Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite test, review and price
Category: Tests / ReviewsTop-of-the-range performance for a low price?
[b][b][b][b]I switched to Android earlier in 2018 by buying a Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 which turned out to be a great device. I then repeated the experience later with a Honor 8x which failed to beat the Xiaomi. Now it's time for another Xiaomi to pass my full test, I ordered the Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite at the beginning of November and as for my other tests, I will spread my test over several weeks to cover all aspects of this new smartphone.[b][b]Official site: Xiaomi.com[b][b]Feel free to ask your questions in the comments section for the benefit of everyone.[b][b]
[b][b][b]Price Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite UK/US
[b][b]I chose Lightinthebox to buy my Xiaomi because the phone was offered at 193€ and offered an insurance to cover any customs taxes. I had already bought a phone from them, I had also taken the insurance and I was well inspired because on arrival the customs authorities asked me for 45€ for a 94€ phone and the recourse after acceptance of the package is more expensive than the device! I contacted Lightinthebox again and they quickly refunded me.[b][b]Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite Smartphone 15,9 cm (6.26"), 6 GB, 128 GB, Doppia SIM, 4G, 3350 mAh, Nero...
2021-03-05 18:20
141 EUR
Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite (64GB, 4GB RAM) 6.26" Full Screen Display, Snapdragon 660, Dual AI Camera's, Factor...
2021-03-05 17:20
199 USD
My test, your questions
[b][b]How are my tests different from others on the web?[b]- I buy the devices with my money (which means: I think a lot before buying!)[b]- I keep the devices a couple of months to see what they're worth in real conditions[b]- I answer questions to help you decide before you buy[b]- I don't live off my blog, so my tests are neutral[b][b]If you haven't seen my other tests yet, here they are:[b]Xiaomi Redmi Note 5[b]Honor 8x[b][b][b][b]Timeline
[b][b]09/11/18: purchase of the Xiaomi Mi8 Lite on Lightinthebox with customs duty protection insurance[b]16/11/18: delay in delivery notification (due to black friday)[b]22/11/18: phone is in transit[b]28/11/18: the phone arrived at my house and I didn't have to pay any customs duties[b]28/11/18: first impressions and photos of the phone[b]01/12/18: photo tests in the studio, benchmark tests, first hand experience[b]03/12/18: 4G performance test[b]05/12/18: test performance wifi 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz[b]13/12/18: night photo test[b]24/12/18: photo cloudiness test[b]26/12/18: photo test / video day[b][b][b][b]First contact
[b][b]The first step is unpacking so I get down to it and prepare the portable studio as I do for each test. I take my DSLR and once again, the damn battery is empty and I didn't want to wait another 2 hours to take the pictures, so I decided to take my Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 to take the pictures. The quality of this budget phone will always amaze me, it's clearly not as good as a SLR but the pictures are more than correct and the ease of use compared to a SLR is unbeatable.[b][b]The Xiaomi Mi8 Lite box contains what is usually found in a Xiaomi box: the phone, a back cover, a charging cable, a power adapter, a needle to open the SIM drawer and a small USB adapter because this phone has a USB-C port. What is missing is a protective film but I have the impression that Xiaomi does not offer this kind of accessories with its phones, the Honor 8x had a protective film installed in the factory. At first contact what surprised me was that the phone is cold to the touch, the perimeter is metallic and has a rounded shaped. The level of finish is clearly of the same type as that of the Honor 8x, the two devices are equal and both outperform Note 5. The Xiaomi Mi8 Lite does not shine by its originality (it is the same with the Honor 8x) but it is a beautiful phone with an impeccable finish.