Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite Review

Overview

This year's Xiaomi Mi flagship series happened to be quite expansive. One of the latest additions to it is the Mi 8 Lite known in China as 小米8 青春版, which is literally translated as Mi 8 Youth Edition. Similar to the Mi 8 SE after its launch, the Mi 8 Lite attracted lots of attention mainly because it offers what Xiaomi does best - excellent performance and affordable price in a premium design package. So without further ado, let's start our Mi 8 Lite review with the model's specifications.

Specifications

Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite features a 6.26-inch IPS display from Tianma with a resolution of 1080 x 2280 pixels (FHD+) and a notch. It graces an elegant body made of aluminium alloy and glass. Power is supplied by a 3350 mAh battery with a 5V/2A charger and Quick Charge 3.0 support. The camera department includes two rear and front shooter. The main rear camera combines a 12MP Sony IMX363 Exmor RS sensor with an f/1.9 lens and is aided by phase detection AF with Dual Pixel, dual LED flash, and EIS for 1080p videos at 30 fps or lower. The secondary rear camera employs a 5MP Samsung S5K5E8 and is used for shooting portraits. The front-facing shooter packs a 24.8MP Sony IMX576 Exmor RS sensor and supports facial unlock. Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite is based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 AIE (MSM8976 Plus) system-on-chip. It houses eight Kryo 260 CPU cores, four of which tick at 2.2GHz and the other four - at 1.84GHz. The graphics department is managed by an Adreno 512 GPU. The model is equipped with 4GB/6GB/8GB of double-channel LPDDR4X RAM clocked at 1866MHz and 64GB/128GB of eMMC 5.1 internal memory, which can be expanded with up to 256GB. The Mi 8 Lite has a hybrid, dual-SIM card slot and supports the following network bands: 2G GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), 2.5G CDMA 800 MHz, 3G W-CDMA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz), 3G TD-SCDMA (1900, 2000 MHz), 4G LTE (850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2600 MHz), and LTE-TDD (1900, 2000, 2300, 2500, 2600 MHz). The model supports LTE Cat. 18 speeds with 2x2 MiMO and dual-SIM VoLTE. Its wireless connectivity options include dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Bluetooth 5. It works with GPS, GLONASS and Beidou for satellite positioning and is equipped with a USB Type-C 2.0 port with OTG support. No 3.5 mm jack and no infrared port. There's a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor from Fingerprint Cards (model FPC1291). The Mi 8 Lite runs on MIUI 9.6 based on Android 8.1 Oreo with the Xiao AI voice assistant.

Complete Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite specifications.

What's in the box

Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite is placed in a rectangular box with the MI Logo and model name on top of the lid. The lid itself is in a gradient colour from red-orange to pink-purple. On the back of the box, there's a sticker with some of the basic features and certifications of the device. Inside, the handset is placed on the top compartment and below it, all the accessories are placed, including the following:

• 5V/2A fast charger (US plug)
• USB Type-C data cable
• Transparent protective case for the back tinted in black
• SIM tray pin
• Quick start guide
• Warranty card