What you need to know

• A report from a Chinese social media post highlights Xiaomi’s sudden profile picture change to a suspected upcoming device.
• Rumored to be the Xiaomi 17 series, the rendering leak showcases a device with a huge external display on its real panel around two camera, similar to a foldable.
• A live hands-on image of the device was previously leaked, but a recent post by Xiaomi’s head, Lu Weibing, claims the 17 series will launch “this month.”

Another report from a Chinese social media website claims to have discovered an alleged look at Xiaomi’s next flagship phone.

A post on Weibo by Why Lab highlighted the sudden appearance of the Xiaomi 17 or 17 Pro, courtesy of the company’s official account. The company has seemingly changed its profile icon to the suspected upcoming series in preparation for teaser material and its official launch. The device features a rather large external display on its rear panel that fully encompasses its two cameras.

While it’s not completely edge-to-edge, the external display still appears to be a generous size, capable of showing a clock, and likely more from within Xiaomi’s mobile OS.

Leica camera branding is also spotted right under this external display and camera array. The leaked top-half rendering suggests the device’s physical buttons (power, volume rocker) will be placed on its right side. Moreover, the phone seems to have rounded corners, flat sides, and potentially a fully flat display. A report by Android Headlines chimed in, claiming that this rendering is of the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max.

Furthering this suspicion is a post on Weibo from the other day by the company’s head, Lu Weibing. Lu Weibing teased that the upcoming series is reportedly the Xiaomi 17, and will consist of the base 17 model, the Xiaomi 17 Pro, and the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max. The post states the phone will rock the recently confirmed Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the successor to the Elite from 2024, when it launches “this month.”

Xiaomi’s making moves

Xiaomi’s head also teases that the 17 Pro will be a “sophisticated compact imaging flagship,” while the 17 Pro Max is designed to be “the more powerful” flagship in the industry.

Earlier this month, an alleged live photo of Xiaomi’s upcoming flagship series was posted online, showing off this external display. It was previously assumed that this would end up launching on the Xiaomi 16 series, but it seems things have since changed, and we’re hoping up to 17, instead. Either way, an external display on a slab phone is something we haven’t seen from Xiaomi since the Mi 11 Ultra days.

The device is expected to rock a triple camera setup: two lenses within the camera visor-esque external display, and a final lens right under it in a pill-shaped container. Specifications are still up in the air, but if Xiaomi is planning on a launch later in September, we won’t have to wait that long.

It’s not often that we see a new entrant in the mobile chipset industry; that’s why it’s exciting to see Xiaomi roll out its Xring 01 platform. Qualcomm and MediaTek effectively have a duopoly in this regard, and although Samsung is still chugging along with its Exynos designs, it isn’t anywhere close to what the other two chip vendors manage to deliver on a consistent basis.

Google is doing a decent job with its Tensor portfolio, but these products are customized to focus on AI and not necessarily deliver the best power. That isn’t the case with the Xring 01; Xiaomi is clearly positioning it as a rival to the best that Qualcomm and MediaTek have to offer; the chipset built on a second-gen TSMC 3nm node, and comes with a 10-core CPU and 16-core Arm Immortalis-G925 GPU.

Xiaomi is using Arm’s v9.2 cores, and the 10-core design gives it a distinct edge over its rivals, which have stuck to an octa-core configuration for a while now. The Xring 01 uses two Cortex X925 cores clocked at 3.9GHz, a quartet of Cortex A725 cores at 3.4GHz, two additional A725 cores at 1.9GHz, and two Cortex A520 cores at 1.8GHz. The manufacturer is leveraging Arm’s CoreLink Interconnect system to make the most of the tri-core architecture.

Similarly, thanks to 16 shader cores in the Immortalis-G925, Xiaomi is able to claim a definite win over MediaTek — which uses 12 cores in its Dimensity 9400. That’s not all; it gets Xiaomi’s own ISP (now in its fourth generation), and a 6-core NPU with 44 TOPS — similar to what Qualcomm is offering on the 8 Elite. Xiaomi notes that this is just the start in a decade-long investment that’s set to exceed 6.9 billion USD, with 2,500 engineers working in its chip division.

Xiaomi dabbled in custom chip design with the Surge S1 back in 2017, but that was aimed at the budget category, and it isn’t anything as ambitious as what the manufacturing is doing now. In fact, Xiaomi is so confident about what it has achieved that it slotted in the Xring 01 in its latest products: the Xiaomi 15S Pro and Pad 7 Ultra tablet.

