The prices of flagships have been skyrocketing of late especially with brands eager to apply new technology to their top-of-the-line phones. This movement has given birth to an interesting segment in the market smartphones with top-tier processors but at close-to-midrange costs. This is where the Xiaomi Mi 8 comfortably sits.

Design

The back is glossy glass, which as you might expect, collects fingerprints prodigiously. The back is curved around the sides for a better grip, while the rear camera bulges out just a bit. This camera hump design is in many Xiaomi devices. The USB Type-C takes the center of the bottom edge, flanked by two arrays of holes hiding the microphone and loudspeaker. The antenna lines are not perfectly flush here though, detracting from the whole premium feel and appearance. No 3.5mm jack anywhere to be found. Since the back glass curves around the back a little, the sides taper down to a rather narrow edge. You get all the buttons on the right and the SIM tray on the other.

Display

The Mi 8 comes with a 6.21-inch FHD+ (2248 x 1080) AMOLED display designed by Samsung. Being an AMOLED display, colors are well-saturated, blacks are more visible and viewing angles are great. It may not have a QHD or 4K display, but the quality of its screen is more than enough to provide an enjoyable viewing experience.
Hardware

Hardware

The Mi 8 makes no concessions on performance. This is the fastest SoC of the moment that runs the machine: Snapdragon 845 chip supported by 6 GB of RAM. the Adreno 630 chip takes over. the Mi 8 is able to quietly manage all games in the Play Store without slowing down and with optimal graphics. It will be necessary to do with the 64 GB of internal memory.

Camera

The camera on this thing is definitely the flagship class. You get a 12MP f/1.8 primary camera and a secondary 12MP f/2.4 zoom camera. The primary camera does most of the heavy lifting, even handling zoom shots in lower light conditions. Which is a pretty good idea, as much as it may seem redundant. The secondary camera lacks OIS, has a smaller aperture and a smaller sensor. All of which isn’t good for low light photography. The AI scene detection does an amazing job, getting most of the shots right. It’s fast, without unnecessary shutter delay and images in good lighting turn out great. That amazing image quality translates to the front camera as well. Selfies are crisp and clear, have good color reproduction, sharpness, and accuracy. The AI also works flawlessly in smoothing out your skin without making it look too artificial. Beauty options are still there but we think the AI is more than enough for your selfie needs.

Features

The device comes with a 3,400mAh battery with Quick Charge 4+. Battery life is actually superb, we were getting about a day or two on minimal usage without WiFi and about a day with heavy usage on WiFi. During our standard video loop test, the phone lasted for a good 20 Hours and 35 Minutes, which is impressive. Charging from 0-100% takes about an hour to an hour and a half, thanks to QC4+. it runs on the Stable version of MIUI 10.0 on top of Android 8.1 Oreo. The UI is pretty straightforward no app drawer as all the apps are managed by home screens. It’s still a simple and clean UI to use, especially if you’re already familiar with MIUI.

Conclusion

The Xiaomi Mi 8 is very much a flagship device by 2018 standards. It has impressive cameras, display, performance, facial recognition, and capable speakers. It is a complete package that offers the best the market has to offer at an understandably affordable price tag $369.37 On Banggood after using a Coupon Code: 11BGM8GCL2.