replace them with services that people here actually use. However, under the picture Xiaomi notes that Gemini needs to be set up first and it’s only for users from 18 years old.

Among the live activities in the video, there’s also a weather forecast for several hours ahead, a reminder for dinner with a button to postpone it, and the flight status from the Trip.com app—later, Xiaomi also devoted a separate image to it. The card shows whether the flight departs on time, the departure and arrival time, terminals, check-in counter number, and underneath a bar with the flight progress. The example flight, by the way, goes from Beijing to Paris—where Xiaomi will present the series a week later—and in the post with the image, Xiaomi added that it’s already heading to Paris.

You can pin a shopping list to the rear display, plus a package pickup code

The third image showcases a feature that wasn’t talked about much for the Chinese version. Text, an image, or a sticker—according to Xiaomi, you pin it to the rear display with a single tap and they stay visible. Xiaomi demonstrates it on a shopping list, on a pickup code, and on a car image, and each pinned card has a trash-bin icon in the corner, so you can delete the code immediately after picking up the package.

Selfie 200 MP camera and a drawing-style wallpaper from the photo

The video doesn’t miss out on the feature that’s probably the most practical with the rear display. The small screen works as a viewfinder, so you take selfies with the main 200 MP Leica camera instead of the front camera, and you can choose between video, photo, and portrait. For group selfies, Xiaomi zoomed out to 0.7× so three friends fit in the shot.

Then you can have AI wallpaper made from the finished photo. Xiaomi turned group selfies from the video into a cartoon-like picture that looks like a frame from an animated movie, and set it as the rear display. It also shows dynamic wallpapers with a clock and a capybara, which the ad added with little animals peeking out from behind the phone.

AI apps stay too in the global version

At the end of the video, you’ll see the GenAI Apps feature. In the Chinese version, all you need to do is describe to AI what you want, and you’ll have a finished rear display app in about five minutes, even though Xiaomi in China still labels the feature as a beta version. Examples flash in the video: breathing exercise 4-7-8, French-learning flashcards, a small piano, a maze controlled by tilting the phone, or a 2048 game.

In its post, Xiaomi promises that with the feature you’ll be able to make an app according to your own idea, but it didn’t say whether it will also be available as a beta in Europe or which languages the feature will understand. Under the images and the additional video, it also wrote that support for notifications and activities on the rear display differs depending on the app, and the interface shown in the ad is only illustrative. So not every app from your phone will show on the rear screen—even though Xiaomi demonstrated this directly with calls, Spotify, YouTube Music, and Google Maps.

Rear display in Europe after five years

The last time the rear display appeared was in 2021 Mi 11 Ultra, which was officially sold here as well, and alongside the cameras it had only a 1,1-inch screen for the clock, notifications, and a small preview for selfies. In the Chinese version, Xiaomi’s rear display has a 18 Pro diagonal of 2,7 inches and Pro Max of 2,9 inches. Meanwhile, Xiaomi didn’t bring the previous generation Xiaomi 17 Pro with a rear display to Europe at all.

The entire Xiaomi lineup will be presented on 17 November at 14:00 in Paris, and the premiere will be streamed live on mi.com. Before the premiere, the prices of the global versions were published by the Slovak retailer Planeo; you can find an overview of all 16 versions in a separate article.

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