Xiaomi Mi 8, analysis: a high-end experience for less than 500 euros
The smartphone world is already years old but not everyone can celebrate an anniversary with a special edition among the flagships of the moment, already having some. Being commemorative and being Xiaomi had to be something special, and we wanted to check it in the analysis of the Xiaomi Mi 8 .
The direct heir of the Xiaomi Mi 6 , because the "7" has been omitted to coincide with the eighth anniversary of the company, which was accompanied by a special edition and which collects the glove of the Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S with the most powerful hardware on Android and an aspect that caught our attention as a family . The top of range is also the first Xiaomi with notch or notch , looking for that infinite screen that is so fashionable, all dressed in the usual and incisive software of the house.
Xiaomi Mi 8 datasheet
XIAOMI MY 8
DIMENSIONS
154.9 x 74.8 x 7.6 millimeters
WEIGHT
172 g
DESIGN
Crystal and metal
Rear fingerprint reader
Cristal Corning Gorila Glass 4
SCREEN
AMOLED 6.21 inches
Format 18: 7: 9
FullHD + 2.248 x 1.080 pixels, 402 ppp83.8% ratio p / f
PROCESSOR
Snapdragon 845, 64-bit, 10 nm
Octa-core Kryo 2.8 GHz
Adreno 630 GPU
RAM
6 GB LPDDR4x
STORAGE
128 GB
SOFTWARE
Android 8.0 Oreo + MIUI 9.5
DUAL REAR CAMERA
Main sensor: 12 megapixels, f / 1.8, 4-axis OIS
Secondary sensor: 12 megapixels, f / 2.4, telephoto
FRONTAL CAMERA
20 megapixels, f / 2.0
CONNECTIVITY
LTE, WiFi 4x4 MIMO, Dual nano SIM, NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, USB-C
BATTERY
3.400 mAh
Quick
charge Qi wireless charging
PRICE
XIAOMI MY 8
| |
|---|---|
DIMENSIONS
|
154.9 x 74.8 x 7.6 millimeters
|
WEIGHT
|
172 g
|
DESIGN
|
Crystal and metal
Rear fingerprint reader Cristal Corning Gorila Glass 4 |
SCREEN
|
AMOLED 6.21 inches
Format 18: 7: 9 FullHD + 2.248 x 1.080 pixels, 402 ppp83.8% ratio p / f |
PROCESSOR
|
Snapdragon 845, 64-bit, 10 nm
Octa-core Kryo 2.8 GHz Adreno 630 GPU |
RAM
|
6 GB LPDDR4x
|
STORAGE
|
128 GB
|
SOFTWARE
|
Android 8.0 Oreo + MIUI 9.5
|
DUAL REAR CAMERA
|
Main sensor: 12 megapixels, f / 1.8, 4-axis OIS
Secondary sensor: 12 megapixels, f / 2.4, telephoto |
FRONTAL CAMERA
|
20 megapixels, f / 2.0
|
CONNECTIVITY
|
LTE, WiFi 4x4 MIMO, Dual nano SIM, NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, USB-C
|
BATTERY
|
3.400 mAh
Quick charge Qi wireless charging |
PRICE
|
Exit the established, follow the fashion, maintain style line or start a new one. Containing all the public in terms of aesthetics is directly impossible because it is a matter of taste, and the path that Xiaomi has taken with the Mi 8 is to join the notch stream without giving up a back that already defined the genetics of the Mi line. .
Like the Mi 6, the Mi 8 reflects the world in its rear window in a very similar way to that of its predecessor, the Mi 6, although updating the design of the double camera with a result very similar to that of the iPhone X ; it ended up integrating them without excelling as we saw in the also in Honor 9 . The protrusion visits the upper left corner of the Mi 8 with the cameras in vertical, with the flash in the middle as a traffic light, keeping the fingerprint reader at the center of the rear and the speaker at the bottom edge.
Edges of aluminum with a matte finish that are the jarring note with the trend, maintaining the curvature in the edges that we saw in the last Mi and that allows the edges to be somewhat narrower than the body in its central part. It differs a little more from the iPhone X and the Huawei P20 Pro , remembering in this last one the Samsung Galaxy S9 + . And although it is relatively compact, it weighs its own, yes (without getting tired).
LG G7 THINQ IPHONE X ONEPLUS 6 XIOAMI MI 8 HUAWEI P20 PRO SAMSUNG GALAXY S9 + HTC U12 + SONY XPERIA XZ2 DIMENSIONS (MM) 153.2 x 71.9 x 7.9 143.6 x 70.9 x 7.7 155.7 x 75.4 x 7.75 154.9 x 74.8 x 7.6 155 x 73.9 x 7.8 158 x 73.8 x 8.5 156.6 x 73.9 x 9.7 153 x 72 x 11.28 SCREEN (INCHES) 6.1 5.8 6.28 6.21 6.1 6.2 6 5.7 FRONTAL SURFACE (CM2) 110.15 101,81 117.4 115,87 114.55 116.60 115,72 110.16 VOLUME (CC) 87.02 78.4 90.98 88.06 89.35 99.11 112.25 124.26 EXPLOITATION 82.6% 82.9% 83.2% 83.8% 81.9% 84.2% 80.3% 80.7% WEIGHT (G) 162 174 177 179 180 189 188 198 BATTERY (MAH) 3,000 2,716 3,300 3,400 4.000 3,500 3,420 3.180
It is true that when we saw it presented , it reminded us a lot of the iPhone X , and reasons were not lacking for the similarities that the renders seemed to have even in the images of the presentation with those of the Apple. But in hand the sensations are completely different (and then we will delve into the software, as well).
The Mi 8 is a compact phone but somewhat larger than the iPhone X (also heavier, as we saw in the previous table), and that extra width emphasizes the feeling that it is less compact. In addition, the grip is different due to the thinning of the lateral edges presented by the Chinese terminal.
At first it reminded us a lot of the iPhone X, but on hand the sensations are very different.
Thus, the aesthetic is not original, we have said that it repeats lines of the Mi 6 and that it adapts to the current fashions of the notch , the metallic edges and the glass back, but for this reason it does not remind us of a specific telephone. It is a well-finished and sober phone (at least in white), which opts for the notch and not for the symmetry to scratch millimeters from the front with the screen, although it is a pity that the camera sticks out when it was not like that before, equaled the back with the protuberance (and maybe differentiating it more from its rival, because this is cloned).
