For the past several days, Xiaomi has been on a promotional blitzkrieg on social media about the upcoming Shenzhen Conference 2018, where highly anticipated Mi 8, Mi Band 3 and more products are slated for launch. With just a day before the event, the company has released a poster hinting at the international markets where the flagship phone will be introduced.
In an official teaser on Twitter, Xiaomi has posted numerical eight with different iconic monuments of eight countries — Pyramids (Egypt), Taj Mahal (India), Sagrada Familia Basilica (Spain), Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italy), Saint Basil's Cathedral (Russia), Eiffel Tower (France), Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica (Vietnam), Wat Benjamabhopit (Thailand)—suggesting Mi 8 will be released in these markets soon after the China launch.
Xiaomi recently forayed in France and Italy. Now the teaser tends to suggest that fans in Europe will soon get to buy the company's latest flagship Mi 8. Also, the placement of Taj Mahal photo also indicates that Xiaomi, despite getting a lackluster response to Mi Mix 2, and the Mi 5 before that, has not given up hope in India.
The company has been maintaining a lead over the former leader Samsung in the last three fiscal quarters thanks to popular Redmi and Redmi Note series phones. Now, they will be banking on old Xiaomi device owners, who have the first-hand experience of their products and hopefully would upgrade to the flagship Mi 8.
Xiaomi Mi 8: What to expect
Xiaomi Mi 8 is the successor of the Mi 6. It's probably due to the fact that numerical 7, is considered as inauspicious in Chinese culture. Furthermore, the seventh month (July) of the calendar year is called as Ghost month.
Rest assured Xiaomi Mi 8 will be a worthy successor to the Mi 6 and will come with top-of-the-line hardware to give a serious challenge to the recently launched OnePlus 6, Samsung Galaxy S9, Google Pixel 2 and HTC U12+, among others.
The Mi 8 is expected to sport a blend of metal-and-glass cover on the back and a 6.01-inch FullView display with a notch on the top as well as a 3D face scanner to enable FaceID, similar to the iPhone X by Apple, and Animoji features. It is also said to come with water-and-dust certifications, but IP rating is yet to be ascertained.
Additionally, Xiaomi Mi 8 is also expected to come with in-display fingerprint sensor similar to Vivo X21.
Under-the-hood, it is said to come with Snapdragon 845 octa-core, Qualcomm's latest and most powerful CPU series to date. It will be backed by 6GB/8GB RAM, 64GB/128GB/256GB storage, Android Oreo-based MIUI 10 and a 3,300mAh battery.
As far as the camera is concerned, Mi 8 will come packed with dual-camera setup—20MP+16MP—with LED flash, 4K video recording, Bokeh blur effect and a feature-rich 16MP front snapper with facial recognition sensors.
Xiaomi Mi 8 price is expected to start at CNY 2,799 (approx. $435/€376 or Rs 29,406). There are rumours that the company might unveil a low-end model Mi 8 SE with watered down specifications.
We just have to wait till the afternoon of May 31 to find out what the company has in store for fans.
