Through the 8th annual product launch event today, Xiaomi has introduced the Xiaomi Mi 8 as the 8th anniversary flagship phone to succeed the Mi 6 phone from last year. The Mi 8 has arrived as the most powerful Snapdragon 845. Also, it is blessed with amazing dual rear cameras and a display that offers a huge screen space. The Chinese manufacturer has also launched the advanced Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition and Xiaomi Mi SE alongside the Xiaomi Mi 8.
Design and Display
The Xiaomi Mi 8 is the first phone from the company to feature a notched display that offers an aspect ratio of 18.7:9. The backside of the phone is made out of glass that has a unique “water drop arc” design. It features a 7000-series aluminum frame. The device measures 154.9 x 74.8 x 7.6mm. The dimensions of the phone are equivalent to a 5.5-inch smartphone which makes it suitable for one-handed use. The color variants of the Xiaomi Mi 8 include Black, Blue, White and Gold.
The Mi 8 is fitted with an S-AMOLED screen that produces Full HD+ resolution of 2248 x 1080 pixels. It delivers a screen-to-body ratio of 88.5 percent. The AMOLED display is equipped with features like support for DCI-P3 color gamut, 60000:1 contrast ratio, up to 600nits brightness, HDR support, Eye protection mode, and Always-On Display.
Infrared Face Unlock and Fingerprint Scanner
The notch present at the top of the display comprises of a 20-megapixel front-facing camera, proximity sensor, earpiece, infrared lighting and infrared lens. The advanced facial recognition feature has been dubbed as Infrared Face Unlock which indicates that it will offer better facial recognition than other Android phones with face unlock feature.
However, it is not as advanced as the Face ID feature on the Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition and iPhone X’s Face ID that offer 3D facial scanning. Hence, the Xiaomi Mi 8 also features a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner for added security.
Performance and Variants
The Snapdragon 845 chipset powered Xiaomi Mi 8 is the first smartphone to break average benchmarking score of 300,000 on AnTuTu. The handset recorded a stunning score of 301,472 on AnTuTu. The 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB storage editions of the phone respectively feature 6 GB of RAM. The handset receives power from 3,400mAh battery enabled with Quick Charge 4+ fast charging. The handset is preinstalled with Android 8.1 Oreo that is skinned with the latest MIUI 10.
Cameras and Connectivity Features
In terms of photography, the Xiaomi Mi 8 features a wide-angle Sony IMX363 12-megapixel primary sensor with f/1.8 aperture and 1.4micron pixel size and a secondary 12-megapixel S5K3M3 sensor with f/2.4 aperture and 1micron pixel size. The dual cameras offer features like 4-axis optical image stabilization, optical zoom and dual pixel autofocus.
It is packed with some exciting AI features for photography. The Studio lighting portrait photography which enhances the appeal of the subject to appear like a celebrity. The dual rear cameras also offer AI scene detection and video editing. In DxOMark mobile photography platform, the Mi 8 has salvaged highest score of 105 for photo shooting and its overall DxOMark score is 99. Here are some camera samples that were shown at the unveil event:
Coming to the front camera of the Mi 8, it includes a 20-megapixel sensor with f/2.0 aperture with a massive pixel size of 1.8micron. It supports AI portrait selfies and AI Beauty.
The Xiaomi Mi 8 is the world’s first smartphone to come with dual-frequency GPS. This helps in reducing inaccuracies in GPS tracking caused due to interfaces like buildings and signal delays. The other features of the Mi 8 include dual-SIM support, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac NFC, Bluetooth 5.0 and 3.5mm audio jack.
Pricing and Availability
The 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB editions of the Xiaomi Mi 8 are respectively priced at 2,699 Yuan (~$421), 2,999 Yuan (~$468) and 3,299 Yuan (~$515). The pre-orders of the black and white editions of the smartphone will start today at 6 PM (local time) in China with a deposit of 100 Yuan (~$16). Its shipment will begin from June 4.