Beyond its appearance, it is a comfortable terminal and although it is somewhat heavy, it does not get tired either. On the front, a greater use of the front by the screen is achieved mainly by the notch, jumping from 71.4 in the Mi 6 to 83.8% in the Mi 8 according to GSM (which does not coincide with the 88.5% that they announced in the presentation, probably for the same thing that already happened with the real ratio of the Mi MIX).
Yes, of what sins due to the materials and their finishes is to slip, that although it does not slip away so much as to let us down, it does make us go more cautiously and / or resort to a cover (which they deliver with the phone, by the way). All buttons are on one side only, with the fingerprint reader on the back and no headphone jack , leaving the base for USB Type C, speaker and microphone.
Exit the established, follow the fashion, maintain style line or start a new one. Containing all the public in terms of aesthetics is directly impossible because it is a matter of taste, and the path that Xiaomi has taken with the Mi 8 is to join the notch stream without giving up a back that already defined the genetics of the Mi line. .
Like the Mi 6, the Mi 8 reflects the world in its rear window in a very similar way to that of its predecessor, the Mi 6, although updating the design of the double camera with a result very similar to that of the iPhone X ; it ended up integrating them without excelling as we saw in the also in Honor 9 . The protrusion visits the upper left corner of the Mi 8 with the cameras in vertical, with the flash in the middle as a traffic light, keeping the fingerprint reader at the center of the rear and the speaker at the bottom edge.
Edges of aluminum with a matte finish that are the jarring note with the trend, maintaining the curvature in the edges that we saw in the last Mi and that allows the edges to be somewhat narrower than the body in its central part. It differs a little more from the iPhone X and the Huawei P20 Pro , remembering in this last one the Samsung Galaxy S9 + . And although it is relatively compact, it weighs its own, yes (without getting tired).
| LG G7 THINQ | IPHONE X | ONEPLUS 6 | XIOAMI MI 8 | HUAWEI P20 PRO | SAMSUNG GALAXY S9 + | HTC U12 + | SONY XPERIA XZ2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIMENSIONS (MM) | 153.2 x 71.9 x 7.9 | 143.6 x 70.9 x 7.7 | 155.7 x 75.4 x 7.75 | 154.9 x 74.8 x 7.6 | 155 x 73.9 x 7.8 | 158 x 73.8 x 8.5 | 156.6 x 73.9 x 9.7 | 153 x 72 x 11.28 |
| SCREEN (INCHES) | 6.1 | 5.8 | 6.28 | 6.21 | 6.1 | 6.2 | 6 | 5.7 |
| FRONTAL SURFACE (CM2) | 110.15 | 101,81 | 117.4 | 115,87 | 114.55 | 116.60 | 115,72 | 110.16 |
| VOLUME (CC) | 87.02 | 78.4 | 90.98 | 88.06 | 89.35 | 99.11 | 112.25 | 124.26 |
| EXPLOITATION | 82.6% | 82.9% | 83.2% | 83.8% | 81.9% | 84.2% | 80.3% | 80.7% |
| WEIGHT (G) | 162 | 174 | 177 | 179 | 180 | 189 | 188 | 198 |
| BATTERY (MAH) | 3,000 | 2,716 | 3,300 | 3,400 | 4.000 | 3,500 | 3,420 | 3.180 |
It is true that when we saw it presented , it reminded us a lot of the iPhone X , and reasons were not lacking for the similarities that the renders seemed to have even in the images of the presentation with those of the Apple. But in hand the sensations are completely different (and then we will delve into the software, as well).
The Mi 8 is a compact phone but somewhat larger than the iPhone X (also heavier, as we saw in the previous table), and that extra width emphasizes the feeling that it is less compact. In addition, the grip is different due to the thinning of the lateral edges presented by the Chinese terminal.
At first it reminded us a lot of the iPhone X, but on hand the sensations are very different.
Thus, the aesthetic is not original, we have said that it repeats lines of the Mi 6 and that it adapts to the current fashions of the notch , the metallic edges and the glass back, but for this reason it does not remind us of a specific telephone. It is a well-finished and sober phone (at least in white), which opts for the notch and not for the symmetry to scratch millimeters from the front with the screen, although it is a pity that the camera sticks out when it was not like that before, equaled the back with the protuberance (and maybe differentiating it more from its rival, because this is cloned).
Beyond its appearance, it is a comfortable terminal and although it is somewhat heavy, it does not get tired either. On the front, a greater use of the front by the screen is achieved mainly by the notch, jumping from 71.4 in the Mi 6 to 83.8% in the Mi 8 according to GSM (which does not coincide with the 88.5% that they announced in the presentation, probably for the same thing that already happened with the real ratio of the Mi MIX).
Yes, of what sins due to the materials and their finishes is to slip, that although it does not slip away so much as to let us down, it does make us go more cautiously and / or resort to a cover (which they deliver with the phone, by the way). All buttons are on one side only, with the fingerprint reader on the back and no headphone jack , leaving the base for USB Type C, speaker and microphone.
Screen: so the notch arrives at Xiaomi
The screen of the Xiaomi Mi 8 is enough for us in every way, even if you do not get on the QHD + train. The demanding retinas will miss perhaps that extra detail that a higher resolution gives, but both for reading and for viewing any content the FullHD + is sufficient and in this case does not disappoint.
Quite well calibrated at the factory in terms of saturation and temperature, although we will not get rid of the color degradations of the AMOLED panels when tilting the screen. Leaving this aside, well in terms of viewing angles , so that we can tilt and tilt the terminal without missing brightness or detail.
MIUI offers us some adjustments that allow us to better adapt some of these parameters to our liking. Without needing to dominate the subject and understand Kelvins and other parameters, the layer gives some options so that we can adapt in a few seconds the temperature, color and contrast to our preferences .
However, it is not the most intuitive menu and we will have to give in when choosing the contrast and the temperature. We will have to leave it in automatic contrast to choose one of the default settings for the temperature, or to select the exact point in the color gradient.
If we choose the automatic mode, the contrast will be adjusted according to the level of light that there is, while if we choose the "increased" we will have more saturated colors due to the increase in contrast. In our opinion, the most comfortable option has been to opt for the automatic , since it remains at an intermediate point between the "increased" and the "standard".
As for the temperature, the panel comes slightly cold from the factory, so given the tools we have pulled the palette and taken the tone of the whites towards the orange-yellow, adding some warmth (the preset "warm" is too warm, as the reading mode as it comes by default).
It is also appreciated among the options available for the screen that there is a double tap to activate and the awakening when raising , which contributes to a better experience with facial unblocking (we will talk about it in detail later). Of course, the ambient screen does not incorporate anything beyond what was previously seen, having limited functionality, and may have taken something more juice since they play the letter of the own software layer.
