Mi 7 to snub MWC launch, cost north of $450

Xiaomi's upcoming flagship, the Mi 7, is billed to be one of the first flagships of the year. The device has seen some media coverage over the past few weeks. Not quite as much as the Samsung Galaxy S9 duo, of course, but that's expected. According to reports, the Mi 7 will not be announced at MWC as previously thought.

There's an obvious reason for that, of course. MWC is usually the venue for the Samsung flagship announcement, so any other OEM trying to announce its flagship at the same date will likely be overshadowed. Sources also claim that the Sony Xperia XZ Pro will make its debut just after the S9, and HMD may also unveil a new device, possibly the Nokia 9. Xiaomi will not be the only company to skip the trappings of MWC, as Huawei is set to do the same for the launch of the Huawei P11—or P20, depending on who you ask.

The Mi 7 is expected to sport an 18:9 5.65-inch display, possibly up to 8 GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage, dual 16 MP rear sensors, a Snapdragon 845, Qi wireless charging, and perhaps, some sort of facial recognition technology. 

The device is expected to launch with a price tag in the US$475 range, which is a bit more than the $400 price tags on previous devices in the series.