The Xiaomi Mi8 Explorer Edition is the top-of-the-line
variant of the Xiaomi Mi 8 flagship. It has an in-display fingerprint scanner,
a face unlock feature and a transparent back (which doesn't show you the real
motherboard). It also comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of native storage. The
regular version of the Mi 8 sports a plain ol' fingerprint scanner and is
available with 6GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB/256GB of storage. That is, until now.
Today, Xiaomi announced a new variant of the Mi 8
with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of native storage. It is priced at the equivalent of US$ 478, which is the same price that Xiaomi is asking for the unit with 6GB
of RAM and 256GB of storage. That means a consumer ready to spend the money can
choose between a bit less memory and twice the storage, or more memory and half
the storage.
Even though this new Mi 8 version matches the 8GB
and 128GB of the Mi 8 Explorer Edition, they are not the same phones. The
Xiaomi Mi 8 features a 6.21-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080 x
2248 (FHD+). Under the hood is the Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform and there is
a dual camera setup on back (12MP +12MP). A 20MP front-facing camera handles
selfies and video chats, and keeping the lights on is a 3400mAh battery. MIUI
9.5 is pre-installed and runs on top of Android 8.1.
If you want a Xiaomi Mi 8 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB
of native storage, you no longer have to pay the equivalent of US$ 543 for the
Explorer Edition. As long as you don't care about an in-display fingerprint
scanner, a transparent back and face unlock, you can now grab a regular Mi 8
with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage for roughly US$ 55 less.
