It would not be the first time that a Chinese OEM has beaten the likes of Samsung and LG in being the first smartphone to sport the most powerful flagship chip from Qualcomm for the year. LeEco had done it before and it looks like Xiaomi could be doing the same in 2018. According to a latest rumor on Weibo, the Mi 7 will be released in January and probably before the S9 or the LG G7. Now, one needs to keep in mind that a separate rumor has predicted that both the flagships form LG and Samsung will also be making appearances in January-February. Yes, things are getting very confusing right now, but what can be said for certain is the fact that all the three handsets will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (unannounced) SoC.

According to the rumor, the Xiaomi Mi 7 could also be sporting a 6-inch OLED panel and 6GB/8GB of RAM. Since traditionally, Mi flagship range phones have all been rather small, we would have to guess that either the rumor is misinformed or Xiaomi is going for a borderless display, just like the S8 or Xiaomi's own Mi Mix 2!

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

The Mi Mix was truly a revolutionary smartphone in terms of design and the Mi Mix 2 is all set to take that design element even further in roughly ten days' time from now. Although the original Mi Mix was very unique in its design element, we cannot help but notice that according to the rumors and leaks, the Mi Mix 2 is starting to look a lot like the Galaxy S8+. If you are wondering where the resemblance is, consider the fact that it will possibly sport a 2960 x 1440 pixels resolution at 18.5:9 ratio on a 6.2-inch panel, exactly like the S8+.

In other specs, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 will likely be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC and not the rumored SD 836. We are saying this because Qualcomm has not yet made any revelations regarding this rumored new chip and chances of them doing so in the span of the next 9 days are pretty slim!

Nevertheless, the Mi Mix 2 will be rocking a very impressive internal storage of 256GB and that much is all but certain. We expect at least 6GB of RAM and a dual rear camera setup as well, but we only know that there will be at least one 20-mp camera among those two. The rumored 4,400mAh battery also looks to be reliable info and that's probably the highest capacity battery ever used in a flagship smartphone from any company yet.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

Although we do not usually cover Xiaomi firmware, I have noticed that a large number of our readers also have shown some interest towards certain Specific Xiaomi devices. One of the most frustrating things about Xiaomi phones and tablets is the fact that the company often takes forever to update their smartphones and this year's Android Nougat wasn't an exception to that rule either. However, the good news is that thanks to GizmoChina, we have a list of Xiaomi devices today that will be getting the update to Android Nougat, albeit much later than expected.

List of smartphones from the Chinese manufacturer that will get updated to Android Nougat 7.0

Redmi 4X

Redmi Note 4X

Mi Max

Mi Note 2

Mi MIX

Mi 4C

Mi 4S

Mi 5

Mi 5s

Mi 5s Plus

Here's another much shorter list which consists of devices which will be receiving an upgrade to Android Nougat 7.1

Mi 6

Mi Max 2

Mi 5C

Redmi 4X

Strangely enough, the hugely popular Redmi Note 4 and the budget Redmi 4 are not included in this list! It would be interesting to see if they are included later on or if they get a direct upgrade to Android O.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ don't have much competition right now as they are the only two handsets right now with the latest Qualcomm (or Exynos) Snapdragon flagship chip inside. The LG G6 is probably its closest competitor yet, but the last-gen SD 821 chip makes the LG handset fall behind. However, that scene is about to change very soon as Xiaomi gets ready to launch their own flagship handsets next week in China, with the SD 835 inside. Rumors have been predicting the specs for the Chinese handset for a long time now, but some of it has just been confirmed by a leaked GeekBench test run result. Check the screenshot below and the specs over here to get a feel of things.

Unfortunately, there's currently no news regarding when Xiaomi is going to launch the mi 6 and the Mi 6 Plus outside China. Going by its track record though, it might be a few months before that happens. Nevertheless, what we have seen so far both in terms of specs and leaked pictures, do look very impressive. Hopefully, Xiaomi will be able to bring the two handsets in other countries myuch faster this time around.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

Although the Galaxy S8+ won't sport a dual rear camera setup which many of us were hoping to see, it seems like dual camera is the order of the year for smartphones in 2017. We have already seen the LG G6 launch with two lenses on its back and now the latest renders from a Chinese source on Weibo seem to be indicating that the Mi 6 too will have a similar setup. Take a look at the render above in all white.

If the rumors are to be believed, then what we are looking at here is the Mi 6 Plus, which is larger than the regular Mi 6. However, since there is nothing to indicate that this isn't the regular Mi 6, it could also be that both variants will be sporting the 12-mp/20-MP sensor combos at their backs. Check out the rumoured spec sheet of the Mi 6 range from Xiaomi below.

1440 x 2560 pixels QHD IPS LCD display
Qualcomm MSM8998 Snapdragon 835 SoC
4GB RAM, 32GB ROM/64 GB, 4 GB RAM/128 GB, 6 GB RAM
12-MP & 20-MP dual camera module at the back, f/1.8, phase detection autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash
4-MP front camera, f/2.0, 1/3" sensor size, 2µm pixel size

Pricing for the Mi 6: 1999 yuan ($290) for 32GB internal storage, 2299 yuan ($333) for 64GB internal storage and 2699 yuan ($390) for 128GB internal storage
Pricing for the Mi 6 Plus: 2599 yuan ($377) for 64GB of internal storage, 2999 yuan ($435) for 128GB of internal storage and 3499 yuan ($507) for the 256 GB variant with a whopping 8GB of RAM.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)