Xiaomi Mi 6 and 6 Plus launch confirmed for 19 April through teaser

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi's much awaited smartphone series Mi 6 will finally be launched on 19 April. The company confirmed through a teaser poster on social media that it will unveil the Mi 6 and Mi 6 Plus in Beijing.

It will be one of the company's flagship series for 2017 and the first Chinese smartphones to come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip.

"You waited 203 days, we waited 7 years", says the poster, referring to the last Mi model launch, the Mi 5S. The company also celebrated the fact that it is going to complete seven years in the industry with the latest launch.

An AnTuTu benchmark leak of the Mi6 a couple of days ago had revealed the key specs expected from the handset. Along with the Snapdragon 835 chip, the phone is expected to run on 4GB, 6GB and 8GM RAM, depending on the model.

Some reports have claimed that lower versions of the Mi 6 could run on Snapdragon 821. There will also be some storage options with the lowest starting at 32GB and going on to 256GB internal memory.

While details of its design are not known, rumours earlier pointed towards a ceramic body with Full HD display. The rear camera might have 12-megapixel capacity and the front camera an 8-megapixel one. The Mi 6 is also expected to be the first Xiaomi phone to come with Android 7.1.1 Nougat.

The models are initially likely to be available only in China and then gradually released for its Asian markets such as India. Like all Xiaomi phones which do not officially retail in Europe and the US, third party retailers are likely to make the Mi 6 series available in the Western regions sometime later this year.