Good tactile sensitivity and good dose of maximum brightness, although the automatic brightness has some slight hesitations especially if we go from a very bright (maximum brightness) to a less illuminated. It is not annoying in excess because it takes less than a second to adjust, but it is something that could be corrected to improve the experience.
And how about the notch? Well notchtá bad (allow us the joke, once again), but does not provide anything at the functional level. There is no cutter or other according to the side you throw away; will lower the notification regardless of which side we throw.
Notifications that will not appear accumulated in the space left by the notch, and that will simply have their tour in the curtain. The notch, yes, can camouflage if we do not like, ergo users of the club of the TOC, if we prefer a symmetrical front we can have it.
The screen of the Xiaomi Mi 8 is enough for us in every way, even if you do not get on the QHD + train. The demanding retinas will miss perhaps that extra detail that a higher resolution gives, but both for reading and for viewing any content the FullHD + is sufficient and in this case does not disappoint.
Quite well calibrated at the factory in terms of saturation and temperature, although we will not get rid of the color degradations of the AMOLED panels when tilting the screen. Leaving this aside, well in terms of viewing angles , so that we can tilt and tilt the terminal without missing brightness or detail.
MIUI offers us some adjustments that allow us to better adapt some of these parameters to our liking. Without needing to dominate the subject and understand Kelvins and other parameters, the layer gives some options so that we can adapt in a few seconds the temperature, color and contrast to our preferences .
However, it is not the most intuitive menu and we will have to give in when choosing the contrast and the temperature. We will have to leave it in automatic contrast to choose one of the default settings for the temperature, or to select the exact point in the color gradient.
If we choose the automatic mode, the contrast will be adjusted according to the level of light that there is, while if we choose the "increased" we will have more saturated colors due to the increase in contrast. In our opinion, the most comfortable option has been to opt for the automatic , since it remains at an intermediate point between the "increased" and the "standard".
As for the temperature, the panel comes slightly cold from the factory, so given the tools we have pulled the palette and taken the tone of the whites towards the orange-yellow, adding some warmth (the preset "warm" is too warm, as the reading mode as it comes by default).
It is also appreciated among the options available for the screen that there is a double tap to activate and the awakening when raising , which contributes to a better experience with facial unblocking (we will talk about it in detail later). Of course, the ambient screen does not incorporate anything beyond what was previously seen, having limited functionality, and may have taken something more juice since they play the letter of the own software layer.
Good tactile sensitivity and good dose of maximum brightness, although the automatic brightness has some slight hesitations especially if we go from a very bright (maximum brightness) to a less illuminated. It is not annoying in excess because it takes less than a second to adjust, but it is something that could be corrected to improve the experience.
And how about the notch? Well notchtá bad (allow us the joke, once again), but does not provide anything at the functional level. There is no cutter or other according to the side you throw away; will lower the notification regardless of which side we throw.
Notifications that will not appear accumulated in the space left by the notch, and that will simply have their tour in the curtain. The notch, yes, can camouflage if we do not like, ergo users of the club of the TOC, if we prefer a symmetrical front we can have it.
Performance: without blinking and without the maximum RAM you can with everything
There is little surprise in the flask when the most potent ingredients are mixed in the formula. And the reaction has gone well also in the case of the Mi 8 with its Snapdragon 845 and its 6 GB of RAM, components that can spare the most demanding tasks for the system .
There are no lag , stoppages or unexpected closures in the handling of the terminal, both at the level of loading and minimizing apps as well as pulling multitasking. Or if we seek tickling by running heavy apps such as Asphalt 8, Spotify or play with video and photo editing. Yes, we appreciate some slowness in the photo app, but it is probably due to aspects of the software (we will qualify it in your section).
What we will notice quite obviously is the increase in temperature when we run a video game. It does not reach worrying temperatures nor is it too annoying, and it does not take long to cool down if we let it rest, but the materials and the thinness usually favor that the heat does not dissipate so much and we notice it especially on the edges and in the part near the fingerprint reader .
There is not when we leave it playing video or other multimedia content, even if we pull speakers. And when it warms up, we also do not experience any anomalous behavior in the performance or execution of software.
For those who take benchmarks as reference , we leave you the results of the most common tests compared to those of similar components rivals.
XIOAMI MI 8 XIAOMI MI MIX 2S SAMSUNG GALAXY S9 + LG G7 THINQ HUAWEI P20 PRO ONEPLUS 6 IPHONE X PROCESSOR Snapdragon 845 Snapdragon 845 Exynos 9810 Snapdragon 845 Kirin 970 Snapdragon 845 Apple A11 Bionic RAM 6 GB 8 GB 6 GB 4GB 6 GB 8 GB 3 GB ANTUTU 268,966 258,860 253,740 231,526 213,000 261,382 214,526 GEEKBENCH 4 (SINGLE / MULTI) 2.413 / 9.075 2.445 / 8.405 3,781 / 8,942 2.366 / 8.581 1,609 / 6,816 2.465 / 7.744 1.921 / 6.729 PCMARK WORK 7,834 8.247 5,067 8.131 7.185 8.088 - 3DMARK (ICE STORM UNLIMITED) 57,365 - 36,685 - 30.168 50,961 62,297
There is little surprise in the flask when the most potent ingredients are mixed in the formula. And the reaction has gone well also in the case of the Mi 8 with its Snapdragon 845 and its 6 GB of RAM, components that can spare the most demanding tasks for the system .
There are no lag , stoppages or unexpected closures in the handling of the terminal, both at the level of loading and minimizing apps as well as pulling multitasking. Or if we seek tickling by running heavy apps such as Asphalt 8, Spotify or play with video and photo editing. Yes, we appreciate some slowness in the photo app, but it is probably due to aspects of the software (we will qualify it in your section).
What we will notice quite obviously is the increase in temperature when we run a video game. It does not reach worrying temperatures nor is it too annoying, and it does not take long to cool down if we let it rest, but the materials and the thinness usually favor that the heat does not dissipate so much and we notice it especially on the edges and in the part near the fingerprint reader .
There is not when we leave it playing video or other multimedia content, even if we pull speakers. And when it warms up, we also do not experience any anomalous behavior in the performance or execution of software.
