Xiaomi 18 and Xiaomi 18 Pro Max certifications point to a global launch for both

It seems Xiaomi's global ambitions for its 18 series just keep growing. Two unreleased devices, carrying the model numbers 2609BPN61G and 2611FPNFAG, have turned up certified by the EEC, Russia's regulatory body for the Eurasian Economic Union. A tipster on X reckons the former is the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max and the latter the plain old Xiaomi 18, and if that holds up, both are set to launch beyond China's borders.

The Xiaomi 18 going global is hardly breaking news. Its predecessor, the Xiaomi 17, was also launched globally, so no surprises there. The Pro Max is the one worth raising an eyebrow at, since the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max never left China at all. Throw in an earlier rumor that the Xiaomi 18 Pro is also bound for international shelves, and the whole trio, Xiaomi 18, Xiaomi 18 Pro and Xiaomi 18 Pro Max, looks like it could be up for grabs outside China this time around.

It is nothing new for Android brands to borrow a page from Apple's playbook, and this latest leak lines up neatly with one from earlier in July suggesting Xiaomi is doing exactly that with its September rollout. According to that report, only the Xiaomi 18 Pro and Xiaomi 18 Pro Max are due in September, running Qualcomm's freshly minted Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro, while the humble base Xiaomi 18 gets left waiting until late 2026 or even early 2027.

Apple, as it happens, is rumored to be running the same play with the iPhone 18 line this fall, saving the standard iPhone 18, the iPhone 18e and the iPhone Air 2 for a spring 2027 launch behind the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max and Apple's first foldable.

As for what is actually inside these phones, the Xiaomi 18 Pro has been tipped to feature a 200MP main camera paired with a 200MP telephoto macro camera, both sitting on unusually large sensors, and the Pro Max is expected to inherit the same setup along with beefier speakers and a larger vibration motor. The smaller Pro is rumored to pack at least a 7,000mAh battery. The base Xiaomi 18, meanwhile, may have to make do with the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 rather than the Pro chip, since Qualcomm's newer 2nm silicon is reportedly too pricey to hand out beyond the Pro models. Xiaomi and Qualcomm have stayed quiet on all of this, so treat it as rumor until either company says otherwise.