The first time I checked out the Xiaomi Mi 8 was previous in
June of this year. It appeared to offer unbelievable value, with true flagship stipulations
at a price half that of competitors. At that point, the Mi 8 looked like a
viable alternative to various of the giants in the industry.
Now, I’ve had the occasion to use the Mi 8 for about 18
days, and I have some opinions on the design and software that make up the soul
of this device.
Design
The Xiaomi Mi 8 appearances like an iPhone X, there’s no way
about it. From the positioning of the dual cameras to the extent of the notch
and even the utterer grills, it’s hard to tell the two apart side by side.
Multiple phones have stood accused of copying Apple over the years, but the Mi
8 is probably the contiguous resemblance we’ve gotten so far. Even the software
looks alike, though that’s par for the sequence on Chinese Android skins.
The body of the Mi 8 is made of Gorilla Glass 5, which is
shatter-resistant but doesn’t handle scratches extremely well. I like to assessment
phones without a case to see how they grip up on their own, and the Mi 8 established
a number of small hairline cuts and one fairly deep scar on the back during my
time with it
.
The bottomless scar on the rear happened initial in my time
with the expedient. This initially made me think this phone would be totally
scarred up by the time I was done studying it, but it has only established
small scratches and scuffs since the early incident. Still, you should use a
case on this phone if you end up alternative it up. The glass feels softer than
numerous other glass phones I’ve used – something obvious in the large number
of small hairline scratches I’ve grown on the device.
All the phone’s buttons are on its correct side. The power
button sits somewhat above the center of the frame, with the volume switches
sitting right above it. The SIM tray is on the higher left side of the device.
On the bottom you’ll find a USB Type-C port and two speaker grills.
On the front, you’ll find a justly big notch with a
front-facing camera and a chin at the lowest. The back of the expedient houses
a dual-camera setup and a fingerprint reader near the center.
Overall this isn’t a mainly exciting design, but I think that’s
the point of this phone (I’ll explain why in a bit).
Display
The screen is honestly large at 6.21-inches, and sports a determination
of 1080 x 2248 with a 402ppi. It’s nothing actually special. It seems Xiaomi
made ingenious use of the HDR display to get around extremely lit areas.
Instead of jolting up the screen brightness, the phone just enables the HDR
mode to improve dark areas on the screen. Xiaomi calls this the “Sunlight
Display,” and it is theoretical to keep the colors more precise in sunlight and
save battery life. If what you’re responsibility doesn’t need punchy colors,
this is a nice way to have your phone running a bit longer.
This display is also a bit colder in color temperature associated
to a lot of other phones right now. I compared this screen straight to a
Samsung Galaxy S8 since they both have Super AMOLED displays shaped by Samsung,
and the Mi 8 had a strikingly bluer color temperature in comparison. Xiaomi
tunes its displays for myself to a temperature it reasons will content the
widest audience. I personally enjoy it, but those more used to the pithy warm
tones may be turned off.
Overall you perhaps won’t be amazed or dissatisfied with
this display. It’s nothing special, but it’s not bad either.
Performance
As you would imagine from a phone with flagship hardware,
the Xiaomi Mi 8 performed estimably through my testing. I never proverb any
major lockups, and as somebody who has a problem with tab management, the
device handled my 100+ Chrome tabs just well.
It’s a bit hard to talk about presentation when most
high-end phones perform almost the same. That’s why benchmarks are still justly
useful metrics for associating devices.
We ran the Mi finished Geekbench 4, AnTuTu, and 3DMark to
see how it compares to the rivalry. You can see the results underneath.
Geekbench 4 provided the Xiaomi Mi 8 a single-core score of
2,403. In comparison, the OnePlus 6 scored 2,454, though the Galaxy S9 scored
2,144. The Mi 8 attained a multi-core score of 8,545, while the OnePlus 6scored 8,967, and the Galaxy S9 scored 8,116.
AnTuTu provided the Mi 8 a score of 264,255, compared to the
OnePlus 6’s 262,614 and the S9’s 266,559.
Finally, the Mi 8 scored 4,233 in 3D Mark, while the OnePlus
6 and Galaxy S9 counted 4,680 and 4,672 respectively.
Hardware
It seems closely each phone in 2018 has a Qualcomm
Snapdragon 845, and the Mi 8 is no exclusion. Coupled with 6 or 8GB of RAM this
phone retains up with the latest on the market, with a storing capacity up to
256GB to boot.