For those who take benchmarks as reference , we leave you the results of the most common tests compared to those of similar components rivals.
| XIOAMI MI 8 | XIAOMI MI MIX 2S | SAMSUNG GALAXY S9 + | LG G7 THINQ | HUAWEI P20 PRO | ONEPLUS 6 | IPHONE X | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PROCESSOR | Snapdragon 845 | Snapdragon 845 | Exynos 9810 | Snapdragon 845 | Kirin 970 | Snapdragon 845 | Apple A11 Bionic |
| RAM | 6 GB | 8 GB | 6 GB | 4GB | 6 GB | 8 GB | 3 GB |
| ANTUTU | 268,966 | 258,860 | 253,740 | 231,526 | 213,000 | 261,382 | 214,526 |
| GEEKBENCH 4 (SINGLE / MULTI) | 2.413 / 9.075 | 2.445 / 8.405 | 3,781 / 8,942 | 2.366 / 8.581 | 1,609 / 6,816 | 2.465 / 7.744 | 1.921 / 6.729 |
| PCMARK WORK | 7,834 | 8.247 | 5,067 | 8.131 | 7.185 | 8.088 | - |
| 3DMARK (ICE STORM UNLIMITED) | 57,365 | - | 36,685 | - | 30.168 | 50,961 | 62,297 |
It has rained a lot since that MIUI that made its way into the assortment compendium of layers of manufacturers with a style more iOS than Android stock. MIUI 8 was a change to have interfaces with a line of own style and this was perpetuated with MIUI 9 and the recent MIUI 10 , although the Android 8 Oreo in this terminal is still dressed by version 9.5 of MIUI .
Thus, as we saw already with the Mi MIX 2S MIUI 9.5 retains the minimalist style in menus and fonts of the layer of Xiaomi, modifying both the notification curtain and the settings menu and imposing the desktop as the only space for the apps . Nothing of drawer of applications although we can prefer it; desks to the power and the page of habitual cards in Android and some layers of cards of apps trying to satisfy or anticipate the requirements of the user.
In our case we have tested the Asian ROM and this means some differences beyond the fact that only English is among the available western languages. That is why the experience is somewhat limited (due to linguistic limitations, there are apps entirely in Chinese even if another language is selected) and that we have to install Google Play, which is quite simple as they already explained in Engadget Android . But we've still tried to try everything as much as usual, so let's go there.
The layer does not seem to add excessive weight to the system despite modifying the entire aesthetic and the distribution of elements. It is clear that the hardware we have discussed before will help to avoid delays or jerks in loads or transitions, but we do not see any anomalous behavior in the software beyond a specific event in multimedia playback or a camera app that does seem require more purification .
The warning system for balloon notifications on the icon of the app is maintained, being a resource to indicate possible updates, downloads or active processes that will not always have their strip (and can be adjusted). The manufacturer's own customization affects the notifications and this is not always positive, for example in the case of Spotify, which shows hardly any difference in color between the background of the notification and the playback controls.
As for the own apps, MIUI in its Asian version brings a basket full of bloatware that we can eliminate or not depending on the case. There will be third party apps that we can delete, but some of our own like My Wallet or My Video can not be uninstalled or disabled to not have them in the drawer.
The settings are quite different from those presented by Google software without modifying both aesthetically and in terms of what they offer and the location. They are not too intuitive in terms of finding certain functions, such as specific audio settings, but once we become familiar with them they do not have a complex navigation and we also see somewhat more complete sections with additional settings such as the screen, performance or Battery consumption.
Special mention to the navigation system , since in favor of the use of the screen we can choose to hide the usual button bar and pull gestures. These are very familiar as we saw also in the Mi MIX 2S and are produced similarly to the iPhone X : drag from below to close or for multitasking and a short swipe from the right edge to go back.
The truth is that this navigation is quite comfortable and it takes little time to get used to it even if you are used to having the standard button panel or even physical button. Yes it is true that it would be necessary to tune the swipe from the bottom edge to minimize or for multitasking (for which you have to hold a bit until the strip of apps appears), since sometimes the phone does not perceive it the first and it takes two or three attempts to get out of the app in the foreground.
It has rained a lot since that MIUI that made its way into the assortment compendium of layers of manufacturers with a style more iOS than Android stock. MIUI 8 was a change to have interfaces with a line of own style and this was perpetuated with MIUI 9 and the recent MIUI 10 , although the Android 8 Oreo in this terminal is still dressed by version 9.5 of MIUI .
Thus, as we saw already with the Mi MIX 2S MIUI 9.5 retains the minimalist style in menus and fonts of the layer of Xiaomi, modifying both the notification curtain and the settings menu and imposing the desktop as the only space for the apps . Nothing of drawer of applications although we can prefer it; desks to the power and the page of habitual cards in Android and some layers of cards of apps trying to satisfy or anticipate the requirements of the user.
In our case we have tested the Asian ROM and this means some differences beyond the fact that only English is among the available western languages. That is why the experience is somewhat limited (due to linguistic limitations, there are apps entirely in Chinese even if another language is selected) and that we have to install Google Play, which is quite simple as they already explained in Engadget Android . But we've still tried to try everything as much as usual, so let's go there.
The layer does not seem to add excessive weight to the system despite modifying the entire aesthetic and the distribution of elements. It is clear that the hardware we have discussed before will help to avoid delays or jerks in loads or transitions, but we do not see any anomalous behavior in the software beyond a specific event in multimedia playback or a camera app that does seem require more purification .
The warning system for balloon notifications on the icon of the app is maintained, being a resource to indicate possible updates, downloads or active processes that will not always have their strip (and can be adjusted). The manufacturer's own customization affects the notifications and this is not always positive, for example in the case of Spotify, which shows hardly any difference in color between the background of the notification and the playback controls.
As for the own apps, MIUI in its Asian version brings a basket full of bloatware that we can eliminate or not depending on the case. There will be third party apps that we can delete, but some of our own like My Wallet or My Video can not be uninstalled or disabled to not have them in the drawer.
The settings are quite different from those presented by Google software without modifying both aesthetically and in terms of what they offer and the location. They are not too intuitive in terms of finding certain functions, such as specific audio settings, but once we become familiar with them they do not have a complex navigation and we also see somewhat more complete sections with additional settings such as the screen, performance or Battery consumption.
Special mention to the navigation system , since in favor of the use of the screen we can choose to hide the usual button bar and pull gestures. These are very familiar as we saw also in the Mi MIX 2S and are produced similarly to the iPhone X : drag from below to close or for multitasking and a short swipe from the right edge to go back.
The truth is that this navigation is quite comfortable and it takes little time to get used to it even if you are used to having the standard button panel or even physical button. Yes it is true that it would be necessary to tune the swipe from the bottom edge to minimize or for multitasking (for which you have to hold a bit until the strip of apps appears), since sometimes the phone does not perceive it the first and it takes two or three attempts to get out of the app in the foreground.
