
Xiaomi used a two year old photo to promote the new Mi 9 smartphone
"We are not that stupid," says Xiaomi's head of PR, claiming the "Mi 9" photos were an early draft
Turns out you can't easily fool people online, as Xiaomi just discovered.
How Xiaomi forged a unique path
Lin Bin, co-founder and president of the Chinese smartphone maker, published a series of promotional pictures for Xiaomi's new flagship Mi 9 on Weibo. It turns out that not only were they not taken by the Mi 9, but some of the photos were actually taken two years ago.

Sharp-eyed internet users identified the alleged Mi 9 photo as a picture published two years ago by well-known actress Dilraba Dilmurat (known as Dilireba).
Incidentally, Dilireba happens to be a spokesperson for Xiaomi’s rival, Oppo. Oops!
Xiaomi responded somewhat angrily to people saying that a picture taken two years ago is probably not from Xiaomi's 2019 flagship phone.
Xiaomi says they're placeholder images, and that the official presentation is still being designed before the phone's official launch on February 20.

So far, what we know about the Mi 9 is that it will come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, 12 GB of RAM, a fingerprint sensor inside the display, and a three lens rear camera. It’s also going to be more expensive than previous models.
Photography is likely to be a key feature. The "mistaken" images that Lin Bin sent out are to promote the new beautifying features of the Mi 9's camera -- which can allegedly enlarge a woman's breasts, make a face more narrow, or make legs slimmer.
Cameras with beautifying capabilities are hugely popular in China: it's estimated more than half the selfies posted on Chinese social media are generated by popular touch-up apps from selfie king Meitu. Perhaps not coincidentally, Xiaomi recently cut a deal to take over Meitu's hardware business.
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