Mi 8 Launched With Infrared Face Unlock, Snapdragon 845: Price, Specifications

The Mi 8 smartphone has been launched on Thursday at Xiaomi's annual product launch event in China. It is Xiaomi's latest flagship smartphone and, expectedly, comes with premium specifications and features. Key Mi 8 specifications include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC, a dual rear 12-megapixel camera setup, infrared face unlock, and a 20-megapixel selfie camera. A Mi 8 Explorer Edition has also been launched, and comes with exclusive features like 3D face recognition, an in-display fingerprint sensor, and a transparent back. The company, as expected, also launched the Mi 8 SE smartphone at the same event, as well as the Mi Band 3 and MIUI 10.

Xiaomi Mi 8 price, release date

The Mi 8 price has been set at CNY 2,699 (roughly Rs. 28,600) for the 6GB RAM/ 64GB inbuilt storage variant, CNY 2,999 (about Rs. 31,600) for the 6GB RAM/ 128GB storage variant, and CNY 3,299 (roughly Rs. 34,800) for the 6GB RAM/ 256GB inbuilt storage model. The smartphone will be made available in White, Gold, Light Blue, and Black colour options. The Mi 8 Explorer Edition comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB inbuilt storage and bears a price tag of CNY 3,699 (roughly Rs. 39,000). Pre-orders for the Mi 8 open today, with sales starting on June 5. Mi 8 Explorer Edition availability details have not been confirmed yet. 

Xiaomi Mi 8 specifications

The dual-SIM (Nano) Xiaomi Mi 8 runs MIUI 10, and the handset sports a 6.21-inch full-HD+ (1080x2248 pixels) Samsung AMOLED display with an 18.7:9 aspect ratio, 88.5 percent screen-to-body ratio, and support for Always On display. The smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC with a claimed AnTuTu benchmark score of 301,472. It also comes with 6GB/ 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM, with 8GB RAM exclusive to the Explorer Edition.

In the camera department, the flagship handset sports a vertically stacked rear dual camera setup that gets two 12-megapixel sensors with 1.4-micron pixels, 4-axis OIS, dual pixel autofocus, AI portraits, AI scene detection, and video detection. Xiaomi claims a DxOMark photo score of 105. On the front, the Xiaomi Mi 8 bears a 20-megapixel selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture, 1.8-micron pixels, AI portrait selfies, and beautify. As for storage, the phone gets 64GB/ 128GB/ 256GB of inbuilt storage.

Connectivity options on the Xiaomi Mi 8 include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi (dual-band, 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, dual-band GPS (with L1/ L5 signal support, said to be the world's first phone with this feature), and USB Type-C. It bears a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, while the Mi 8 Explorer Edition has an in-display fingerprint sensor. Other sensors on board both include accelerometer, ambient light sensor, barometer, digital compass, gyroscope, infrared, and a proximity sensor.

Mi 8 Explorer Edition

The Mi 8 measures in at 154.9x74.8x7.6mm, and weighs 175 grams. There is a 3400mAh battery under the hood. The Mi 8 Explorer Edition has the same dimensions, but weighs slightly more at 177 grams. It also bears a smaller battery, at 3000mAh. Both phones support Quick Charge 4.0+, but ship with a standard 18W Quick Charge 3.0 charger. 

Xiaomi's answer to Apple's Animoji - Mi Meng

Xiaomi also unveiled its take on Apple's Animoji 3D avatars, calling them Mi Meng. Xiaomi's Mi Meng avatars can capture up to 52 facial muscle movements, and will not only imitate your expressions but also your voice.