XiaoAI: an artificial intelligence that has to go through the language school to see the world
When we talk about the https://www.xataka.com/tag/inteligencia-artificial that apply Huawei and Xiaomi in their products we already commented that for now XiaoAI, the second assistant, would only support Chinese in their output . And so it is for now, coming pre-installed on the phone and sticking to the user interface with its own app.
Unfortunately we are not skilled in the native language of the assistant, but in these cases translators such as Google Translate and some voice recording app can be our friends. Thus, we tried to communicate in Mandarin Chinese with My AI and it served as a very, very initial test.
What we could do is something that attendees often offer in the preloadsbut asking it ourselves: what you can do Xiaoai . Before this question, the assistant prepared a list of tasks linked to the particular function, such as finding information about something, putting alerts on calendars, alarms, suggesting us or telling us something specific, etc.
This, and the fact that we do not find any other access or app that makes reference to artificial intelligence (except the camera app, which we will talk about later), makes us think that it is applied latently without the user have the option to adjust anything, like that function that Xiaomi promised us in MIUI 10 about reducing load times to the maximum by anticipating our behavior. Thus, the experience is close to the one we had in making contact with Google Assitant in Spanish , but it will be necessary to try in a deeper way (if it reaches other locations and languages).
When we talk about the https://www.xataka.com/tag/inteligencia-artificial that apply Huawei and Xiaomi in their products we already commented that for now XiaoAI, the second assistant, would only support Chinese in their output . And so it is for now, coming pre-installed on the phone and sticking to the user interface with its own app.
Unfortunately we are not skilled in the native language of the assistant, but in these cases translators such as Google Translate and some voice recording app can be our friends. Thus, we tried to communicate in Mandarin Chinese with My AI and it served as a very, very initial test.
What we could do is something that attendees often offer in the preloadsbut asking it ourselves: what you can do Xiaoai . Before this question, the assistant prepared a list of tasks linked to the particular function, such as finding information about something, putting alerts on calendars, alarms, suggesting us or telling us something specific, etc.
This, and the fact that we do not find any other access or app that makes reference to artificial intelligence (except the camera app, which we will talk about later), makes us think that it is applied latently without the user have the option to adjust anything, like that function that Xiaomi promised us in MIUI 10 about reducing load times to the maximum by anticipating our behavior. Thus, the experience is close to the one we had in making contact with Google Assitant in Spanish , but it will be necessary to try in a deeper way (if it reaches other locations and languages).
The new facial recognition of the Mi 8
As for most manufacturers that have removed the fingerprint reader from the front, for Xiaomi this has not meant giving up this system, but integrating it in the back, as did Samsung from the Galaxy S8 among others and unlike Apple with the iPhone X. Thus, the Mi 8 integrates fingerprint reader in the back and an advanced facial recognition system in the module for the front camera, after the notch.
We talked about this module recently when comparing the advanced systems that integrate some mobile devices, going beyond what the front camera provides, and pulling infrared and other complementary technologies that add depth (and data, after all) to the Face recognition
What we saw in the case of the Mi 8 is that it integrates a proximity sensor, the front camera and the camera and the infrared emitter . It seems to be similar to the Face ID, although we do not know if the points of the mapping are the same and what type of distance sensor Apple implements, but the experience is similar, at least.
The system does not take long to make the 3D map of the face , which is always good to do with an adequate dose of light, without backlighting and on a flat background. Once the data is saved, the system recognizes our face even if we change aspects such as hair or add glasses, either by sun or by sight.
It has some problems if the light hits directly on it, having to reorient the terminal so that the Sun is at its back and our face in favor of the illumination. But it works very well in low light and even in almost absolute darkness : here you only need at times that the reading is forced or reactivated with the start button if it is not done as usual, with the simple movement of lifting the terminal (taking activated the lighting of the ambient screen with said movement).
Very good experience with the biometric release systems of the Mi 8. Both the footprint and the face allow a quick and apparently safe unlocking, which always helps make the general use experience more pleasant and comfortable.
As for most manufacturers that have removed the fingerprint reader from the front, for Xiaomi this has not meant giving up this system, but integrating it in the back, as did Samsung from the Galaxy S8 among others and unlike Apple with the iPhone X. Thus, the Mi 8 integrates fingerprint reader in the back and an advanced facial recognition system in the module for the front camera, after the notch.
We talked about this module recently when comparing the advanced systems that integrate some mobile devices, going beyond what the front camera provides, and pulling infrared and other complementary technologies that add depth (and data, after all) to the Face recognition
What we saw in the case of the Mi 8 is that it integrates a proximity sensor, the front camera and the camera and the infrared emitter . It seems to be similar to the Face ID, although we do not know if the points of the mapping are the same and what type of distance sensor Apple implements, but the experience is similar, at least.
The system does not take long to make the 3D map of the face , which is always good to do with an adequate dose of light, without backlighting and on a flat background. Once the data is saved, the system recognizes our face even if we change aspects such as hair or add glasses, either by sun or by sight.
It has some problems if the light hits directly on it, having to reorient the terminal so that the Sun is at its back and our face in favor of the illumination. But it works very well in low light and even in almost absolute darkness : here you only need at times that the reading is forced or reactivated with the start button if it is not done as usual, with the simple movement of lifting the terminal (taking activated the lighting of the ambient screen with said movement).
Very good experience with the biometric release systems of the Mi 8. Both the footprint and the face allow a quick and apparently safe unlocking, which always helps make the general use experience more pleasant and comfortable.
Cameras: differing from his twin MIX with the front
The double rear camera is already almost a constant in smartphones of high and medium range, especially if as Sony seems to get on the bandwagon with its next flagship and if Google did the same with the Pixel. And the Xiaomi Mi 8 maintains the combination of 12 megapixel sensors in the back , with the main one with optical image stabilization and aperture f / 1.8 and the secondary one, a TV with aperture f / 2.4, probably the same one that incorporates the Mi MIX 2S of a Sony IMX363 (with 1.4 μm pixels) and the Samsung S5K3M3 telephoto.
On the front we have a camera with a 20 megapixel sensor with 1.8 μm pixels, unlike the 5 megapixel camera of the Mi MIX 2S. It is accompanied by infrared sensors for facial recognition, but not for everything that includes the Explorer edition, so we do not have MIUI animojis. Mind you, there are beauty tools, as well as portrait mode on both sides.
Before seeing what the cameras of the Mi 8 are capable of, we will take the usual tour of the app. In this case perhaps something more significant, given that the final experience has been very dependent on the behavior of the latter, which has not been as expected.
