Finally after the months of teasing the Xiaomi Mi 8 smartphone is unveiled today at its annual product launch alongside Mi 8 Explorer Edition, Mi 8 SE, Mi TV 4 75’’, Mi VR Standalone and Mi Band 3. The Mi 8 has a 7000 series aluminum frame and comes with a glass and metal design. It follows the latest trend of having a top notch. Users have the option to hide the top notch like OnePlus 6 and Huawei P20 Pro. It sports a 6.21 inch 2.5D AMOLED display with a resolution of HD+ (2248 x 1080 pixels), an aspect ratio of 18:7:9 and up to 600 nits brightness. The smartphone boasts an 88.5% screen-to-body ratio.
Under the hood, it is powered by the top of the line Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset and will be available in three configurations: 6GB RAM + 64 GB ROM, 6GB RAM + 128GB ROM and 6GB RAM + 256GB ROM. The smartphone packs a dual camera setup on the rear of 12MP + 12 MP configurations with f/1.8 and f/2.4 aperture for the wide angle and telephoto lens respectively. It comes with massive 1.4 µm pixels, 4 axis OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation) and Dual pixel autofocus, AI portraits, AI scene detection. On the front, it offers a 20MP camera with f/2.0 aperture and 1.8 µm pixel which can click AI-powered selfies with a 3D beauty feature. The AI enhanced portrait photography is support on both front and rear cameras. The device also sports an AI-powered Studio lightning photography option.
Xaiomi MI 8 | Photo Credit: MI/Facebook
As expected Xiaomi Mi 8 becomes the first Android smartphone to pack a 3D face Unlock hardware that is currently available on the Apple iPhone X. It has an Infrared Lightning and Infrared Lens for detecting faces even in the dark. The smartphone runs on the latest MIUI 10 which makes it the first smartphone to come preloaded with this version. The MIUI 10 comes with a new task manager that takes advantage of the tall display. It maximises screen space along with gestures which users can swipe or hold for more options. The new gestures on the MIUI 10 look like it have been inspired by Android P. The MIUI 10 also brings support to the 19:9 aspect ratio phones having a top notch.
The smartphone comes with a fingerprint sensor at the rear and has support for Dual frequency GPS which will ensure better signal and reduce signal delays. The NFC payment has also been included as well. As for the pricing the 64 GB,128 GB and 256 GB variants are priced at 2699 Yuan (Rs 28,500 approx), 2999 Yuan (Rs 31,500 approx) and 3299 Yuan (Rs 34,500 approx) respectively. The Xiaomi Mi 8 will come in white, blue, gold and black colour options.