The Mi 8’s battery is ultimately average. In my testing, I
got some attractive mixed results, between four hours and six hours of
screen-on time contingent on the particular day, and usually getting improved
as my testing went on. I removed eight samples over my review period with the
device and landed at a regular screen on time of 5 hours and 35 minutes with
five percent left in apiece sample. These greeneries the Mi 8 with about the
same battery life as the OnePlus 6, which has a somewhat smaller 3,300mAh
battery. While it can’t compete with strategies like the Samsung Galaxy Note 9
and its 4,000mAh battery, it lasts you a day fair fine.
There is no headphone jack in this phone, which has developed
the average for most phones these days. However, the Mi 8 uses Bluetooth 5.o,
if you have a pair of headphones that can really support it. There is no IP
rating or water fight on the Mi 8.
Xiaomi Mi 8 camera
Camera
To my amazement, the camera on this device is extremely
good. It’s not pithy and super saturated like cameras from Samsung and a few
others, but I was pleased with the Mi 8’s sharpness and energetic range. I took
an enormous assortment of photos over the 18 days using the expedient, and it
performed well in nearly each situation. The portrait mode using the back
cameras still greeneries a lot to be desired, but the front-facing portrait
mode additional in MIUI 10.0 actually performs fairly well.
There is also a front-facing IR blaster privileged the notch
that allows for infrared face-unlocking, but sadly this is omitted from the worldwide
version. We’ve only actually seen this in the iPhone X and Oppo Find X so far,
so this is a nice totaling to the device.
The Mi 8 produces exceptional sharpness and dynamic variety in nearly every situation
I’ve designated a few photos from my time with the device to
exhibition here at a compressed resolution to help upsurge this page’s load
time. I have over 50 photos in full determination here.
As you can see in the instances above, sharpness and dynamic
range are outstanding. The camera reminds me a lot of the shooter on the iPhone
X, which doesn’t have a thrilling amount of contrast, but instead focuses on
tonality.
The camera does tend to overexpose images fair a bit, but I
solved this by dipping the exposure manually. If you spray and pray your photos
may be a tad too bright, but if you can take a second to adjust it the results
are countless.
Software
Xiaomi is a company originated on software. MIUI was
originally a ROM of Android made to compete with the wildly general CyanogenMod
back in the day. Even now, Xiaomi updates its software weekly for those in the
beta channel, and each two weeks for regular users. It adds new features based
almost straight on what the community requirements, and Xiaomi employees are
required to spend a helping of their week reading and replying to forum posts
and requests.
This take on software is totally dissimilar to almost any
company — the closest example I can find is Essential’s monthly Reddit AMAs.
It’s clear Xiaomi is actual serious about improving MIUI, and I give it a lot
of credit for attending so closely to its community.
MIUI overall feels extremely simple — so simple, there isn’t
even an app drawer. I’m personally not a fan of this decision, but Xiaomi is
most popular in its home country of China, where most phones lack the app
drawer in an effort to copy the iPhone.
Xiaomi’s most recent MIUI 10 update is still based on Android 8.1 Oreo, but it tries to emulate the sensation of Android 9.0 Pie by addition a number of rounded rudiments throughout the UI. Notifications are now smoothed off to match the new-fangled Google Material Design 2.0 update, and you can admission Google search with a simple swipe up wherever on the display.
If you swipe to the left, you’ll be taken to an impression
of quick apps and info called “Xiaomi Guide.” This looks extremely similar to
the widgets section of iOS, but Google does somewhat similar in Pixel Launcher.
From here you can clear your cache, add calendar proceedings, create notes, and
see stock prices at a peep. These widgets are combined with a diversity of
Xiaomi apps pre-loaded on the device, and I really found most of them to be attractive
useful. There’s even an app for the Xiaomi forum constructed right into the
device.
Apps Xiaomi does not make avoidance to Google Apps, which is
pleasant because you won’t have to spend a ton of time downloading Google Apps
from the Play Store. I’ve continuously been chiefly annoyed at Samsung for
creating an arguably worse version of each single Google app, and it’s nice
Xiaomi recognizes the worth of using Google apps by default.
In the MIUI 10.0 update, Xiaomi additional support for
full-screen gestures. This doesn’t emulate the Android 9.0 gestures, which is well
with me. You can swipe up from the lowest to go home, swipe up and hold to go
to recent apps, or swipe in from the left or correct sides to go back. This is
a better implementation than Google’s in my view, and it’s nice Xiaomi offers
the full-screen mode.
Xiaomi Mi 8 back
The chassis is a blank slate
You may have observed that this review appeared a bit dry,
and I would agree with you.
In my eyes, the Xiaomi Mi 8 is a podium to highpoint its
software. The company has been trying to best Apple in price and presentation
for years now, and it’s clear this design is its best effort yet at producing
the “every man’s iPhone.” Heck, the word Xiaomi factually means “Millet,” one
of the most usually consumed grains in the world. Xiaomi is obviously trying to
hit a wide audience by producing excellence hardware at about half the price of
its contestants, and this plan seems to be working.