The double rear camera is already almost a constant in smartphones of high and medium range, especially if as Sony seems to get on the bandwagon with its next flagship and if Google did the same with the Pixel. And the Xiaomi Mi 8 maintains the combination of 12 megapixel sensors in the back , with the main one with optical image stabilization and aperture f / 1.8 and the secondary one, a TV with aperture f / 2.4, probably the same one that incorporates the Mi MIX 2S of a Sony IMX363 (with 1.4 μm pixels) and the Samsung S5K3M3 telephoto.
On the front we have a camera with a 20 megapixel sensor with 1.8 μm pixels, unlike the 5 megapixel camera of the Mi MIX 2S. It is accompanied by infrared sensors for facial recognition, but not for everything that includes the Explorer edition, so we do not have MIUI animojis. Mind you, there are beauty tools, as well as portrait mode on both sides.
Before seeing what the cameras of the Mi 8 are capable of, we will take the usual tour of the app. In this case perhaps something more significant, given that the final experience has been very dependent on the behavior of the latter, which has not been as expected.
Camera app
The incisive customization of Xiaomi was not going to leave out the camera app, especially when it comes to accommodate own functions that would have no presence in the Android Stock app . Aspects like the adjustment of contrast and saturation, that we already saw in previous versions, or the direct button of artificial intelligence that crowns the interface for automatic triggering.
The navigation is intuitive and you can easily find the options that are not in the main plane , where luckily we have a button for the HDR that other interfaces hide between the settings, making their use less comfortable. It changes from sliding mode to right and left, having at the end of the whole manual, which allows adjusting the shutter speed, focus, ISO, white balance and with which lens we want to shoot, whether with the main one or with the TV.
The adjustments are quite complete to see salpimentados with more options than usual, as we said, with those presets to shoot with something more or less contrast, saturation or sharpness if factory levels are not to our liking. The best thing is to try all this before starting the photography sessions , to be able to leave it in place without having to stop to adjust it when shooting.
On paper it is quite good, but when handling it we have found a quite irregular behavior that in some cases has affected the final result of the shots . The gestures are not always well interpreted and it is quite regular to zoom, especially during videos (you can see them later in the samples), and the manual mode requires more swipes than it seems.
The shot is produced slowly , and this means that night shots or selfies indoors or portrait mode are moved and / or poorly focused. Although the worst thing is that the orientation of the photographs and videos taken is not always respected, which leaves us with the possibility to edit them a posteriori from the app itself (as if you can edit the blur of the photos with portrait mode ), and that the app is blocked from time to time, having to restart the terminal since it is not enough just to close it.
This fortunately happens in a timely manner and may be associated with the fact that it is a recently updated software, given that it has not happened to us with other experience with this app, so we hope that these are aspects that can be corrected by updating in the future. For the rest, all the commands work well and we can activate and deactivate the HDR or the AI without lags or stoppages.
The incisive customization of Xiaomi was not going to leave out the camera app, especially when it comes to accommodate own functions that would have no presence in the Android Stock app . Aspects like the adjustment of contrast and saturation, that we already saw in previous versions, or the direct button of artificial intelligence that crowns the interface for automatic triggering.
The navigation is intuitive and you can easily find the options that are not in the main plane , where luckily we have a button for the HDR that other interfaces hide between the settings, making their use less comfortable. It changes from sliding mode to right and left, having at the end of the whole manual, which allows adjusting the shutter speed, focus, ISO, white balance and with which lens we want to shoot, whether with the main one or with the TV.
The adjustments are quite complete to see salpimentados with more options than usual, as we said, with those presets to shoot with something more or less contrast, saturation or sharpness if factory levels are not to our liking. The best thing is to try all this before starting the photography sessions , to be able to leave it in place without having to stop to adjust it when shooting.
On paper it is quite good, but when handling it we have found a quite irregular behavior that in some cases has affected the final result of the shots . The gestures are not always well interpreted and it is quite regular to zoom, especially during videos (you can see them later in the samples), and the manual mode requires more swipes than it seems.
The shot is produced slowly , and this means that night shots or selfies indoors or portrait mode are moved and / or poorly focused. Although the worst thing is that the orientation of the photographs and videos taken is not always respected, which leaves us with the possibility to edit them a posteriori from the app itself (as if you can edit the blur of the photos with portrait mode ), and that the app is blocked from time to time, having to restart the terminal since it is not enough just to close it.
This fortunately happens in a timely manner and may be associated with the fact that it is a recently updated software, given that it has not happened to us with other experience with this app, so we hope that these are aspects that can be corrected by updating in the future. For the rest, all the commands work well and we can activate and deactivate the HDR or the AI without lags or stoppages.
Rear cameras
The experience with the rear cameras has been a bit bittersweet due to these incidents with the app, but also due to some particularities of the results. The photography of the main cameras looks very comfortable in the macro , with realistic colors, good level of saturation and contrast, a detail that is not as affected as we expected by the lowering of light or even the night, and a manual mode which allows us to fully challenge the minimum focusing distance and achieve very accurate blurs without pulling automatic help.
In general, the shots are also realistic in terms of color , perhaps somewhat low in saturation (but we can increase a degree in adjustments, as we have said). There is also the AI, which as we saw in Huawei with the P20 Pro and in ASUS with the ZenFone 5 when it identifies a daytime scene outdoors (be it general shot, foreground or macro) usually interprets that you want more saturation.
What the AI does will discuss in detail below, but first it should be said that what is missing is the detail , both in the main planes and in the background and backgrounds, even in broad daylight. At night this is always accentuated and also the noise makes an appearance, although if the lighting of the scene is compensated and it is not an element too far away, the shot is saved.
The manual mode can be helpful also at night , although it should be noted that there is a small fault in the preview because the shutter speed setting is not reflected. This will make us do it always by intuition and it usually costs at least a couple of shots to guess the exposure, especially if we take the opportunity to adjust the ISO.
On this parameter, the mobile phone seems to tend to shoot with high ISO (this data is not reflected in the metadata of most night photographs or does it with questionable values above even ISO 80,000), finding enough noise in photographs during the blue hour although without being an alarming amount. Of course, the AI understands it as incorrect and tries to correct it , leaving at the end a photograph with watercolors.
The one that helps to define, in addition to correcting dynamic ranges in both the rear and the front, is the HDR mode , which can be activated at the same time as the AI if desired. A good ally to achieve more detail in night photography without excessive sharpening or having to resort to manual mode, although it has the peak (highlights the area focused) at night will always cost something more focus.
