What you need to know
- Rumors claim Xiaomi is looking to upgrade the Dynamic Back Display for its upcoming 18 Pro.
- This screen could arrive at 4 inches, instead of 2.6 inches like the 17 Pro and Pro Max.
- It was mentioned that this screen could sport "higher brightness," and there's a chance "privacy protection" could enhance this rear display as well.
- Xiaomi's president, Lu Weibing, was on a livestream shortly after the 17 series debuted, stating it shattered pre-order records and that the brand would look to replicate this rear screen design on future devices.
Xiaomi is coming off the back of a rather eye-catching flagship phone, and now rumors say its next iteration could keep the train moving.
This week, a tipster on the Chinese social media platform Weibo posted alleged details about Xiaomi's upcoming 18 Pro (via GSMArena). Tipster Smart Pikachu claims the OEM is working on a successor to the 17 Pro with a 4-inch display on its rear panel. It seems the aesthetic of this screen could remain the same, as the post states Xiaomi will integrate "large round corners" (machine translated).
What's more, the tipster speculates the Xiaomi 18 Pro could feature an RGB Dynamic Back Display with "high brightness" and "high PPI." This last bit is resolution-based. A higher PPI could help a screen with a higher, more defined, and detailed resolution. Perhaps Xiaomi is trying to make its back display similar to the phone's front screen in looks alone.
The tipster's post mentioned one more interesting possibility: "privacy protection." It's unclear what this could mean. There's a chance the tipster means this in a similar vein as Samsung's Privacy Display, but for the rear screen. Some users in the comments wonder if this could be the case, too, but nothing is confirmed.
It's a "magical" external display
Xiaomi's 17 series was significant since it was the first set of phones to feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. The company didn't hold back with the 17 Pro and Pro Max. The base Xiaomi 17 was pretty standard, with a compact 6.3-inch screen and a square camera housing. It was the other two—the Pro models—that featured its new 2.6-inch Dynamic Back Display. This screen offered dynamic alerts, AI wallpapers, custom clock faces, virtual pets, and more.
Most phones aren't doing this anymore. You can put foldables into the equation here, but those are foldables. Xiaomi's 17 Pro and Pro Max were so attractive that they shattered sales records. Xiaomi's president, Lu Weibing, held a livestream after the series launched, stating the phones shattered records minutes after going live for pre-orders.
While both the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max feature the Dynamic Back Display, the latter shone the brightest. It was stated during this report that Xiaomi plans to replicate this design on future flagships after such a positive reception. With this, the rumors about the 18 Pro featuring an upgraded Dynamic Back Display aren't so surprising.
Android Central's Take
The Dynamic Back Display on Xiaomi's phones is very cool. It's like merging that foldable cover display experience with a slab phone. It also feels like there are two ways of doing an external display: either you go all in like the Xiaomi 17 Pro/Pro Max or you're more minimal like Nothing's Glyph Matrix. Each have their charm, and each get the job done in different ways. These rumors only talk about the Xiaomi 17 Pro, but I'm almost certain the next Pro Max would feature the same, considering the company is looking to replicate success.
