While not a household name in the US, Xiaomi sells more phones worldwide than anyone but Samsung and Apple. Unlike Huawei, it isn’t banned from selling phones in the US; it just doesn’t. That’s too bad because Xiaomi’s phones are rarely boring — Recent examples include foldables, phones that can charge at 200W, and one with a massive one-inch Sony image sensor. Beyond phones, Xiaomi makes TVs, air purifiers, smart home devices, fitness bands, and lighting products, among others.
You may never be able to drive the Vision GT concept — except when it arrives in Gran Turismo 7 — and there’s nothing to prove the model at Xiaomi’s MWC booth is even a functioning EV. But hey, you can’t say it doesn’t look the part.
I just reviewed the Leitzphone, a special edition of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra with a load of Leica twists: a refreshed industrial design including the iconic red dot, Leica-tweaked software, and a novel rotating camera ring that can control zoom and more. Thanks to great haptics, it’s also a top-tier fidget spinner.
The Vision GT was designed to split the difference between performance on straights and corners, with a chassis that was “sculpted by the wind.” Apparently it’ll be on display at the MWC show floor, where hopefully I’ll get a better look at it.
The Xiaomi UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank 5000 is just 6mm thin thanks to its silicon-carbon battery, and only weighs 98g. It’s €59.99 (about $70) in Europe, but there’s a €5 premium if you want it in iPhone orange.
The Pad 8 and Pad 8 Pro have launched alongside the Xiaomi 17 phones. They’re not as thin as Honor’s upcoming MagicPad 4, but I suspect they’ll be good — the Pad 6 has been my go-to Android tablet for two years. Pick the €599.99 Pro ($700) for a faster chip, better cameras, and a matte display option.
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Verge Score
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra and its Leica co-branded special edition are closer to cameras than ever before.
The company could lay off the Apple comparisons a bit though.
The company just dropped a teaser for its upcoming series 17 Pro and Pro Max models with a second display on the back. The flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 phones are launching this month in China.
It’s the closest we’re likely to get to a global release for Xiaomi’s souped up EV, which last year set a record lap time for a four-door car at the Nürburgring, albeit using a stripped-out prototype to do so. There’s no release date just yet for the car’s addition to Gran Turismo 7 though.
Never mind its growing EV business, the world’s third biggest smartphone manufacturer is trying to reposition itself as a premium brand to rival Apple and Samsung, and it seems to be working. In its latest earnings report Xiaomi notes its 15 Ultra flagship has sold 90 percent more than last year’s 14 Ultra during its first month or so on sale, and the company now has almost ten percent of the flagship market share in China.
The Xring 01 will launch this Thursday, May 22nd. It’s reportedly a 3nm flagship SoC, and leaked benchmarks put it on a par with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite.
Making your own chips is in vogue now — not only do Samsung, Apple, Google, and Huawei do it, but Oppo has reportedly been exploring the option too. This is technically Xiaomi’s second attempt though — the entry-level Surge S1 launched in 2017, but never got a follow-up.
The company’s first premium EV-only just went on sale in China for CN¥529,900 (around $73,000). It can go from 0 to 100 km/h in less than two seconds. It boasts a carbon fiber-heavy design, a 24K gold “Mi” emblem on the front, and a full array of smart features when connected to a Xiaomi phone.
Xiaomi promised yesterday to start releasing its EVs outside China “within the next few years.”
The £179 (around $225) add-on for the company’s new 15 Ultra flagship hasn’t changed too much from last year’s except for the eye-catching color. The battery is bigger at 2,000mAh, though, so it’ll keep the 15 Ultra running a little longer. The two-stage shutter button and other controls are also now joined by a thumb rest, which may look like a film advance lever but sadly doesn’t do anything other than sit there.
A post on X reveals the date of Xiaomi’s launch event for its 15-series devices, including the 15 Ultra. According to the specs that leaked earlier, the 15 Ultra is rumored to have four cameras, including a new 200MP periscope system.
Maybe it’s the lack of Apple Intelligence in China, or maybe it’s the Mate 70 series’ performance.
Either way, MacRumors points out these Counterpoint Research stats showing iPhone sales in China put it in third place in Q4, behind both Huawei and Oppo (which includes OnePlus), and fourth place for the full year, despite its second-place finish globally.
The Xiaomi spin-off brand just announced its latest affordable smartphones, the X7 and X7 Pro, which both pack flagship IP68 ratings despite starting at just £249 (around $306). The Pro model also marks the global debut of MediaTek’s flagship-adjacent Dimensity 8400-Ultra chip, which debuted in China last week in the Redmi Turbo 4 — which is almost exactly the same phone by another name.
I’m busy testing the Xiaomi 14 Ultra’s camera but please take a minute to appreciate this gorgeous photography accessory kit. It updates last year’s version with a beefier battery that can power the phone. Just feast your eyes on that gorgeous two-stage shutter button!
One thing I’m noticing so far? It’s heavier than the previous version. That’s not so hot.
It’s sleek, blue, and runs Xiaomi’s Hyper OS to integrate with the company’s phones and other smart products. It’s loaded with cameras on the outside from what I can see, and can do zero to 100km/h in 2.78 seconds. The EV on display here at MWC is spinning around on a pedastal much, much slower than that.
The bezels attach and detach with a simple twist, and you also get a choice of over 180 watch faces to further customize the watch’s look. The watch’s features include the ability to track winter sports like skiing, snowboarding, ice-skating, and curling, and there are also some Apple Watch-style one-handed gesture controls for good measure. It’s joined by a new Wear OS smartwatch, the Xiaomi Watch 2. Prices start at €149 for the S3, and €199 for the Watch 2.