The experience with the rear cameras has been a bit bittersweet due to these incidents with the app, but also due to some particularities of the results. The photography of the main cameras looks very comfortable in the macro , with realistic colors, good level of saturation and contrast, a detail that is not as affected as we expected by the lowering of light or even the night, and a manual mode which allows us to fully challenge the minimum focusing distance and achieve very accurate blurs without pulling automatic help.
In general, the shots are also realistic in terms of color , perhaps somewhat low in saturation (but we can increase a degree in adjustments, as we have said). There is also the AI, which as we saw in Huawei with the P20 Pro and in ASUS with the ZenFone 5 when it identifies a daytime scene outdoors (be it general shot, foreground or macro) usually interprets that you want more saturation.
What the AI does will discuss in detail below, but first it should be said that what is missing is the detail , both in the main planes and in the background and backgrounds, even in broad daylight. At night this is always accentuated and also the noise makes an appearance, although if the lighting of the scene is compensated and it is not an element too far away, the shot is saved.
The manual mode can be helpful also at night , although it should be noted that there is a small fault in the preview because the shutter speed setting is not reflected. This will make us do it always by intuition and it usually costs at least a couple of shots to guess the exposure, especially if we take the opportunity to adjust the ISO.
On this parameter, the mobile phone seems to tend to shoot with high ISO (this data is not reflected in the metadata of most night photographs or does it with questionable values above even ISO 80,000), finding enough noise in photographs during the blue hour although without being an alarming amount. Of course, the AI understands it as incorrect and tries to correct it , leaving at the end a photograph with watercolors.
As for the portrait mode , the result is also somewhat irregular but generally quite good. It correctly defines the foreground in well-lit scenes and when the contrast and distance with the background are favorable, but in backlighting, interiors and shadows it shows more problems when detecting the main subject or the distance to it, indicating that there is a lot 2.5 meters but without that I have just detected the corrections if we move in order to get it right.
We will know that it is operative by the appearance of an indicator ("Depth Effect"), or it will indicate why it will not be applied, either by distance or by light conditions, being inactive at night and in low light. Forcing at the end we manage to apply it when it pushes insistently and still usually get it right, with little problem on edges and applying a quite natural blur(which can be adjusted a posteriori).
And with regard to the role of artificial intelligence , on the one hand it is well implemented at the level of the user's interface and choice, without putting it in automatic mode and with a direct button that works very well. But what we see in general is that it involves applying corrections of questionable taste according to the type of scene (whose identification appears on the icon of the app representing what it identifies), which are summarized in a saturation bonus for shooting in natural environments or the noise correction we saw in the night.
The telephoto lens adds a plus to the experience for those cases in which we want to approach something more to the element without compromising quality too much. But although the result is good it does not get to excel as in the case of the P20 Pro.
As for the portrait mode , the result is also somewhat irregular but generally quite good. It correctly defines the foreground in well-lit scenes and when the contrast and distance with the background are favorable, but in backlighting, interiors and shadows it shows more problems when detecting the main subject or the distance to it, indicating that there is a lot 2.5 meters but without that I have just detected the corrections if we move in order to get it right.
We will know that it is operative by the appearance of an indicator ("Depth Effect"), or it will indicate why it will not be applied, either by distance or by light conditions, being inactive at night and in low light. Forcing at the end we manage to apply it when it pushes insistently and still usually get it right, with little problem on edges and applying a quite natural blur(which can be adjusted a posteriori).
And with regard to the role of artificial intelligence , on the one hand it is well implemented at the level of the user's interface and choice, without putting it in automatic mode and with a direct button that works very well. But what we see in general is that it involves applying corrections of questionable taste according to the type of scene (whose identification appears on the icon of the app representing what it identifies), which are summarized in a saturation bonus for shooting in natural environments or the noise correction we saw in the night.
The telephoto lens adds a plus to the experience for those cases in which we want to approach something more to the element without compromising quality too much. But although the result is good it does not get to excel as in the case of the P20 Pro.
Frontal camera
The experience with the front camera is quite good in general , with a good level of detail when the light is abundant and saving well the situation in low light, backlight and night. The dynamic range has room for improvement, but the HDR is here a good help saving burned skies automatically and without being aggressive in the foreground, without excessive contrast or leaving a dramatic result.
We have a series of beauty tools beyond the usual regulator, as is usual in the layers of Asian manufacturers . We can add an automatic preset in five degrees, or apply modifications in eyes, nose and specific parts of the face.
The portrait mode works quite well and is more tolerant than the back in terms of the types of scene, maybe because in this case it is entirely software because there is no double camera. It usually detects us well, but the focus fails mainly in backlighting and if we do not realize we can be left with slightly out of focus shots in the foreground.
The experience with the front camera is quite good in general , with a good level of detail when the light is abundant and saving well the situation in low light, backlight and night. The dynamic range has room for improvement, but the HDR is here a good help saving burned skies automatically and without being aggressive in the foreground, without excessive contrast or leaving a dramatic result.
We have a series of beauty tools beyond the usual regulator, as is usual in the layers of Asian manufacturers . We can add an automatic preset in five degrees, or apply modifications in eyes, nose and specific parts of the face.
The portrait mode works quite well and is more tolerant than the back in terms of the types of scene, maybe because in this case it is entirely software because there is no double camera. It usually detects us well, but the focus fails mainly in backlighting and if we do not realize we can be left with slightly out of focus shots in the foreground.
See full gallery »Xiaomi Mi 8, photographs (27 photos)
Video
In the case of the video, good ingredients correspond better with a good result, also with some stumbling that seems to result from that irregular behavior of the app. Thus, we have videos with a very good degree of sharpness and realistic colors , correcting well at the level of dynamic range if we change the plane and with a stabilization that compensates very well for shaking and rapid movements.
At night the quality is maintained and we find very good shots given the conditions, both in 1080p and 4K. Of course, what we have to take care of is not to cover the microphone when holding the phone, which we can do by accident with the lower part of the hand
The front camera also behaves quite well , with a worse dynamic range than the main ones, but maintaining the level of detail until the scene becomes darker, with watercolors appearing (within expectations). It is noted that there is no optical stabilization and if we look for the tickling there is some deformation when changing quickly from plane or when taking very moving shots.
In the case of the video, good ingredients correspond better with a good result, also with some stumbling that seems to result from that irregular behavior of the app. Thus, we have videos with a very good degree of sharpness and realistic colors , correcting well at the level of dynamic range if we change the plane and with a stabilization that compensates very well for shaking and rapid movements.
At night the quality is maintained and we find very good shots given the conditions, both in 1080p and 4K. Of course, what we have to take care of is not to cover the microphone when holding the phone, which we can do by accident with the lower part of the hand
The front camera also behaves quite well , with a worse dynamic range than the main ones, but maintaining the level of detail until the scene becomes darker, with watercolors appearing (within expectations). It is noted that there is no optical stabilization and if we look for the tickling there is some deformation when changing quickly from plane or when taking very moving shots.
