At its 8th anniversary event in Shenzhen, Xiaomi has taken the wraps off its latest flagship smartphone, the Mi 8. Along with the flagship Mi 8 smartphone, Xiaomi has also announced its first smartphone with an in-display fingerprint scanner, the Mi 8 SE.
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Mi 8: Specifications, Features
Xiaomi’s latest flagship smartphone, the Mi 8 is the company’s first flagship smartphone to feature a notched display, similar to the iPhone X. The Mi 8’s AMOLED display measures 6.21-inches diagonally with 1080 x 2280 Full HD+ resolution, an 18.7:9 aspect ratio, and DCI-P3 color gamut coverage. Under the hood, Xiaomi’s latest flagship smartphone is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 845 chipset clocked at up to 2.8 GHz with an Adreno 630 GPU. In terms of memory, the flagship smartphones is available with up to 6GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage.
The Mi 8 is equipped with a 12MP + 12MP AI dual-camera setup at the rear with four-axis optical image stabilization on the primary sensor and AI scene recognition. Xiaomi is using a Sony IMX363 as the primary sensor with 1.4um pixel size and f/1.8 aperture. The secondary sensor is a Samsung SK53M3 with 1.0um pixel size and f/2.4 aperture. In DxOMark Mobile testing, the Mi 8 managed an impressive score of 105 points, placing it right below the Huawei P20 Pro. Using machine learning, the AI scene recognition can identify subjects and objects in a frame to come up with the best combination of settings to help users capture great photos every time. Apart from intelligent AI scene recognition, the camera also supports portrait lighting effects, similar to the latest iPhones. The back of the handset also houses a fingerprint sensor. On the front is a 20-megapixel resolution selfie camera with large 1/8um effective pixel size, an f/2.0 aperture as well as AI Beautify and AI selfie portrait features. While there is no under-display fingerprint sensor, the Mi 8 does feature 3D facial recognition that utilizes Infrared to accurately scan 4096 facial points, making it the first Android flagship smartphone to offer a secure facial recognition technology similar to Apple’s Face ID. Just like the iPhone X, the Mi 8 has 3D facial recognition sensors placed inside the notch. Unlike some other facial recognition solutions, the one on the Mi 8 cannot be fooled with photos of a person.
The Mi 8 is the first smartphone to feature Dual GPS that combines the L1 frequency with the L5 frequency to allow for more accurate navigation than other smartphones. It also comes with all the other latest connectivity features including Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac dual-band, Bluetooth 5.0 Low Energy, GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, NFC, BeiDou, and 4G VoLTE. Keeping the lights on is a 3400mAh capacity battery.
Mi 8 SE: Specifications, Features
The Mi 8 SE features a similar design as the Mi 8 but runs on the less powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 mobile chipset under the hood. Xiaomi’s Mi 8 SE sports a smaller 5.88-inch AMOLED display with the same Full HD+ resolution. At the rear is a 12MP + 5MP AI dual-camera setup with the primary sensor boasting Dual phase detection autofocus and 1.4um pixel size. The selfie camera is a 20MP unit with 2um effective pixel size, AI Beautify and AI selfie portrait mode like the Mi 8. Fueling the internals of the handset is a 3120mAh capacity battery. Both the Mi 8 and Mi 8 SE smartphones run on Android 8.0 Oreo-based MIUI 10 out of the box.
Mi 8, Mi 8 SE: Expected Price in India, Availability
Mi 8 prices in China start at 2,699 yuan (Rs.28,450 approx.). for the 6GB RAM + 64GB storage variant. The 6GB RAM + 128GB variant is priced at 2,999 yuan (Rs.31,600 approx.), while the 6GB RAM + 256GB storage variant will cost 3,299 yuan (Rs.34,800 approx.). Pre-orders start today in China, while shipments are expected to commence June 5 onwards. The Mi 8 SE, on the other hand, will be available for a starting price of 1,799 yuan (Rs.18,970 approx.) June 8 onwards. Xiaomi also announced the Explorer Edition Mi 8 with a transparent back cover. Its other key highlight is the in-display fingerprint sensor, making it the first Xiaomi smartphone to feature one. Xiaomi says the in-display fingerprint sensor on the Mi 8 Explorer Edition is more accurate as well as faster than the one used on the Vivo X21 UD. In addition to an in-display fingerprint sensor, the Mi 8 Explorer Edition employs an even more impressive 3D facial recognition system on the front. While no release date has been confirmed yet, the Mi 8 Explorer Edition has been priced at 3,699 yuan (Rs.38,985 approx.).
