Introduction
The Mi 8 Lite was announced alongside the Mi 8 Pro more than a month ago. The Mi 8 Lite is considered the ‘baby brother’ of the Mi 8 in the lineup. It’s a ‘budget’ version of the Mi 8. This unit is a global version; therefore, Google Play and its services are available on this phone and functioning as it should be. This is the Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite review!
Unboxing
The phone comes with the box and all its accessories. The package design of the phone is simple and nothing out of the norm. Simple aesthetics, simple design, what could go wrong? Nothing.
Accessories like the AC Adapter, USB – C cable, SIM ejector, phone case and audio jack to USB-C converter are included and packed neatly in the box.
Design
The phone looks like it’s the younger brother of the Mi 8. The phone has an above average build quality, it does not feel cheap. The black color on this phone is a deep black that blends the screen and bezels well, making the screen looks bigger than it should be.
However, there is still a notch on the top of the screen but it’s slightly smaller than the notch on the Mi 8. The screen is a great screen, the colors are vibrant enough but not overly saturated and the screen feels responsive to the touch. There is a good amount of screen real-estate during entertainment usage like watching videos etc. The screen size does not feel overly large like some phones and is considered, personally, the perfect size for a mobile phone.
Camera
The rear cameras do not disappoint, they are both Sony lenses and coupled with a smart AI by Xiaomi, the photos are surprisingly amazing. I used this phone as my daily during Christmas and look at all the pictures taken with this phone.
Casual photography is now made even better with this phone, you don’t even need to be a photographer now.
User Experience
The UI of the phone is rather intuitive. Upon first use, the UI feels natural to me since I’m an avid Android user for most of my life. The graphics and icons are simple and easy to identify. Overall, a decent user interface that is easy to use for the most part. My only gripe with this is sometimes the UI is sluggish when switching between apps, even with this 6GB model.
As for ports, the phone only has a single USB-C port, and has no audio jack, giving you that #donglelife.
Performance
Normally, I don’t game on mobile phones, but casual games like Fallout Shelter and Pokemon Go works fine and ultimately, smooth for me. There are no slow load times and transitions and it’s still responsive to the touch. Even though CPU-Z indicates the phone has a Snapdragon 636 processor, the phone actually packs a Snapdragon 660 processor.
So far there are no heat issues with the phone during normal usage. It only gets a little warm after several hours of YouTube binge watching or some gaming.
Pricing & Availability
The pricing and availability of the Mi 8 Lite were announced during the store launch of Mi Store in Pavilion Bukit Bintang. The price of the phone varies on the specifications. The 4GB RAM + 64GB Storage variant retails at RM999 and the 6GB RAM + 128GB variant retails at RM1,299.
Final Words
Personally, this phone checks all the boxes for its price range; a solid screen with not over-the-top color saturation, decent performing internals, an amazing camera for its price and a competitive price for its rivals. It is suited as a budget phone for users who take a lot of photos with his/her phone. The phone is capable enough to capture high-quality images for content use. Overall, this phone is a great bang for your buck camera phone with great quality for the price.