Xiaomi’s missing base model could be nearing release. A blogger points to a fresh China 3C entry, filed under the code M261DB and rated at 100W charging, as the standard Xiaomi 18, and expects the phone to be announced in December. Nothing in the entry says so, and Xiaomi has stayed quiet.
The entry went live on 6 November. Handsets tend to show up in 3C a few weeks ahead of sale, which is why the date looks plausible, though that is a pattern and not a promise.
The Xiaomi 18 Pro series went on stage on 23 September without a regular Xiaomi 18 beside it. Asked about that on Weibo, company president Lu Weibing said the base phone would come out separately, later. In August, Digital Chat Station, a tipster on Weibo, had already sketched the same order: Pro phones first, the regular one in December.
Earlier leaks credit the base model with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 processor, a 7,200mAh cell and a 200MP camera sensor. Xiaomi has confirmed none of these. Taken at face value, the battery would be 200mAh bigger than the 7,000mAh in the Pro, on the same processor. Battery size is also where regions differ: the Pro series is reportedly set to get smaller cells outside China.
The listing is a regulatory filing, not a spec sheet, so it only confirms that a Xiaomi phone with that code and 100W charging exists. Which phone it is, what it will cost and when it ships all remain open until Xiaomi says more.
For buyers elsewhere, what Xiaomi has promised is a global launch of the Pro line this year. A worldwide release of the regular Xiaomi 18 has not been announced.
