Review of Xiaomi Mi 8 SE – The new space for upper mid-range?

Let's dive into Xiaomi's latest offering between the match of compact and flagship...

Unbox-ed

Design

The overall design of the phone is premium looking and feels great with aluminum side frame and a glass back. However, it does not support wireless charging. Which kind of irony as Xiaomi does sell a model that supports wireless charging that is Xiaomi Mix 2S. Mi 8 SE's bigger brother Mi 8 also does not support wireless charging capability. :(

The phone comes in four colors - Golden; Dark Grey; Bright Red (which I'm reviewing at) and Navy Blue (new trend for Xiaomi which available in Xiaomi Mi MAX 3)

Specifications

The Mi 8 SE offers the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 SoC along with 2 variants - 64GB with 4GB RAM or 6GB RAM. A Super AMOLED screen at the screen size of 5.88-inch with 18.7:9 aspect ratio and sharp 1080 x 2244 pixels resolution. The phone is powered by a standard battery size of 3120mAh and runs on Android 8.1 Oreo on top of MIUI 9.

Phone makers are generalized the lack of 3.5mm headphone jack even on the budget line-up. Good news is that it bundled with headphone adapter for all the audio lovers. Wired free lovers do not worry, the phone came with APT-X enabled for clearer sound.

Over my usage of 2 weeks, Mi 8 SE has the most consistent performance and battery life has last me around 4 to 5 hours screen on time (SOT) at ~20% end of the day. I felt the Snapdragon 710 has the equivalent performances of Snapdragon 835 that means its something deserves to applause for.

Camera

Rear dual camera setup was found at the back with 12mp main sensor + 5mp depth sensor and the front 20mp camera located at notch area that enables a better selfie photo quality. The camera on Mi 8 SE is AI enabled for smart detection of scenery and objects. Image quality may be too overexposure in certain lighting condition with some tweaks here and there; the better image can achieve.

Some are the sample shots below:

Price

The phone came in with 2 variants 64GB + 4GB RAM priced at 1,799 RMB (~SGD$363) while the 'Pro' version came at 64GB + 6GB priced at 1,999 RMB (~SGD$403).

Verdict

100% bang for bucks for the phone where it checked most of my boxes when comes to a budget smartphone - 'Price : Specification : Performance : Build Quality'. Hopefully, this little beast will reach in the global market as the Xiaomi official URL link gives a hint of Mi 8i (https://www.mi.com/mi8i/) 😎

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