Xiaomi Max, large-screened phablet to launch on May 10

Xiaomi has announced on the popular Chinese social network, Weibo, that it will be launching its next big flagship phablet on May 10th. The unveiling event will take place at the Beijing National Convention Center, and tickets will go on sale for existing Xiaomi handset owners through the Xiaomi app store from Wednesday, April 27 at 10am. There will be 900 tickets available in total, costing just 199 Yuan ($30 USD) each.

We don’t know much about the next flagship phablet from China’s 2nd biggest smartphone maker. All we know so far is that the Xiaomi Max is expected to rock a huge display, pushing it firmly in to Nexus 6 territory, perhaps even beyond.

A recent (sketchy) GFXBench leak suggests the device will have a 6.4-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 650 processor and 16GB total storage as well as a 15MP rear camera and 4.8MP front facing camera. But we have our suspicions that it’s not a genuine leak.

Of course, none of this is anything close to confirmed yet. While it’s safe to assume the Xiaomi Max will be a big phone, the exact details of its specifications remain a mystery. We could guess at specs, but it would be pure speculation on our behalf.

It’s interesting to note that Xiaomi has only been teasing the device in China and even unofficial leaks have been scarce. Contrast this to the Xiaomi Mi 5 which — although not available to buy officially in many countries — was teased to a global audience, and launched at MWC in Barcelona a couple of months ago.

Xiaomi has long been rumored to be eyeing an entry in to the US and other western markets, but has yet to make any official announcement. With Huawei’s international success last year, it’s clear that it needs to make a move soon if it’s going to compete on a global scale with its biggest Chinese competitor.