Xiaomi 18 Pro reportedly suffers from "undeniable display downgrade" vs Xiaomi 17 Ultra

One of the biggest features of the new Xiaomi 18 Pro and the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max is the privacy display. The privacy display is a feature that debuted with the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. However, being a hardware-level feature, the privacy screen takes a toll on the overall quality of the display. We saw this with a recent display comparison of the iQOO 16 and the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and we are seeing this once again with the Xiaomi 18 Pro.

Leaker Ice Universe claims that the Xiaomi 18 Pro’s OLED display looks noticeably worse than last year’s Xiaomi 17 Ultra, even with the privacy display feature turned off. The comparison video Ice Universe posted on X shows the Xiaomi 18 Pro’s display to be dimmer and with worse image quality when viewed from the sides. This is a direct consequence of the privacy display of the Xiaomi 18 Pro, which works at the pixel level.

Seeing this, Ice Universe suggests that the privacy display on the Xiaomi 18 Pro “may be Xiaomi’s biggest mistake this year.” The leaker calls this an “undeniable display downgrade” and hopes for the Xiaomi management to “recognize this issue and avoid taking such risky technologies lightly on their next flagship phones”.

While Xiaomi might take this feedback to heart, the privacy display is here to stay in Samsung phones. Leaks have claimed that the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra and the Galaxy S27 Pro will retain the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s privacy display. So, you’d be quite disappointed if you were hoping to see Samsung prioritize optical clarity, brightness, and viewing angles by eliminating the features from the Galaxy S27 phones.

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