First of all we would like to apologize to all the Mi fans out there for calling the Mi8 as an iPhone X clone however we couldn't keep ourself from doing so. The real reason of which arguments cannot be made is the design choice by Xiaomi, not just from the rear but also the front along with a feature which has always been ranted for and we too have compiled an entire post on it. Well anyways lets move forward to our justification and let us introduce to you the ultimate offering from China's Apple i.e the Mi8.
The Mi8 was announced a few days ago and from the first look itself you will realize that Xiaomi has taken inspiration from Apple to the core. The vertical cameras to the rear, the notch and the overall form factor with the rounded edges have so much in common to the latter. Even OnePlus has finally resorted to a newer design (speaking of the rear) for its '6' if we compare the situation from the '5'. Some other points to be noted here is the omission of headphone jack which is obvious since the Mi6 also didn't have and the notorious Notch is here. Just a few months ago, Xiaomi introduced the Mi Mix 2S which came with its own stand out design with the front camera located to the bottom and minimal bezels. This gave us a hope that Xiaomi may stick to originality but now with the Mi8, its all gone. Do remember that the device looks great but blindly copying stuff inspite of having a greatly designed device in service (Mi Mix 2S if we speak in terms of the front design) they have resorted to Apple's line.
Okay!! Enough of ranting. Its time to look at what it has to offer. The Mi8 comes with a 6.21 inch AMOLED display , 2.5D curved and Gorilla Glass protection. The rear also houses the glass making it prone to being fragile. The aspect ratio is 19.2:9 because of the Notch and the resolution is 2248×1080. Continuing with the front itself, the notch houses the front facing camera and an infrared sensor for face unlocking. This should help for unlocking the phone even in darkness with ease. Its a great feature but you know Apple iPhone X also has it ;-)
The rear houses the dual 12 MP cameras ( 12 MP f/1.8 + 12 MP f/2.4 ) which comes with its own set of AI functionalities and a fingerprint sensor. The rear secondary camera is used for 2X optical zoom. Xiaomi has also implemented the revolutionary feature of Apple's Animoji on the Mi8 which needs no further description. The rear cameras are capable for recoding 4K at 30 FPS unlike 60FPS which is provided by most other flagships and the fact is that the SOC used supports 60FPS for 4K. The front facing camera is of 20MP with f/2.0 aperture lens.
Coming to whats powering the Mi8, it comes with Qualcomm's flagship SOC i.e Snapdragon 845. The RAM and storage options include 6GB - 64/128/256 GB based on UFS 2.1 storage. The battery capacity provided is 3400 mAh with quick charge 4.0+ support.
The Mi8 comes with MiUi 9.5 based on Android Oreo 8.1. The MiUi 10 is the newest version which comes with Android P type gestures or rather which resembles Apple iPhone X gestures. The recent tasks menu has been revamped with card based look and a lot of other cosmetic changes have been made. The MiUi 10 update will be available very soon for the Mi8 and a lot of other recently launched Xiaomi devices. The device will be a first of its kind to have Dual GPS system which basically makes use of L1 frequency and the L5 frequency band for better and accurate tracking.
Mi8 will be available in 4 colors - Blue, Black, Gold and White
The Mi8 is indeed a powerful device from Xiaomi and the pricing starts 2699 Yuan for the base variant which translates to approximately Rs. 28000. For this price it indeed beats the OnePlus 6 in terms of pricing. Xiaomi had also announced the Mi8 SE which is a toned down version of the flagship Mi8 and it comes with a Snapdragon 710 SOC - one of the first device to make use of the newer Qualcomm SOC. Again, the 'SE' is the nomenclature adopted by Apple for their iPhone SE.
What do you feel about the Mi 8 ? No doubt it will be a great phone considering the pricing and offering however what about the design choice ? Do you prefer brands copying stuff just to provide the premium features of any prominent brand ? Do shower your thoughts in the comments below. Also do note that Xiaomi will announce the Mi 8 SE in India and might name it the Mi8i.
| SPECS | |
|---|---|
| Display | 6.21 inch AMOLED with Notch |
| Resolution | 2248×1080p (19.2 : 9) |
| Protection | Gorilla Glass |
| SOC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 4×Kryo 385 cores clocked at 2.8GHz + 4×Kryo 385 cores clocked at 1.9GHz |
| GPU | Adreno 630 |
| RAM and storage | 6 GB - 64 GB 6 GB - 128 GB 6 GB - 256 GB |
| Rear camera | 12MP f/1.8 + 12MP f/2.4 (2X optical zoom) |
| Front camera | 20MP f/2.0 |
| Video recording | 4K 30 FPS, 1080p 30FPS, 120FPS, 240FPS, 720p 30FPS, 240FPS |
| Battery | 3400 mAh |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac,Dual GPS |
Images via - Xiaomi China