While Xiaomi has recently made its move to the UK launching the Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro outside China for the first time, we've been treated to a glimpse of what the company's next smartphone might offer. 

The unsurprisingly-named Mi 9 has been given the render treatment by concept guru Ben Geskin, giving us a peek at a phone with three cameras on the rear and a smaller notch on the front, evolving beyond the current Mi 8.

Geskin has also provided some "probable" specs. Some of these things will be a dead certainty - like the next-gen Qualcomm Snapdragon hardware, thought be called 8150 (rather than 855) - due for launch in December 2018.

Elsewhere the specs could see a 6.4-inch AMOLED display, 6-8GB RAM, 3700mAh battery, a triple rear camera with 48-megapixel main sensor, in-display fingerprint scanner and 5G, according to Geskin.

At the moment there's little to corroborate any of these specs: 5G could be open to debate (there might not be network support, so 5G might follow in later devices), and we're not sold on it using a 48-megapixel main sensor for the camera (Sony's latest). Experience suggests that a lower megapixel count will garner better results.

Xiaomi's global expansion has enveloped Europe in 2018, so it will be interesting to see how Xiaomi will launch its next device - will it be a home launch in China, or will it go for a big bang on the global stage with an announcement at Mobile World Congress 2019?

Rumours have said that Xiaomi will be the first to announce a devices with the new Qualcomm hardware, which could even push it to CES 2019 in January.