I have to tell the truth, it has been a long time since I had spent several times during the day watching a smartphone for his beauty and, after the nubia Z11 and Xiaomi Mi MIX I found another device that has me hex for its design, let's talk about the new one Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition. The latter shares most of the technical specifications with the My 8, except for some aspects. Let's find out together in our full review!
Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition Review
Unboxing
The sales package is very accurate and the unboxing experience is definitely satisfying. Inside we find the following equipment:
- Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition;
- USB data transfer cable - USB Type-C;
- wall-mounted power supply with Chinese plug and 3.0 Quick Charge;
- pin for the SIM slot;
- USB Type-C mini-jack adapter;
- booklet for instructions.
Design and construction
Lo Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition present an crafts, a construction and dimensions identical to those of Xiaomi Mi 8in fact we are talking about 154.9 x 74.8 x 7.6 millimeters for a weight of 177 grams.
La maneuverability it is not the top if you use a single hand, also because the glass back cover makes it a little bit slippery. For the rest we confirm the opinions already expressed for the Xiaomi Mi 8 regarding the solidity and resistance of the device.
The real ones newsHowever, they are mainly 4:
- elimination of the fingerprint sensor on the back in favor of one below the display;
- insertion of a scanner for the facial release in 3D;
- battery from 3000 mAh, instead of 3400 mAh;
- transparent back cover with 3D print of the internal components.
Regarding the latter I must say that the Glance It's really impressive. In fact, it was a long time since I was fascinated so much by a smartphone. Plus i red details on the dual rear camera, in the USB Type-C input and on the Power button are the goodies that really make the difference.
Below we find the USB Type-C input, the system speaker and the main microphone flanked by the microphone useful for the reduction of environmental noise that, instead, is placed on the upper profile. On the right side there is the volume rocker and the power button, unlike the left one where the Dual Nano SIM slot resides, which does not provide the possibility to expand the memory.
Frontally we find the notch that integrates the scanner for the 3D facial unlocking, the camera for selfies, the capsule and the sensor of brightness and proximity, while on the back cover is the dual camera with dual LED flash.
Display
Lo Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition can boast of a display Super AMOLED da 6.21 inches diagonal with resolution Full HD + (2160 x 1080 pixels), relationship 19.5:9, density of PPI 402 and protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5.
Nothing to complain about this panel since the quality is excellent, the colors are vivid, the deep blacks and the viewing angles are very good, although in this case the whites tend slightly to the yellow.
If we are not satisfied with the color balance we can always adjust it to our liking within the settings. Furthermore, the reading mode.
Obviously the function is present Always-On, which will allow us to see schedules and notifications without having to necessarily unlock the smartphone (NB: we will see the icons of the notifications, we will not be able to read the content of the message).
Unfortunately, a very negative aspect still concerns the fact that on the left of the notch we will only find the time and we will not be able to see the notifications which we have received. If the device is unlocked, we'll see some of it fluctuate from time to time, but nothing more.
Hardware and Performance
To move it Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition we find the same chipset as the My 8, but with different memory cuts, or a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, which is inclusive of a processor octa-core with a maximum clock frequency of 2.8 GHz, a GPU Adreno 630, 8 GB di RAM LPDDR4X, 128 GB di internal memory UFS 2.1 not expandable via microSD.
The smartphone is very quick e reactive, we do not really encounter problems of any kind since the memories are very fast, that the processor is currently the spearhead of the US giant and that the MIUI 10 it is an excellent interface that will allow us to move smoothly between the various applications.
Performance also excellent Gaming both with lighter games like Clash Royale that with heavier titles like PUBG, which runs perfectly with details at most.
Camera
Lo Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition has a dual rear camera with a sensor from 12 mega-pixels with aperture f / 1.8 and dimensions of 1 / 2.55 " and another telescopic sensor from 12 mega-pixels with opening f / 2.4 and dimensions of 1 / 3.4 ", both accompanied by a dual Flash LED. In short, it is always the same that we have seen on Xiaomi Mi 8.
In conditions of good brightness we have some very detailed photos, a incisive natural bokeh and colors worthy of note. Quality automatic management of theHDR that manages to intervene always at the right time.
In many situations theartificial intelligence goes to optimize the final result thanks to the recognition of the scenes, although in the evening it can not guarantee big improvements.
La Portrait mode still can not convince me because of an effect a bit 'too artificial and not always accurate, while it is very good zoom 2X.
As far as the shots at night, quality drops and digital noise becomes more visible. We have good photos as always, but they can not reach the level of some top in the industry like Huawei P20 Pro.
