The Privacy Screen feature in the Xiaomi 18 Pro and Pro Max models caused controversy by reducing the brightness and viewing angle even when turned off.
Xiaomi's new flagship models Xiaomi 18 Pro and Xiaomi 18 Pro Max attract attention with the hardware privacy display feature they bring. This technology, which prevents prying eyes by darkening the panel when viewed from side angles, causes a serious compromise in screen quality, according to initial reviews.
Shares from Ice Universe, a reliable source in the industry, show that even when the feature is turned off, peak brightness and viewing angles go backwards compared to the previous generation.
Screen Quality Is Affected Even When the Feature Is Turned Off
Ice Universe shared critical observations about the screen of the Xiaomi 18 Pro series, which he experienced in a physical store.
According to the transferred data, the integrated privacy filter layer in the Xiaomi 18 Pro and Pro Max models directly negatively affects the optical transmittance of the panel. Even if the privacy mode is disabled software, the maximum screen brightness and general viewing angles of the phone are significantly behind the previous generation Xiaomi 17 Ultra model.
Micro shutter-like optical layers added to the display panel aim to prevent light from spreading to wide angles. However, this physical structure also creates light loss when the user wants to watch the screen directly from the front and achieve maximum brightness. This directly weakens the perception of contrast and vivid outdoor visibility.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Process is Happening Again
The developments bring to mind the recent controversy that Samsung had with the Galaxy S26 Ultra model. Samsung also brought a similar hardware privacy layer to its flagship and received intense criticism from users. Galaxy S26 Ultra owners stated that there was a clear loss in screen brightness regardless of whether the feature was on or off.
The South Korean manufacturer indirectly accepted the loss of light transmittance in the panel architecture, but argued that this difference could not be easily understood by the end user in daily scenarios.
However, hardware enthusiasts and professional tests confirmed that there was a significant decline in the peak nits of the screen. The fact that the picture follows a similar course on the Xiaomi front points to an inevitable engineering limit created by physical polarized layers in existing OLED panels.
Security or Panel Quality in Flagship Displays?
The privacy screen built into smartphones offers a very functional promise to protect banking and personal correspondence in public transportation or crowded areas. This hardware, which is intended to eliminate the need for external screen protective glasses, directly undermines the "brightest and most flawless panel" experience, which is the biggest trump card of the flagship class.
It is not yet known whether Xiaomi will implement a brightness compensation algorithm on the software side. However, the fact that the problem arises from the hardware optical layer makes it very difficult to completely compensate for the pure brightness loss with updates. The overall sales performance of the devices will show whether users will prefer security over screen quality.
