If you live in the US then you may be tempted to turn to Chinese importers such as GearBest and Geekbuying to buy a Xiaomi phone - and even readers elsewhere in the world will find that there are still some models that stay exclusive to China and may tempt you into an import, including the top-of-the-range 13 Ultra for now. If you do, make sure you buy a model with a global ROM installed, or be prepared to mess around with the software when it arrives (novice users should avoid this). The global models have full access to Google services and an English-language interface out of the box. If you accidentally purchase a Chinese ROM model, we've explained how to install Google Play on a Xiaomi phone here. Second, if you're buying from China you should take into account that your consumer rights are different to when you buy elsewhere, and that should something go wrong you're going to find aftersales support more difficult. Lastly, delivery can be a pain. Delivery times will be longer in general, though there are usually free and express shipping options. More than that, though, there could be hidden costs: you may be asked to pay import duty upon the phone's arrival, which is calculated based on whatever value is printed on the shipping paperwork, usually plus an additional admin fee.