Like previous versions, it comes in a black cardboard box. The upper part has an eight engraved, indicating that it is a Mi8. In the lower part are the general characteristics and the CE logo (European Conformity), meaning that it meets the minimum legal and technical requirements regarding safety.
As we open it, we see a box. Inside is a micro USB to 3.5mm jack adapter for headphones, the skewer to open the card slot, and a transparent TPU one. It also includes a small user guide.
Below, we find the phone with the screen down to let us see the transparent back.
Design and Screen
This Xiaomi has little to envy for other phones. It draws attention to its transparent finish on the back. Constructed of aluminum and glass, its design is exquisite. But despite being an update, this model still maintains the same notch size (upper tab with the camera and speaker) on the screen.
As for its dimensions, it measures 74.8 mm wide, 154.9 mm high, and has a thickness of 7.6 mm, which makes its weight 175g, being very light in hand.
As for the quality of the screen, it mounts a 6.21-inch AMOLED panel with a Full HD + resolution of 1080×2248 pixels, and the density of pixels per inch is 402. It has rounded edges in the corners and a 2.5D rounded glass with protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5. Even so, I would recommend putting a glass or tempered glass to protect it against scratches, although, as we will see in the unlock test, this will cancel the screen’s fingerprint sensor. The aspect ratio is 19:9 and has a usable area of 83%. These features are the same as the Xiaomi Mi8.
The screen quality is outstanding. The colors are very intense (DCI-P3) with high definition (103% NTSC) and HDR support. The brightness is also excellent (600nits), and the contrast is 60000:1. In addition, the software allows us to calibrate the screen’s color depending on our needs.
As we have mentioned, the front of the device stands out for its notch. It has a call speaker, a small white notification LED, and a selfie camera with facial recognition.
But what stands out the most is the on-screen fingerprint reader. It works fine when making a slight pressure on the screen. After trying to unlock it with different tempered glass, the result is disastrous. I have not been able to open it once, even having configured the fingerprint with the glass on. On the other hand, with water, the result is just as bad.
This fingerprint sensor will light up when we touch the screen, but it must be spotless for it to work.
Software
This Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro comes with the MIUI 9 customization layer, upgradable via OTA (automatic update via notification) to MIUI 10. This version is based on Android 8.1.0 Oreo, but I do not doubt that it will be updated to Android soon. 9 Foot.
It is a form of Global operating system with translations into many languages, including Spanish, Catalan, Galician, and Basque.
It is effortless to use. All the applications will appear on the main screen, although if you need to organize them better, you can group them into folders. We can also configure the navigation buttons to appear or to interact by gestures.
This version brings Google services, including the Google Play app store, YouTube, Maps, and Gmail.
On the other hand, and as usual, due to the agreements of the Xiaomi company, this phone adds some promoted applications such as Joom, Facebook, and the Amazon application. However, we do not restrict the apps; they can be uninstalled without any problem.
This unlocking technology is relatively safe since it prevents us from deceiving the sensor with photos or videos.
If you want to know how this sensor works in depth, you can visit the Xiaomi Mi 8 classic review.
It has the “Always on Display” mode that makes us have the lock screen illuminated all the time, showing the time. The biggest problem is that it consumes a lot of battery.
After running the Malwarebytes antivirus and since it is the global version, no malicious applications have been found, and we can confirm that it is entirely safe.
Power and Hardware
This phone incorporates the latest hardware on the market. Therefore, before installing applications, we have run the AnTuTu performance test to indicate the total performance of the phone and make it easier for us to compare it with others.
In this case, after submitting it to the AnTuTu Benchmark v7 application with the phone practically as it comes from the factory, it has achieved a score of 289,409. This is one of the best figures we can get with an Android device.
Like the classic version, it has the high-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. It is a 64-bit processor with 8 Kryo cores and a maximum speed (clock frequency) of 2.8GHz. In addition, it is accompanied by a Qualcomm Adreno 630 graphics card with a frequency of 710MHz.
