ROLL out the red carpet for the Xiaomi Mi 6 (click for complete specs). The Chinese manufacturer’s flagship smartphone has finally stepped out of the shadows at an event in Beijing.

(Update, July 13, 2017: We got the Xiaomi Mi 6! Check out our first impressions in #RevuLive: Xiaomi Mi 6 first impressions, OPPO F3 vs VivoV5s.)

And it turns out that the rumors are wrong: There is no Mi 6 Plus as previously thought. What we’re getting are three variants: 

• 6GB RAM + 64GB internal storage, which will be priced at ¥2,499 (around P18,000 or $363);
• 6GB RAM + 128GB internal storage, which will sell for ¥2,899 (P20,939 or $421); and
• 6GB RAM + 128GB internal storage + ceramic (seen in the topmost photo), which will cost ¥2,999 (P21,661 or $436).

However, the Xiaomi Mi 6 does have one thing that another flagship phone does not have (we’re looking at you, LG G6): Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 system-on-a-chip, which is clocked at 2.4GHz and is paired with an Adreno 540 GPU.

Better yet, it will already go on sale in China starting April 28. Unfortunately, no release date has been set for other markets, such as India. Here in the Philippines, our best bet is still the gray market.

The Xiaomi Mi 6 features a 5.15-inch display that has reduced eye glare, an under-glass fingerprint sensor on the front, dual speakers, and a splash-resistant, four-sided curved body. 

Two cameras can be found on the back: one has a 12-megapixel wide-angle lens, and the other, a 12-megapixel telephoto lens that allows for 2x lossless zoom. And with a Portrait mode that lets you focus on your subject while blurring the background (see sample photo provided by Xiaomi), we can’t help but think of the Apple iPhone 7 Plus.

Included in the Mi 6 is the new 2 x 2 dual Wi-Fi technology, which should give you better and wider connectivity. A 3,350mAh battery — bigger than those of its competitors in its range of similar screen sizes — powers the phone. And with new Android Nougat-based MIUI optimizations, the device should last up to a full day, Xiaomi claims.

Xiaomi Mi 6 official product video

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