Still the familiar Xiaomi, Xiaomi 8 detailed review

Xiaomi officially released its 8th anniversary product, the Mi 8 series, at the Shenzhen Universiade Center on May 31, 2018, including the Mi 8, Mi 8 Transparent Explorer Edition, and Mi 8 SE. We at AiGeJi got a sample of the Mi 8 for review. As the Snapdragon 845 model with the lowest starting price on the market, what other advantages does the Mi 8 have besides price? What are its shortcomings compared to its competitors? Let's take a look.
Specifications

As usual, let's take a look at the relevant parameters of Xiaomi 8. In addition to the parameters listed in the table, by querying the hardware information of the real Xiaomi 8, the 128GB version of UFS is provided by Samsung, the fingerprint recognition module is the FPC1020 series, the audio chip is the WCD934X standard of Snapdragon 845, and the front infrared camera of Xiaomi 8 is OV7251 provided by OmniVision.

Xiaomi's first notch screen

Xiaomi Mi 8 uses a special-shaped full screen. This is not only the first time Xiaomi uses the so-called "notch screen" in this series, but also the first time Xiaomi's entire mobile phone product line uses it. Regarding the use of the "notch screen", Lei Jun said at the press conference that it will not be ugly after seeing it more. After all, most domestic manufacturers are popularizing the "notch screen" on their own models. If you really don't like it, Xiaomi still has the regular MIX 2S to choose from.

Although both are “notch screens”, there are still differences in border control. The border control of Xiaomi 8 is not outstanding, and it is slightly behind that of OV manufacturers. Compared with the newly released OnePlus 6, the four sides are slightly thicker. The advantage should be that the screen is relatively more resistant to falling. At the same time, because Xiaomi 8 has more components packed into the “notch” (infrared lighting components and infrared cameras), it occupies a larger space, squeezing the space of the notification bar, resulting in Xiaomi 8 being unable to display any notification information (same as iPhone X) except for the resident time, WiFi, signal strength and battery (it cannot display the percentage), which is very annoying.

The back uses the four-curved glass + metal frame design of Xiaomi 6. Since the regular version of Xiaomi 8 does not have an under-screen fingerprint recognition and "Face ID", it uses the same rear fingerprint recognition as MIX 2S. The dual camera modules are arranged in a vertical manner. These familiar elements have already appeared on MIX 2S. The difference from the small-screen Xiaomi 8 SE is the treatment of the R angle. Xiaomi 8 and Xiaomi 8 transparent exploration version are known as "perfect R angles", which are more rounded overall.

The final result is that the combination of various elements of Xiaomi 8 inevitably leads to a problem in appearance: it is similar to Apple's iPhone X. Although there are countless new phones with "notch screens", they are more or less different from iPhone X in the back or overall design. Xiaomi 8 may be the model most similar to iPhone X, and the Xiaomi 8 transparent explorer version without rear fingerprint recognition is even more similar.

Samsung AMOLED used for the first time

Because of the notch screen and the addition of the fingerprint under the screen, Xiaomi 8 chose the AMOLED panel provided by Samsung. Here are the parameters of this screen: 6.21-inch screen size, FHD+ (2248x1080, 18.7:9 ratio) resolution, 430 nits typical brightness (maximum 600 nits), DCI-P3 color gamut, support for HDR and off-screen display AOD. Basically, all the functions are provided, but the "never" option is cancelled in the system lock screen time, and only a maximum setting of 10 minutes is provided, which should be set to prevent screen burn-in.

The AMOLED screen of Xiaomi 8 is actually quite good, close to most 1080P AMOLEDs. If you look closely, you can feel the difference with 2K AMOLEDs. As for the flicker and details of AMOLED screens, different people have different feelings. Users who mind it are advised to experience it offline before making a decision. The current market environment is like this. If you don't want to accept AMOLED screens, you can turn to consider models such as MIX 2S and HTC U12+ that still insist on LCD screens.

