Xiaomi Mi 8, the latest flagship from phone maker Xiaomi, was launched at the company's annual product event held in China on Thursday. Key features of the Xiaomi Mi 8 include an infrared face unlock sensor, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC, a vertical dual rear camera setup, and a 20-megapixel front camera. A premium Mi 8 Explorer Edition has also been announced that comes with exclusive features like 3D facial recognition, an in-display fingerprint sensor, and a transparent back. However, the smartphone faces tough competition from the recently launched OnePlus 6. Let's find out how their price, specifications, and features compare against each other.
Xiaomi Mi 8 price has been set at CNY 2,699 (roughly Rs. 28,600) for the base variant with 6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. The 6GB RAM/ 128GB onboard storage variant comes with a price tag of CNY 2,999 (roughly Rs. 31,600), and the 6GB RAM/ 256GB internal storage model has been priced at CNY 3,299 (roughly Rs. 34,800). The Mi 8 Explorer Edition has been priced at CNY 3,699 (roughly Rs. 39,000) for the 8GB RAM/ 128GB inbuilt storage variant.
The smartphone will be made available in Light Blue, Black, White, and Gold colour options. In China, pre-orders for the regular variant start today and the phone will go on sale starting Monday, June 4. There are no availability details for the Explorer Edition yet. The Mi 8 has not been launched in India yet.
OnePlus 6 price in India is set at Rs. 34,999 for the 6GB RAM/ 64GB storage variant and Rs. 39,999 for the 8GB RAM/ 128GB inbuilt storage model; the latter of the two will be the only variant to get the Midnight Black and Silk White colour options. There is also a OnePlus 6 Marvel Avengers Limited Edition priced at Rs. 44,999 for the 8GB RAM/ 256GB storage model. A regular coloured model of 8GB RAM/ 256GB storage variant will not come to India. The phone is available in open sale across Amazon.in, Croma, and OnePlus Store in Mirror Black, Midnight Black, and Silk White Limited Edition colour variants.
Launch offers for the OnePlus 6 include instant discounts with SBI credit and debit cards, no cost EMI options, Idea cashback, and benefits from other online services.
The dual-SIM (Nano) Xiaomi Mi 8 runs MIUI 10 out-of-the-box, and sports a 6.21-inch full-HD+ (1080x2248 pixels) Samsung AMOLED with an 88.5 percent screen-to-body ratio and 18.7:9 aspect ratio. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC, coupled with 6GB/ 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM, with 8GB RAM exclusive to the Explorer Edition.
In terms of optics, the Xiaomi Mi 8 bears a dual vertical rear camera module with two 12-megapixel sensors and features including 4-axis OIS, dual pixel autofocus, AI portraits, AI scene detection, and video detection. As for the front, the selfie camera with features like f/2.0 aperture, and beautification modes. The phone gets 64GB/ 128GB/ 256GB of inbuilt storage, and a 3400mAh battery under the hood.
Connectivity on the Xiaomi Mi 8 include 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 5.0, dual-band GPS, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and USB Type-C port.
On the other hand, the dual-SIM (Nano) OnePlus 6 runs OxygenOS 5.1 on top of Android 8.1 Oreo out-of-the-box. It sports a 6.28-inch full-HD+ (1080x2280 pixels) Full Optic AMOLED display with a 19:9 aspect ratio and 84 percent screen-to-body ratio. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC, coupled with 6GB/ 8GB of RAM and an Adreno 630 GPU.
In the camera department, the OnePlus 6 gets a dual rear camera setup which has a 16-megapixel primary sensor with f/1.7 aperture, OIS, and EIS, and a 20-megapixel secondary shooter with the same f/1.7 aperture. There is a 3300mAh battery under the hood, with support for the company's Dash Charge technology. In terms of storage, the phone comes in three variants - 64GB, 128GB, 256GB - neither of which are expandable via microSD card.
As for connectivity, the OnePlus 6 gets 4G VoLTE, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX and aptX HD support, NFC, GPS/ A-GPS, 3.5mm headphone jack, and USB Type-C. Finally, sensors on the handset include accelerometer, ambient light sensor, digital compass, gyroscope, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and proximity sensor.
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