The 15S Pro is identical to the 15 Pro that debuted at the end of last year, with the only key difference being the switch to the Xring 01 silicon. The phone has a new design and comes with 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage as standard (instead of 256GB), and Xiaomi is limiting it to China.

The Pad 7 Ultra is of greater interest to me, as the tablet gets an oversized 14-inch OLED panel — a considerable upgrade from the 11.2-inch LCD-toting Pad 7 and Pad 7 Pro. It also has a massive 12,000mAh battery, and I’m excited to get my hands on it to see what the Xring 01 is able to deliver in a device of this size.

I’m interested in testing two things with the Xring 01: how the modem holds up, and battery efficiency. Xiaomi doesn’t have an integrated modem, and is instead using an external MediaTek T800 modem that’s built on a 4nm node. The use of an external modem usually affects battery efficiency, and it will be interesting to see how it runs in real-world scenarios against Qualcomm and MediaTek rivals.

I haven’t gotten my hands on the 15S Pro yet, but Chinese YouTuber Geekerwan did extensive testing of the Xring 01 (the video is in Mandarin, but it has English subtitles) and found that it does better than the Dimensity 9400. Interestingly, the CPU has energy efficiency in line with what Qualcomm and MediaTek are delivering, and that’s an achievement in and of itself.

However, testing the battery efficiency showed that the use of an external modem affected battery life, with the Qualcomm-based model lasting 40 minutes longer in the same test. Ultimately, Xiaomi needs to make its own 5G modem, and given how difficult that has proven to be for anyone other than Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Samsung, we’ll just have to wait and see how the Chinese manufacturer does in this area.

In addition to the Xring 01, Xiaomi unveiled the Xring T1, a smartwatch platform that will see a decent amount of use on the brand’s wearables. The timing of this announcement is interesting as it comes just a week after Xiaomi and Qualcomm released a joint statement extending their 15-year partnership, and confirming that upcoming Xiaomi flagships will continue to use Qualcomm silicon.

While it’s entirely possible that Xiaomi uses Qualcomm for phones it releases globally, it’s clear that the brand is positioning its own designs for devices that are exclusive to its home market. That’s a significant shift in strategy, and at least based on the hardware the brand has detailed thus far, it’s clear that the Xring 01 is able to hold its own against the Dimensity 9400 and Qualcomm’s flagship silicon.

What you need to know

• Xiaomi announces its Android 16 Developer Preview Program for those creating apps for its upcoming upgrade.
• The preview will provide developers with the tools needed to develop their apps to sort of issues, but it’s only accepting the Xiaomi 15 and 14T Pro models.
• Google recently achieved “Platform Stability” with Android 16, meaning its on track to deliver the next major OS in Q2.

Xiaomi is in the early stages of Android 16 development, and those creating apps can get a head start, too.

The Chinese OEM announced the start of its Android 16 Developer Preview Program for early app development (via Location Tracking Hub). Similar to Google, Xiaomi is encouraging interested developers to take part in its preview program, which provides all the tools they will need to “improve the compatibility” and develop their Android 16-supported apps. Interested parties are restricted to a pair of phones to start.

Xiaomi states its developer preview is accepting the Xiaomi 15 and the 14T Pro.

The announcement post states developers can get started in one of two ways: a local update or a fastboot update. For the former, devs must ensure their Xiaomi 15 is running OS2.0.109.0.VOCMIXM or higher. Owners of a 14T Pro need to have installed OS2.0.103.0.VNNMIXM or higher. The company has provided a complete guide on “how to” get started with the developer preview.

Xiaomi’s post didn’t tease any new features, so it’s unclear if developers can expect to see anything new before a more public beta for users drops.

An Early Android 16

We’re nearing the full release of a much earlier Android OS upgrade from Google as Android 16 reached “Platform Stability.” The update in late March marked a major milestone for the next software update as Google progresses with a rapid timeline for the future of Android. Platform Stability means all in-app behaviors have been finalized, and developers are given one last call for final changes to their apps.

April will hold any last-minute adjustments from Google and developers before it drops in users’ hands. Google said, “We’re putting additional energy into working with our device partners to bring the Q2 release to as many devices as possible.” Android 16 is expected to launch by the end of June.

So, it’s no surprise that Xiaomi is getting started on a developer preview of its own while it toils away at its HyperOS Android 16-skin.

Other OEMs have also started working on their Android 16 versions, like OnePlus and its flagship 13 model. Consumers with that device are getting their first glimpse of Android 16 as the company prepares for a rapid launch.