Frontally we have a sensor from 20 mega-pixels with opening f / 2.0 which reflects practically the characteristics mentioned above: beautiful photos in the daytime, but that go a bit 'in crisis at night with little brightness, because if we are well lit the results are not bad at all.
The dual room can boast of one optical stabilizer at 4 axes that we can appreciate especially in the videos. In fact, the latter can be registered up to the maximum quality 4K a 30 FPS and the results are very good thanks also to one fast focus.
Audio and connectivity
The audio output from the lower speaker guarantees us a good balance of frequencies and a level power. In fact, the presence of bass is heard, especially with good headphones where the audio will surprise you.
Too bad for theabsence of the mini jack, which is a problem that even today it is difficult to digest.
Regarding the reception we can count on the support of the 20 band and on Dual 4G with LTE Cat.16. In fact, from this point of view we did not find any kind of problem, reception is excellent as well as connectivity Wi-Fi a / b / g / n / ac, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, and Dual-frequency GPS / A-GPS / GLONASS for greater precision in satellite navigation.
Release sensors
As already said in the opening, the Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition renounces the back fingerprint sensor in favor of a frontal one located below the display. The latter will need to memorize the impression enough slow and, moreover, it turns out to be average accurate.
I state that if you have a clean finger and position it correctly, then the release is done in quickly e smoothly. The problem arises if your finger is a little umido o dirty, then there you have to do a couple of attempts before the operation is successfully completed. We can say that the release is successful 8 times on 10.
As for the other method, unlike the Xiaomi Mi 8, here is a scanner for the facial recognition 3Dinstead of 2D. In terms of security it is undoubtedly better, but at the speed level this seems slightly lower. No problem, however, at night or with sunglasses.
Software
Being a product not intended for the European market, we do not find on board nor the Italian language, nor the pre-installed Google services. In fact, the latter, in fact, have caused me some problems too much, because although I have installed them through theApp Store di XiaomiI initially did not synchronize my contacts Google. Although I tried to give all the appropriate permissions and examined as many settings as possible, the situation did not change until I reset the smartphone and re-installed the installation procedure Google services. On the second try everything went well and I could use it Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition like a classic device present in Europeif only it were not for the notifications.
This is also a sore point of devices intended for the Asian market only. In fact, despite having managed the best permissions and settings related to notifications, sometimes it happens that the smartphone you miss some too much notification.
However on board we find the MIUI 10 Chinese stable (10.0.6.0) based on Android 8.1 and with 1 August 2018 security patch.
La fluidity and speed of this ROM è very good, because we do not encounter bugs or lag of any kind and the smartphone runs very well. In addition, there are many customizations such as:
- Second Space to separate the work space from the private one;
- gestures to remove the on-screen keys;
- Notch: the notch can be hidden via software to have a more uniform display
- We Cloud: synchronization in Cloud of contacts and photos;
- App Clone which allows you to duplicate two applications to use for example two accounts Whatsapp o WeChat on the same device;
- App Block to lock with password the opening of specific applications;
- Quick Ball to navigate within the interface via a floating button;
- Security Center which includes all customizations for the management of privacy, battery and performance with different to be able to set;
- Game speed booster: excellent gaming mode that will increase performance by limiting unnecessary processes in the background. In addition, notifications will be displayed with a thin transparent bar, perfect not to disturb us during the game sessions.
However, the critical derive from other aspects, which have not been improved when it has passed since MIUI 9.5 to the MIUI 10:
- First and foremost is the impossibility to monitor which notifications have arrived, both when the smartphone is unlocked and when it is locked. It will be necessary to lower the curtain of the quick toggles to be able to view them.
- There is still that thin line of a few millimeters between the notch and "the beginning" of the application which turns out to be a choice poco aesthetics.
Instead, the bug that inserted a was fixed virtual notch when he was activating the one hand mode and other small bugs.
Autonomy
With respect to Xiaomi Mi 8, on this smartphone we have a battery with well 400 mAh in less, or a unit from 3000 mAh. In spite of everything autonomy is very good, as with intense use one can get one medium di 5 hours of active screen.
Charging takes place in approx 1 20 hours and minutes through the supplied power supply.
Conclusions
In short, this Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition shares many things with it Xiaomi Mi 8, maybe too many. This fact leads us to think that such a high expense is not so much justified for one fingerprint sensor below the display and one 3D scanner at the expense of one smaller battery. Also, I would also add the software factor that goes to affect not poco on the final result.
This device is without a doubt one of the most beautiful that I've ever tried in the last few years, but maybe it's not worth it 600 € (in flash sale or with coupons) requested by GearBest to bring it home, since the My 8 it guarantees us same performance, but about 200 euro less.
Obviously, if you were some lovers of unusual products or collectors So this is a device that you can not miss thanks to his uniqueness e beauty.
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