Xiaomi Mi 8 available from Carphone Warehouse for £459.99
In the last year we have noticed many of the Chinese smartphone manufacturers such as Honor, Huawei, Oppo and Xiaomi have taken an opportunity to grab the market and offer equally or if not better alternatives to Apple or Samsung and at a fraction of the cost and guess what happened surprise the consumer loves this – Shock horror Apple & Samsung people don’t/ can’t spend a month’s salary on a phone.
One of the brands grabbing the market is Xiaomi and we have been given the Mi 8 to review and see if they really have a phone that could give us a fantastic alternative to the more known brands.
The Mi 8 currently costs £459.99 from Carphone Warehouse or £429.99 from Amazon for the 128GB which is madness for a phone like this however it does have the screen notch which might divide a few people. However, it does have an 87% screen to body ratio so it’s still very good for a mid-range handset.
So the Screen is the stand out on this phone with a full HD resolution that gives vibrant colours on a 6.21inch display making this very special to do. Look at the back of the back of the handset your meet by a fingerprint sensor. Once unlocked just swipe the screen from the bottom and bingo.
Also on the back of the phone, you will see a dual camera on the top left in a vertical alignment just like an iPhone X. On the front the glass is curved on all four sides which is then met by a 7000 series aluminium frame which is a shiny blue which I just love. However, If you are a bit OCD like me carry a microfiber cloth as fingerprints aplenty will arrive
As for the weight, this phone is very light at 175g you won’t even know you have it in your hands half the time.
Let’s see how this works! So the Mi8 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 with 6GB of RAM and comes with 128 GB of storage but 64GB or 256GB are also available. The performance of this handset really does beg the question do I need to spend more on an Apple or Samsung phone?
The speed of this phone is fantastic and that is met by a 3,400 mAh battery that will give you a good 8-hour battery which is not bad for a phone in this price range. You also get Quick Charge 4.0 meaning you can recharge in no time this brings back memories of my old OnePlus5T which was the first time I experienced Quick charge.
The Mi 8 also boosts dual-frequency GPS which means this phone has the edge over its rivals for helping me when am lost or needing to get somewhere quick. The phone also allows for dual sim functionality if like me you have a work & personal number.
The Mi 8 as mentioned has a dual-camera at the rear which is the same as sister phone the Mi Mix 2C which allows for AI to boost its photography skills, in turn, allows to use one of the 206 preset scenes meaning you get a fantastic shoot every time. The camera on the front is a 20-megapixel selfie camera which the bonus of micro-plastic beauty mode for the best selfie shot money can buy. The colours of our shoots are simply spot on with great detail and can even produce the goods when taking a low-light photo.
Something I forgot to mention what I love about this phone is the Guide it allows you to swipe from the left of the home page and allows for you to make notes or alerts you to up and coming events.
The cost of this phone is a lot less compared to what it’s trying to compete with and it’s not bad. However, there are a few issues that might make you consider if its right for you it does not have wireless charging facility and its not currently waterproofed plus no 3D face recognition but if you can live without these then your be just fine. It also does not have its own voice assistant but this is a quick fix just download google assistant and bingo.
So for about the £450 mark depending on where you buy this phone,
you’re getting a great design and very powerful hardware, this is a phone that although not perfect for a mid-range phone its close. So if your considerate of your budget go for it am sure you will enjoy.
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