If we take a look at their most direct opponents (in the table that we put in the design section, the same), the Mi 8 does not go wrong with milliamperes / hour for its dimensions and with respect to these. It does not reach the 4,000 mAh of the Huawei P20 Pro, but at least it goes from 3,000 mAh reaching almost 3,500 mAh, integrating a larger one than the OnePlus 6 , the iPhone X, the LG G7 ThinQ and even the Sony Xperia XZ2 , which It weighs and occupies much more than the Xiaomi.
We have had a good experience with the battery, with autonomies that surpass the day in a habitual way and arriving at 6 hours of screen
However, as we always point out at this point the numbers are not everything and in addition to the milliamperes / hour is the management of consumption at the software level, as well as the different types of use, the connection to the networks and even the temperature. With all this in the end we had a good experience, with autonomies that exceed the day as usual and reaching 6 hours screen.
There are some optimization tools in the settings corresponding to the battery, although they are summarized in the saving mode, in closing the active apps in the background and in guiding the user a bit on issues such as brightness, automatic opening of the app, GPS activity or activation of that saving mode. The system detects the "problems" active for consumption, although here include aspects such as uploading files or playing multimedia in the background, so if we give to solve these processes will also be closed (obviously they have a consumption).
On the other hand, it also compensates that the battery takes around the hour and 40 minutes to load completely , from 0 to 100% and with the terminal off (with the charger that comes in the pack). In short, the experience is good at the level of autonomy, with fast charges, compensated and without pulling external batteries or miss having a nearby plug.
If we take a look at their most direct opponents (in the table that we put in the design section, the same), the Mi 8 does not go wrong with milliamperes / hour for its dimensions and with respect to these. It does not reach the 4,000 mAh of the Huawei P20 Pro, but at least it goes from 3,000 mAh reaching almost 3,500 mAh, integrating a larger one than the OnePlus 6 , the iPhone X, the LG G7 ThinQ and even the Sony Xperia XZ2 , which It weighs and occupies much more than the Xiaomi.
We have had a good experience with the battery, with autonomies that surpass the day in a habitual way and arriving at 6 hours of screen
However, as we always point out at this point the numbers are not everything and in addition to the milliamperes / hour is the management of consumption at the software level, as well as the different types of use, the connection to the networks and even the temperature. With all this in the end we had a good experience, with autonomies that exceed the day as usual and reaching 6 hours screen.
There are some optimization tools in the settings corresponding to the battery, although they are summarized in the saving mode, in closing the active apps in the background and in guiding the user a bit on issues such as brightness, automatic opening of the app, GPS activity or activation of that saving mode. The system detects the "problems" active for consumption, although here include aspects such as uploading files or playing multimedia in the background, so if we give to solve these processes will also be closed (obviously they have a consumption).
On the other hand, it also compensates that the battery takes around the hour and 40 minutes to load completely , from 0 to 100% and with the terminal off (with the charger that comes in the pack). In short, the experience is good at the level of autonomy, with fast charges, compensated and without pulling external batteries or miss having a nearby plug.
A mobile shy about the sound
There was no mention for the subject of the audio in the presentation and we had to wait to try it to be able to verify that the Mi 8, unlike the Mi MIX 2S, has mono and not stereo output . The sound is emitted by the speaker that is next to the USB type C connector on the lower edge, keeping the symmetry with the slots for the microphone.
What we may miss at first glance here is the audio jack, which we did not see in the Mi 6 either. Although as in all the phones of the brand, a 3.5 mm connection adapter is included for can use conventional wired headphones if we do not have USB type C or Bluetooth.
The fact that it is not stereo output impoverishes the experience a bit, leaving a somewhat flat sound . Beyond that we have a less immersive experience, they are missing bass, having an audio something lacking in nuances and of medium quality. Volume is not bad, reaching a maximum of 99.2 decibels, although we will always have better experience if we leave something below (more or less to 90%).
In addition, if we opt for the external speaker experience something similar to what we described with the iPhone 7 , since the vibration of the emission of sound is transmitted to the entire terminal and we will notice it enough if we have it in hand during playback. It is not excessively annoying, but it is more noticeable than in other cases, perhaps because you want to take advantage of the chassis as a sounding board.
For the headphones we find a series of adjustments that can improve the experience more than the one that already implies the fact of resorting to them. The sound is much better if we choose this, with more depth and compensation of bass and treble, especially if we activate the option Mi Sound enhancer.
We have tried it with headphones that are not Xiaomi, but there are available preconfigurations for the different models of the brand, and also has the equalizer so that the user can customize to a greater degree. For these (the Apple EarPods) the option to customize buttons was not available (probably for compatibility reasons), but when it comes to compatible headphones we can change the action of the physical buttons of the headphones.
There was no mention for the subject of the audio in the presentation and we had to wait to try it to be able to verify that the Mi 8, unlike the Mi MIX 2S, has mono and not stereo output . The sound is emitted by the speaker that is next to the USB type C connector on the lower edge, keeping the symmetry with the slots for the microphone.
What we may miss at first glance here is the audio jack, which we did not see in the Mi 6 either. Although as in all the phones of the brand, a 3.5 mm connection adapter is included for can use conventional wired headphones if we do not have USB type C or Bluetooth.
The fact that it is not stereo output impoverishes the experience a bit, leaving a somewhat flat sound . Beyond that we have a less immersive experience, they are missing bass, having an audio something lacking in nuances and of medium quality. Volume is not bad, reaching a maximum of 99.2 decibels, although we will always have better experience if we leave something below (more or less to 90%).
In addition, if we opt for the external speaker experience something similar to what we described with the iPhone 7 , since the vibration of the emission of sound is transmitted to the entire terminal and we will notice it enough if we have it in hand during playback. It is not excessively annoying, but it is more noticeable than in other cases, perhaps because you want to take advantage of the chassis as a sounding board.
For the headphones we find a series of adjustments that can improve the experience more than the one that already implies the fact of resorting to them. The sound is much better if we choose this, with more depth and compensation of bass and treble, especially if we activate the option Mi Sound enhancer.
We have tried it with headphones that are not Xiaomi, but there are available preconfigurations for the different models of the brand, and also has the equalizer so that the user can customize to a greater degree. For these (the Apple EarPods) the option to customize buttons was not available (probably for compatibility reasons), but when it comes to compatible headphones we can change the action of the physical buttons of the headphones.
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