Remember the 17 Pro Max? Great phone, if you lived in China. Everyone else got to watch reviews of a flagship they couldn’t buy, and importing one meant no warranty plus a coin toss on network bands, so most people didn’t bother.
Different story this year. Tipster Anvin has spotted two Xiaomi phones in the EEC certification database, model numbers 2609BPN61G and 2611FPNFAG, tentatively the 18 Pro Max and the regular Xiaomi 18. Nobody certifies a phone for the Eurasian Economic Union just for fun.
There’s backup for the Pro Max claim too. That same 2609BPN61G surfaced last week in Xiaomi’s internal Mi code as the global build of the top model, codename HongKong, sitting next to M610BB for China and even a separate India variant, 2609BPN61I. The 18 Pro already has its own global number, 26122PN61G, listed for the EEA, Turkey, Russia, Taiwan and Japan. So all three flagships now have paper trails leading out of China. Total reversal from the 17 series, where both Pro models stayed home.
Specs, going by the leaks so far: a 200MP SmartSens main sensor with LOFIC HDR 3.0, a second 200MP unit for telephoto, a 50MP ultrawide, and an 8,500mAh battery with 100W wired charging, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro underneath. September unveiling, probably, though Xiaomi hasn’t confirmed a date. The missing piece is global pricing, memory costs have been brutal all year, and that one number decides whether this comeback actually matters.
