The big question for the Xiaomi India enthusiasts will be whether the company will bring the Mi 8 to India?
Xiaomi is all set to celebrate its eighth anniversary on 31 May. The anniversary event to be held in Shenzen, China, is set to see the launch of the next flagship from Xiaomi, which is the Mi 8, along with a rumoured anniversary edition version of the Mi 8. In addition to this, there are speculations about the launch of the Mi Band 3 and on the software front, the MIUI 10 will see a launch on the same day as well.
While Xiaomi may be launching multiple things, we all know that the one thing that almost everyone will be curious about is the Mi 8. As is the case with most flagship smartphone launches, online leaks, and sometimes company official accounts themselves, reveal a lot about the product. To the extent that the event is just looked forward to for knowing the price point. We have seen this repeatedly with the Apple iPhone X last year, with the Samsung Galaxy S9/S9 Plus this year and more recently with the OnePlus 6 as well.
The big question for the Xiaomi India enthusiasts will be whether the company will bring the Mi 8 to India? The last Xiaomi flagship that saw an Indian release was the Mi Mix 2 and the Xiaomi Mi 5 before it. We never saw the Mi Mix 2s or the Mi 6 or any of the Mi Note series devices launched in India. Will the Xiaomi Mi 8 also be a China-0nly product? This is something we will find out on 31 May, but till then let us see all that we know about the Xiaomi Mi 8 so far.
Launch date
The launch date for the Xiaomi Mi 8 was confirmed by none other than Donovan Sung, who is the global spokesperson for Xiaomi.
Chipset and RAM
Xiaomi had announced during the launch of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC late last year, that its next flagship would be housing the Snapdragon 845, so that is known. The SoC is reported to be equipped with 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB or 128 GB of internal storage. There are also reports of an 8 GB RAM variant of the device.
Display
The Xiaomi Mi 8 is expected to come with a 6.2-inch FHD+ display (1080 x 2280 pixels) with a 19:9 aspect ratio. Earlier there were rumours of a 6.01-inch display as well. A leak from Techienize also claims that the Mi 8 will come with an in-display fingerprint scanner, like the one we have seen on the Vivo X21 UD. In fact, there was a video leak which showed a device with the MIUI interface on it and having an in-display fingerprint reader as well.
Dual camera setup
Xiaomi has already launched the Redmi Note 5 Pro with dual camera setup, a design arrangement for which it got a lot of flak for the close resemblance to the dual camera arrangement on the Apple iPhone X. The Xiaomi Mi 8 is also expected to be coming with a dual camera setup. The Mi 8 will reportedly sport a dual-camera setup which will be a combination of a 20 MP (f/1.7 aperture) and 16 MP (f/2.0 aperture) sensors. On the front, there will most likely be a 16 MP selfie camera as well with an f/2.0 aperture.
3D facial recognition coming to Android?
Taking to its official Weibo account, Xiaomi’s latest teaser image dropped yet another hint about the Mi 8, which was being deciphered as a new unlocking method that the phone will come with. According to a report by GizmoChina, the only thing unclear here was what exactly was Xiaomi referring to. While some thought Xiaomi was referring to a 3D facial recognition system, others suggested that it could be the use of an in-display fingerprint scanner.
An image shared on Weibo which apparently shows the insides of Mi 8’s notch also seems to reveal that Xiaomi may have come up with a 3D facial recognition system. As seen in the image, Xiaomi’s facial recognition technology looks identical to how it works the Apple iPhone X, complete with a front camera, earpiece, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, an infrared lens, a flood illuminator and a dot projector. If indeed true, the Xiaomi Mi 8 will be the first Android device to be coming with such a notch setup.
Operating System and Battery
Xiaomi Mi 8 will most likely be coming with Android 8.1 with the MIUI 10 skin atop it. Xiaomi has confirmed that the announcement of the MIUI 10 is part of the Xiaomi anniversary celebrations according to reports. Given that the Mi 8 will be launched at the same event, it could be safe to say that the Mi 8 could be the first smartphone to come with MIUI 10 pre-installed. In terms of battery capacity, the speculations hint at a 4,000 mAh battery.
Pricing
According to a leak reported by GizmoChina, the Xiaomi Mi 8 will come in two variants. There will be a 6 GB RAM and 64 GB storage variant that will be priced at CNY 2,799 (approximately Rs 28,000), and the 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage model that will cost CNY 3,199 (approximately Rs 34,000). The 8 GB RAM variant might be the Mi 8 Anniversary Edition device.
This is a developing story, so we will be adding more leaks as and when then pop up, so that this is your one stop resource for everything to do with the Xiaomi Mi 8. Till the official launch on 31 May that is.
