Xiaomi to Have Presence at MWC 2018, Mi 7 Launch Expected

Alongside some long-standing exhibitors such as Samsung and Sony, Xiaomi is joining the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 in Barcelona, Spain. There are speculations that the Chinese smartphone maker will launch the Mi 7 as its next flagship at the forthcoming MWC, which is happening between February 26 and March 1. Notably, the company skipped the last year's MWC but came to the MWC 2016 to preview the globally-focused Mi 5.

The official Mobile World Congress site confirms Xiaomi as one of the exhibitors at MWC 2018. The Shenzhen-based company will host its offerings at Stand 6B30 in Hall 6. However, it is unclear whether the offerings would include some new models or just the old launches. There are rumours that the company will bring the anticipated Mi 7 at the exhibition to grab some attention from what companies like Samsung, Sony, and Lenovo-owned Motorola are set to showcase at the venue.

Last month, Xiaomi at the second annual Snapdragon Technology Summit in Hawaii announced that the Mi 7 will be the first smartphone to feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 SoC. "Xiaomi is committed to making devices that combine cutting-edge innovations in technology and beautiful design while defying price expectations, and we have chosen Snapdragon 845 to power our next flagship smartphone," Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun had said while announcing a close relationship with Qualcomm.

Apart from the Snapdragon 845 SoC, the Xiaomi Mi 7 is rumoured to sport a proprietary face unlock feature and abandon the traditional fingerprint scanner. Unlike software-based face unlocking functionality that is widely available in the current market, the Mi 7 is said to have a 3D face sensing technology to map users' faces to unlock the screen. This would be similar to what Apple designed for its Face ID feature that is so far exclusive to the iPhone X.

There are also reports that are claiming the presence of a 6-inch bezel-less 18:9 OLED display on the Xiaomi Mi 7. Further, the smartphone is likely to come with a dual rear camera setup. It will come as an upgrade to the Mi 6 that was debuted with a 5.15-inch LCD display.

The launch of the Xiaomi Mi 7 at the MWC is expected to accompany the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, Moto X5, Sony Xperia XZ Pro, and the LG Icon.