According to the measured data, the screen of Xiaomi 8 is tuned to be cooler in all three modes: 7400K in adaptive mode, 7430K in screen enhancement mode, and 6720K in standard mode. In terms of color accuracy, compared with OnePlus, which provides DCI-P3 and sRGB "running score" modes, Xiaomi can only say that it is still the same. The average DeltaE of adaptive mode in sRGB color gamut is 4.7, and that in P3 color gamut is 4.9; the average DeltaE of screen enhancement in P3 color gamut is 3.4; and the average DeltaE of standard mode in sRGB color gamut is 3.5. This color accuracy performance is indeed not an excellent level. It is a normal performance among domestic flagships. I also hope that Xiaomi can work harder on screen color accuracy.

Although the color accuracy of the Xiaomi Mi 8 screen is not very good, the color gamut is still normal. Thanks to the characteristics of the AMOLED screen, the Xiaomi Mi 8 can cover more than 100% of the sRGB color gamut in adaptive mode, reaching 91% DCI-P3; in screen enhancement mode, it reaches 106.9% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, and in standard mode it can also cover 100% sRGB. The manual maximum brightness reaches 406 nits, and in burst mode (automatic brightness and strong light stimulation), it can reach 542 nits. After further reducing the display area, it reaches 734 nits, which is a little different from the official 600 (HBM)/430 (typ).

The Snapdragon 845 with the highest running score?

Xiaomi Mi 8 uses Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 as SoC. The regular version has only 6GB of memory, and only the transparent explorer version has 8GB, which should be the same as MIX 2S. Because the test machine is pre-installed with MIUI 10 top-secret version, it is subject to some restrictions. Most of the running software such as GeekBench and 3DMark cannot run normally, but according to the Pi and RAR tests, Xiaomi Mi 8's Snapdragon 845 performs normally and does not perform exceptionally well.

Xiaomi Mi 8 uses Samsung's UFS 2.1 storage chip (KLUDG4U1EA). The actual reading and writing data speeds are comparable to those of other models that also use UFS. It is worth noting that Xiaomi Mi 8 has achieved a write speed of 130MB/s in random writes, which has a certain advantage over most of its competitors.

Of course, Lei Jun specifically mentioned at the press conference that Xiaomi Mi 8's Snapdragon 845 can achieve an AnTuTu score of over 300,000 points under the development version of MIUI, so we decided to give it a try. However, reality is always cruel. The latest version of AnTuTu's score is over 260,000, which did not reach the 300,000 advertised at the press conference. It seems that if we want to achieve the highest score, Xiaomi will have to push new firmware later.

With MIUI 10 based on Android 8.1 and Snapdragon 845, there is no need to worry about the smoothness of Xiaomi 8, and Xiaomi has also focused on improving the hand tracking. Compared with MIUI 9, MIUI 10 has made more updates in the UI, the most obvious of which is the design of the multitasking interface and notification bar. Xiaomi's engineers are also very "honest" and even kept the "bangs" in one-handed mode, which is a bit ridiculous.

The infrared face recognition added by Xiaomi 8 is very practical. Whether in bright light or in pitch darkness, you can unlock your face without any pressure. Compared with other competitors who set up fill light for face unlocking at night, the infrared lighting and infrared camera in the "bangs" of Xiaomi 8 are obviously more perfect. For more information about the changes in MIUI 10, please watch "The strongest domestic ROM? Xiaomi MIUI 10 easy to use experience".

Better photo taking than iPhone X

In terms of dual cameras, Xiaomi Mi 8 has the same hardware as Mi Mix 2S, with a dual 12MP combination (IMX363+S5K3M3). The reason why it achieved better results than Mi Mix 2S in DxO Mark is due to the improvement of the algorithm. So does Xiaomi Mi 8 deserve a high score of 105 points for photography?

