Hey guys, I’m Roland the Techusiast – and today, we are going to take a look at the
Xiaomi Mi 8 – the latest flagship from the not so well known, giant manufacturer.
About 5 days ago, I’ve asked Xiaomi if they would be kind enough to send over their latest
flagship for a review – but the answer was a no.
So, I decided to go ahead and risk a purchase from eBay, and 2 days later – here we are.
So far I’ve only used the Mi 8 for a couple hours, so this video is only going to focus
at my first impressions and quick findings so far – if you’re interested about the
full review, subscribe – so you don’t miss it when it goes live on the channel.
The unboxing experience is clean and very basic.
Upon opening the box, you’ll find the manuals and a black case – which I certainly appreciate
a for number of reasons – more about that in just a second.
Next to the case, we can also find a 3.5mm to USB-C adapter which is a welcome addition
– not only because the Mi 8 doesn’t sport a headphone jack, but also due to its price.
It only costs roughly $420 or about £330 for the base model – which is what I have
in front of me.
Other than the case, headphones adapter, there is only a charging plug and a USB-C cable
inside the box – no headphones or anything else – but at this price, this packaging
is more premium than you would expect – and for that, well done Xiaomi.
The Mi 8 has a beautiful full front and glass panel and a 7000 series aluminium body.
The front seems to only be a single glass panel while the back is a 2.5D curved glass
panel.
It’s beautiful sure, but its also a fingerprint magnet and way too slippery.
I’ve only put it on my desk so far but when I received a notification and it started vibrating
– it nearly fell off - now you see why I really appreciate the provided case inside
the box.
There’s a speaker on the bottom, alongside the USB-C port and a single down firing speaker.
The volume rocker and the power button is on the right side.
The rear fingerprint sensor seems to work fast, but I often found it a hit-and-miss
so far – we’ll find out how it performs on a daily basis next week or so.
By now, you have most likely noticed that it has a notch – but it’s not usual notch
– It cannot only be hidden via software, but it’s’ also big and takes up a large
amount of space – just like on the iPhone X.
That’s because Xiaomi has actually managed to put a 3D face unlock feature inside it
with Infra sensors and such – it’s extremely fast, but again – we’ll find out how reliable
it is in the full review.
It comes with the latest Qualcomm 845 chipset with 6GB of RAM and storage variants of 64/128/256GB.
I currently have the 64GB model here.
The dual camera is definitely something I can’t wait to test out.
I am looking forward testing the 2X optical zoom, portrait mode and the High Dynamic Range
– and overall its performance.
I’ve asked you guys on social media to ask questions that you want to find out about
the Mi 8 – so here we go.
This one is from Twitter, from Crazey Hazey – Is it easy to use?
Yes – I’m already used to the gesture navigation and everything else is pretty customisable.
The phone feels exceptionally premium and it’s pretty much for those that don’t
want or cannot spend 600 plus pounds or dollars on high-end devices.
Here’s another one from Instagram, from spacepapi – I guess that’s how you say
it: He asks “How close is it to stock Android?”
– Well, Xiaomi is well known for using its MIUI – a custom skin on top of Android that
is very heavily skinned and feature packed – and pretty lightweight, at the same time.
You can however use the Xiaomi theme store to customise the device to your likings – that
is, if you use the launcher that came with the device – I personally prefer Nova Launcher,
so I’ll stick with that for now – but I’ll give the stock one a try while testing
it.
So, that’s all of the questions that I can answer so far, having used this device only
for a couple hours or so.
Don’t forget to check out Techusiast.com if you want to find out all of the specifications
and other information about the Xiaomi Mi 8 – also don’t forget to subscribe, so
you don’t miss the full review that’s coming very soon – All that said, thank
you for watching, stay tuned – I’ll see you next time.