I went hands-on with the Xiaomi 18 Pro phones at Snapdragon Summit, and they bring two very cool display features I wish were on every Android phone. The Xiaomi 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max have just dropped in China, featuring the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 series. There's a lot to like, from the powerful new chipsets to the rear display surrounding the cameras.

The design is nearly identical to the Xiaomi 17 Pro series, but the rear 2.7-inch display adds personality, letting users check notifications, toggle features, and take selfies using the rear 200MP cameras. It also allows AI features. The phones are thick but surprisingly light, thanks to massive 7,000mAh and 8,500mAh silicon-carbon batteries.

Following Samsung's lead from the Galaxy S26 Ultra, Xiaomi equipped these phones with its own Privacy Display, which it claims is more effective. It uses a unique pixel arrangement to hide apps, split-screen apps, or floating apps without compromising display quality.

The Xiaomi 18 Pro series is available now in China, with a global launch later this year. North America likely won't be part of the expansion.