Daytime scene:

Lighting scenes:

Low-light scenes:

HDR Comparison:

To summarize the photography of Xiaomi Mi 8, the HDR part inherits the problem of Mi Mix 2S that "in low light, automatic HDR will degrade the picture". After triggering HDR in low light scenes, the tolerance is not improved, the smearing is more forceful, and some details will be erased. The white balance and saturation of Mi Mix 8 are very close to those of Mi Mix 2S, mainly because the contrast is improved, but it is difficult to detect without comparing them together. The exposure of light and low light scenes is lowered and the sharpening is strengthened, but the degree is very slight. These changes have slightly improved the resolution (the result of algorithm polishing). Now Xiaomi can surpass iPhone in resolution, and can compete with Samsung S9 + in many scenes, but the accuracy of metering and white balance, the effect of automatic HDR and other details need to be improved. For a more detailed comparison of photography, please refer to "Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S-iPhone X-S9 + Photography Review".

QC4+ charging and battery life

Xiaomi Mi 8 is equipped with a 3400mAh battery, while the Mi 8 Explorer Edition has a reduced capacity of 3000mAh. Perhaps this is the price of showing off. The battery capacity of Xiaomi Mi 8 is the same as that of Mi MIX 2S, which is the average level of current Snapdragon 845 models (except for the Black Shark gaming phone which is equipped with 4000mAh). The battery life performance should not be a concern.

After our regular 2-hour battery life test (30 minutes of large-scale games, 30 minutes of wifi and 4G Internet access, and 30 minutes of local video playback), Xiaomi 8 finally had 78% of power remaining, which is the "bottom" among all Snapdragon 845 models. A careful comparison shows that Xiaomi 8 consumes the most power in the game session, which should be related to its aggressive game scheduling, resulting in increased power consumption. Although it is said to be "bottom", such a battery life result is no problem with one charge per day under normal use.

The built-in charger can reach up to 18W fast charging

The QC4+ charger can only reach a fast charging power of 16W

There are two major differences between Xiaomi Mi 8 and Mi Mix 2S in terms of charging: first, it does not support wireless charging; second, it supports the latest Qualcomm QC4+ fast charging for wired charging (the default charger is QC3.0, and QC4+ needs to be purchased by yourself). Using the official charger to charge it from 5% to 100%, it takes 15 minutes to charge to 23%, 30 minutes to charge to 44%, and 1 hour to charge to 85%. It takes a total of 1 hour and 41 minutes to fully charge, which is 6 minutes slower than Mi Mix 2S with the same battery size.

Comparing the charging curves of the QC4+ charger and the official charger, we can see that the Xiaomi Mi 8 does not have any speed improvement when using the QC4+ charger. Whether it is short-term charging or long-term charging, QC4+ has no advantage. Users who are not obsessive-compulsive can directly use the official fast charging charger. There is no need to equip Xiaomi Mi 8 with a QC4+ charger.

Compared with the Snapdragon 845 models that are also equipped with fast charging, the Xiaomi 8 is the slowest of the four machines. The fastest short-term fast charging is still the OnePlus 6 equipped with low-voltage and high-current Dash Charge. However, the Black Shark with the largest battery capacity is the fastest to be fully charged.

Tail

Now it’s time to decide whether to buy it or not. Since it’s related to buying, we naturally have to consider the price. The starting price of Xiaomi 8 is only 2,699 yuan, which maintains the usual cost-effective approach. There are no obvious shortcomings in terms of screen, performance, photography, and battery life. If you can accept the appearance of Xiaomi 8, then it is undoubtedly the most cost-effective Snapdragon 845 model and is worth buying.

If we have to mention the shortcomings of Xiaomi 8, there are many, such as the appearance is not good, the lack of wireless charging, the "notch" is quite annoying, there is no headphone jack, there is no 8GB memory version (please consider the transparent Explorer Edition), etc., but please remember that this is a Snapdragon 845 model with a starting price of less than 2,700 yuan. No one is perfect, and no phone is perfect. Just consider whether you can tolerate those shortcomings at such a price.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.