MANILA, Philippines – It’s a busy day for phone makers. Samsung launched the J8, Huawei announced the Nova 3i, and Xiaomi just announced local availability for their new flagship, the Mi 8. 

The Mi 8 was unveiled back in June in China, featuring a Snapdragon 845 processor like its most recent flagship before the Mi 8, the Mi Mix 2S. The Mi Mix 2S, when it was launched back in June, was the cheapest Snapdragon 845-powered phone in the country.

Now, however, the title goes to its stablemate, the Mi 8, priced P2,000 lower at P25,990.

The Mi 8 also has the best camera that Xiaomi has put in its phones, garnering a photo score of 105 from benchmarking organization Dxomark, topping the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus’ 104, but just a little below the P20’s 107, and the HTC U12+’s 106. The P20 Pro is still the highest rated with a photo score of 114. The Mi 8, however, is considerably less expensive than the said rivals, whose prices range from around P30,000 to P50,000.

The Mi 8’s camera has a 20-megapixel (MP) sensor that uses what it calls pixel binning technology which combines information from from 4 pixels to create a larger pixel. This makes it perform better in lowlight situations, according to Xiaomi. 

Design-wise, it has curved glass back panel, an aluminum frame, and a 2.5D glass screen. The display is a 6.21-inch full HD-plus Samsung AMOLED full screen display with an 18.7:9 aspect ratio and 86.68% screen-to-body ratio.

The Mi 8 will be available on August 3. The 6GB RAM, 64GB version of Mi 8 comes with a price tag of P25,990 while the 6GB RAM, 128GB version of Mi 8 will be available at P27,990.

More budget phones

As has been the tradition for Xiaomi since its relaunch in the Philippines earlier in the year, the Chinese brand launched other phones along with the new flagship; thus the release of budget phones Redmi 6 and Redmi 6A.

The Redmi 6 comes in two versions: a 3GB RAM, 32GB version for Php 7,490 and 4GB RAM, 64GB version for Php 8,990. The Redmi 6A 2GB RAM, 16GB is priced at Php 5,290, while the 2GB RAM, 32GB version will also be available for Php 5,990.

The Redmi 6 features a 5.45-inch 18:9 display with a screen-to-body ratio of 80.5%. It has a MediaTek Helio P22 chip, an octa-core CPU built on a 12nm process, and a 3000 mAh battery. It has a 12MP and 5MP dual camera set up, and a 5MP front camera. The front camera also supports Xiaomi’s “AI Portrait” mode, which produces a bokeh effect.

The cheaper 6A has the same body, screen, and battery capaity as the Redmi 6, but sports the slower MediaTek Helio A22 chip. It has a 13MP rear camera with phase detection autofocus, and a 5MP front camera, that are also capable of the portrait mode. 

The phones, for those interested, will also be offered at cheaper rates on July 23 via flash sales. The 6 will be available on Lazada for P6,990 (3GB RAM, 32GB) and P8,490 (4GB, 64GB). The 6A will also be offered for P4,990 on Shopee. – Rappler.com