A blank slate for crowdsourced software
The Xiaomi Mi 8 is not precisely an interesting phone. Sure,
it feels “premium” with a modern glass and aluminum design, but it doesn’t do
anything mainly special to stand out on looks alone. Almost everything that
makes the Mi 8 a good device derives from the software. Crowdsourcing software
tends to be the best way to safeguard the widest range of users are contented,
and I think most people who use this device will love the aptitude to contribute
to MIUI.
You won’t buy the Mi 8 to make your friends resentful, or
even for some sort of unique gimmick. It doesn’t look fancy or unusual — you
won’t spend time approving its loveliness. This device was made to showcase
MIUI first, and it does that actual well — especially at its MSRP of 399 euros
(~$469).
Xiaomi Mi 8 screen
Recent backlash
If you’ve read the news newly, you may have heard Xiaomi is hitting
ads in its UI. This has turned off a lot of users, and I don’t responsibility
them. HTC pulled a alike stunt a couple of years ago and received a enormous
amount of backlash. In fact, the business still runs ads in its software to
this day.
I asked Xiaomi about these ads, and the company said most
people disremember the company backs its devices using online services. Xiaomi
has a change of methods for generating income past that of just hardware sales,
where it refuses to make everything more than a 5 percent profit.
I don’t think most users are conscious this is how Xiaomi
funds its products. The company has operated solely in China for years, and worldwide
markets aren’t used to this sort of thing.
Personally, I don’t think any company should put ads in
their UI unless that info is extremely transparent upfront before you buy the
device. Amazon did this to subsidize its Kindle devices as well as Amazon superior
pricing phones, but it is extremely upfront about exhibiting ads on the lock
screen. Xiaomi either requirements to be more transparent about these ads or
remove them overall. It is not ok to see ads on a creation you spent money on
without agreement or warning.
Pricing and availability
The Mi 8 starts off at 2,699 yuan (~$421) for the 6GB RAM
and 64GB storing variant. The 6GB and
128GB model comes in at a 2,999 yuan (~$468) price tag, while the 6GB and 256GB
model will selling for 3,299 yuan (~$515).
Xiaomi Mi 8 screen
Final opinions and the “Poco problem”
The Xiaomi Mi 8 is not a stimulating phone, but it is a good
phone. It is each bit as fast as other flagships, and only seems to add
features users really want. Now we face something I like the call the “Poco
problem.”
Recently, Xiaomi revealed a new sub-brand called Pocophone,
and its first device, the Pocophone F1, trembled up the industry by offering efficiently
the same specs as the Mi 8 at just $300. It even offers features the Mi 8
doesn’t have, like a headphone jack and an optional Kevlar shell in the special
“Armored Edition.”
This contribution seems fantastic, but Xiaomi could
cannibalize its own device with a new, inexpensive phone many would consider
the improved device. I wanted to distinguish what Xiaomi thought of this, so I
talked to Xiaomi making PR manager John Chan to get his thoughts.
John told me the features current in the Mi 8 are exclusive
enough to be worth $100 to a lot of users. The Mi 8 has a cut-glass housing,
instead of the polycarbonate and Kevlar contributions on the Pocophone F1, and
also proposals the Super AMOLED display and face unlock. The Pocophone sports
the headphone jack, microSD card development, and a much larger 4,000mAh
battery, plus a somewhat tweaked version of MIUI that offers things like an app
drawer.
In my estimation, the Pocophone F1 is the better buy,
without query. The features it has in contradiction of the Mi 8 are much more significant
than the features the Mi 8 boasts against the Pocophone F1, and its $100 inexpensive
than the Mi 8. No phone happens in a vacuum (unless its competitors are factually
unavailable in your country).
Chan thinks there is apartment for both the Mi 8 and the
Pocophone to exist on the market, but I just don’t see it. Both devices look
too alike, and I believe most users would be more attentive in the Pocophone’s
feature set. If the Mi 8 was the device with the better battery and headphone
jack this split might make sense, but for now it’s just puzzling. It leads me
to believe Xiaomi is successful to sell a lot less Mi 8’s and a lot more
Pocophone’s.
If you cannot get admission to a Pocophone F1, the Mi 8 is a
very compelling device. I don’t like it fairly as much as the OnePlus 6, but at
$130 cheaper, the Mi 8 is still a actual good device — specially for those who
love having a say in the software they use each day.
That’s it for our Xiaomi Mi 8 assessment. Thoughts? Are you procurement
this phone or would you rather save some cash and go for the Pocophone F1?
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