The Xiaomi Mi 7 may launch with an OLED Panel and an Always on Display Feature

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As we approach the beginning of Mobile World Congress, we are hearing a lot of information about devices that may be unveiled at the event. We discovered that Samsung would be using augmented reality to show off the Galaxy S9 design to MWC attendees, for instance. Another phone that was pegged for launch at MWC is the Xiaomi Mi 7, though according to AndroidHeadlines the phone may not launch next week. Nonetheless, we know the phone is coming—eventually—and it’s looking to be a powerhouse. Thanks to firmware files obtained by our trusted source, we have a lot of additional information we can share on the upcoming Xiaomi flagship.

The Xiaomi Mi 7—What we already know

To start off with, let’s recap the information we already know about the device. We know it will launch with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC, as the CEO himself confirmed that information. It will likely be the first Xiaomi flagship to launch with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon if the rumored Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S isn’t unveiled first.

Apart from that, there isn’t a lot of additional information that has been confirmed. Rumors suggest that there may be two variants of the Mi 7—a regular and a plus model. The Plus model is rumored to have a 6.01″ OLED panel from Samsung. The Mi 7 is also rumored to be the first Xiaomi phone with wireless charging. Other rumors state that the devices will feature dual cameras with several AI-enhanced features. Finally, the rumored battery capacity of these two devices fluctuates wildly between outlets—some reports state the smaller model will have a 3,200 mAh battery while the larger would have a 3,500mAh battery, and other (rather dubious) reports state the phones may have a gargantuan 4,480 mAh battery.

Now that we’ve gotten the rumored specifications out of the way, we can discuss what we believe to be the specifications for the Xiaomi Mi 7.

Xiaomi Mi 7 Rumored Specifications Based on Leaked Firmware Files

The following information is based on firmware files obtained by @FunkyHuawei, the man behind the FunkyHuawei.club service, which allows users to update, unbrick, or rebrand Huawei and Honor phones for a fee. He has provided access to these firmware files exclusively to XDA-Developers.

Within the firmware files, we can confirm the most obvious aspects: it is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and runs Android 8.0 Oreo with MIUI 9 (and Project Treble compatibility to boot). There is also an explicit mention of the device having an OLED display, so it’s a safe bet that part is true. What’s more interesting is that this device may be the first Xiaomi smartphone with an Always on Display feature.

We found references to an “AOD” in the device properties, so that was our first hint. (Notably, a reference to “AOD” was how I first discovered that the Google Pixel 2 would have an Always on Display feature.) We then decompiled the MIUI keyguard app (the app that is responsible for the MIUI lock screen) and found a layout file for the Always on Display feature.

This layout file tells us that the always on ambient display will show the time, date, battery level, and up to 3 notification badges. There’s nothing really out of the ordinary about this feature, except maybe the battery level which is a feature many Pixel 2 owners are hoping for.

Next up, we also have evidence pointing towards the existence of dual cameras. This is thanks to various binaries in the vendor partition that are there to allow Android to use the dual cameras.

Finally, we found some other minor tidbits from the firmware such as the fact that it will have dual SIM card support but no dual SD card support, an IR blaster, real-time Bokeh in the camera app (thanks to the Snapdragon 845), Electronic Image Stabilization, audio technology from Dirac, Qualcomm’s aptX and aptX HD Bluetooth audio codecs, and NFC support. And the battery capacity listed in the firmware is 3,170 mAh, which is less than the battery capacity of the Xiaomi Mi 6 (3,350 mAh) but not considerably so.

Update 3/10/18: A new set of firmware files has revealed that the battery capacity is now listed at 3,400 mAh. Given that Xiaomi has been rumored to go back to the drawing board, it is possible that the company has been swapping a few components, including the battery.

However, we were unable to confirm if the device has wireless charging support. Although we did find mentions of wireless charging embedded in various system apps, we could not verify if these strings weren’t simply generic strings part of Android Oreo-based MIUI. (We did find evidence that another unreleased Xiaomi device will have wireless charging support, so stay tuned for more information on that!)

Lastly, we have to mention that we aren’t 100% confident that the leaked firmware files we are dealing with are from the Xiaomi Mi 7. However, we are very confident that we are indeed looking at genuine Mi 7 firmware. The reason for this is because the only Xiaomi devices rumored to have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC are the Xiaomi Mi 7 and the Mi Mix 2S. We were able to confirm that the firmware files we obtained for the Mi Mix 2S were truly from that device, but we could not find any direct references to the Mi 7 in its alleged firmware files. We did find explicit references of the Mi Mix 2S code-name within the Mi 7 firmware (and vice versa) so unless Xiaomi has another Snapdragon 845 device in the works (which there’s no evidence for), then all signs point to these files belonging to the Mi 7.

If we learn more about the Xiaomi Mi 7, we’ll keep you updated on the XDA Portal. Until then, be sure to follow our new Exclusive tag for more posts like this!