Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite is a Camera-Focused Midranger With a Premium Design

Xiaomi has finally announced the Mi 8 Lite (leaked as Mi 8 Youth) at an official press conference in China.

This phone is the lower specc’d version of the company’s flagship Xiaomi Mi 8, and comes with a notched design on a 19:9 display. It does not have an in-display fingerprint sensor, it has simply been mounted on the rear.

Let’s see whether it can defeat competition in its price bracket,

Design & Display

The Mi 8 Lite has to be one of the cheapest glass-body smartphones out there. It has a notch on the front to house the earpiece as well as the selfie shooter. The fingerprint is on the rear much like most midrange devices these days, while the reflective body has been designed using a mirror nano-dip plating process, much like Huawei’s P20 Pro.

While unveiling the phone, Xiaomi compared the Mi 8 Lite with the iPhone XR, pointing out the fact that the Chinese brand’s phone is much lighter, slimmer and has a smaller notch on the display. The thinner bezels mean a higher screen-to-body ratio.

Xiaomi is already on a roll to compare its services with Apple. It recently took a shot on the American giant for selling super-expensive iPhones, by offering value-for-money bundles of smart devices with the same names as the new iPhones – XR, XS, and XS Max –  and for the same price.

For the new Mi 8 Lite’s display, the company packed 6.26-inch FHD+ (1080 x 2560) panel, that has a trendy aspect ratio of 19:9.

Hardware & Storage

Beneath the shiny covers, the Mi 8 Lite is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC, one of the best midrange chipsets, that has a 10nm architecture. It couples with an Adreno 512 GPU, and has an octa-core arrangement.

RAM/storage options are 4/64 GB, 6/64 GB, and up to 6/128 GB storage.

Camera & Software

The new Xiaomi phone takes on the latest trends and includes a dual camera arrangement on the rear. The company went with a horizontal strip to house the two cameras, with a 12MP primary sensor and a 5MP depth sensor. Both cameras work together with AI to add background blur to your photos.

The front camera has AI capabilities as well, and shoots selfies at 24MP resolution. The sensor is a Sony IMX576, with an aperture of f/2.2.

As for the software, the phone runs Xiaomi’s MIUI on top of Android Oreo, right out of the box.

Battery, Price, & Availability

Xiaomi included a decent 3,350 mAh battery with fast charging support. Mi 8 Lite is the first Xiaomi phone to have a gradient color theme, with color options of Dream Blue, Twilight Gold, and Black.

Pricing starts at CNY 1,399 (~Rs. 25,000), which is not bad at all for a decent midrange device, with new features, a notch, and a shiny glass-body design. Actually, this has to be one of the best phones in this price.

Mi 8 Lite will be available for pre-booking from today in China. Official shipping will start on 25th of September in the country.

Mi 8 Lite Specifications

• CPU: Octa-core
• GPU: Adreno 512
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 660
• OS: Android 8.1 Oreo with MIUI
• Networks: 2G, 3G, 4G LTE
• Display:
  • 6.26” with FHD+ (1080 x 2560 resolution, 19:9 aspect ratio
• Memory:
  • RAM: 4/6/8 GB
  • Internal: 64/128 GB
• Camera:
  • Primary: 12 MP + 5 MP f/1.9, AI support
  • Secondary: 24 MP f/2.2
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0, microUSB 2.0 with OTG, dual-band Wi-Fi ac, GPS
• Fingerprint sensor (rear-mounted)
• Battery: 3,350 mAh; Fast-charging supported
• Price: ~Rs. 25,000