[b][b]The rear glass facade is very reflective and I think it has been treated to reflect light in a slightly different way. I placed the phone under the studio lights and it is clear that the light is deflected to the sides where an Honor 8x was just mirroring. It will then be necessary to see how the phone behaves in real conditions because high reflectivity can make reading difficult when the light is strong.[b][b]The first time I turn on the phone I feel like I see the same thing as with the Redmi Note 5, the black is not quite black, the backlighting is too important. I will test this point later to see if it is just a bad configuration at startup like the Redmi or if the screen is not as good.[b]
10
First configuration
[b][b]If you have already used an Android phone and more specifically a Xiaomi, the configuration procedure of the Xiaomi Mi8 Lite will not surprise you. It is almost identical to that of Redmi Note 5. However, I was surprised to see that the phone was configured with MIUI 9 while the Redmi Note 5 runs in MIUI 10. After configuring the basic settings of the device, it quickly invited me to download MIUI 10 and that's a good thing because I clearly prefer this version.[b]Finish
[b]
[b][b]The finishes of the Mi8 Lite are of the same level as the Honor 8x, both phones have an impeccable finish, the difference between the two is mainly due to a subjective choice. The Honor 8x is very rectangular and angular, Xiaomi has opted for a curved shape. Both phones reflect a lot of light, the Xiaomi has added a distortion effect to the back.[b]
5
Network support and performance
[b][b][b]Test signal Wifi[b][b]To measure the wifi signal strength I used a specialized application that allows me to measure the quality of the signal on a graph. I took measurements near the router and measurements away from the house (always in the same place), then compared the values with the other phones. Not surprisingly, the Xiaomis are doing better than the Honor, it was already visible in my previous test, but there is almost no difference between the Xiaomis. When the signal is weak, it is in the same range for both phones and it is the same when the signal is strong.[b]
3
3
3G / 4G support
[b][b][b]Supported frequencies[b][b]The phone supports the following frequency bands:[b]2G: B2,B3,B5,B8[b]3G: B1,B2,B4,B5,B8[b]4G/4G+: B1,B2,B3,B4,B5,B7,B8,B20,B28,B38;B40[b][b][b]What frequencies are used in Europe?[b][b][b]3G : B1 (2100), B2 (1900), B5 (850), B8 (900)[b]4G : B1 (2100), B20 (800), B3 (1800), B38 (TDD 2600), B4 (1700/2100 AWS 1), B40 (TDD 2300), B5 (850), B7 (2600), B8 (900)[b]This phone covers all the most commonly used 3G/4G frequencies in Europe.[b][b]Of course you should always check the specific frequencies of your provider because some European operators use different frequencies, it's rare but it happens. Please note that the frequencies indicated below were valid at the time of writing this article, they will not be updated, so I cannot guarantee that they are correct.[b]I have added a few other European countries so that you can check the countries where you go on holiday, if the local provider does not support the same frequencies, you may no longer have a network.[b][b][b]BE[b][b][b]4G Proximus: 2100Mhz, 1800Mhz, 2600Mhz, 800Mhz[b]3G Proximus: 2100Mhz, 900Mhz[b][b]4G Orange: 2600Mhz, 1800Mhz, 800Mhz[b]3G Orange: 2100Mhz, 900Mhz[b][b]4G Base: 2600Mhz, 1800Mhz, 800Mhz[b]3G Base: 2100Mhz[b][b][b]FR[b][b][b]4G Orange: 2600Mhz, 1800Mhz, 800Mhz[b]3G Orange: 2100Mhz, 900Mhz[b][b]4G SFR: 2600Mhz, 2100Mhz, 1800Mhz, 800Mhz[b]3G SFR: 2100Mhz, 900Mhz[b][b]4G Bouygues: 2600Mhz, 2100Mhz, 1800Mhz, 800Mhz, 700Mhz[b]3G Bouygues: 2100Mhz, 900Mhz[b][b]4G Free: 2600Mhz, 1800Mhz, 700Mhz[b]3G Free: 2100Mhz, 900Mhz[b][b][b]ES[b][b]Movistar 4G: 2600, 1800, 800[b]Movistar 3G: 2100, 900[b][b]Orange 4G: 2600, 1800, 800[b]Orange 3G: 2100, 900[b][b]Vodafone 4G: 2600, 1800, 800[b]Vodafone 3G: 2100, 900[b][b]Yoigo[b][b]Yoigo 4G: 1800[b]Yoigo 3G: 2100[b][b][b]DE[b][b][b]E-Plus 4G: 2600, 800[b]E-Plus 3G: 2100[b][b]O2[b][b]O2 4G: 2600, 1800, 800[b]O2 3G: 2100[b][b]T-Mobile[b][b]T-Mobile 4G: 2600, 1800, 800[b]T-Mobile 3G: 2100[b][b]Vodafone[b][b]Vodafone 4G: 2600, 1800, 800[b]Vodafone 3G: 2100[b][b][b]IT[b][b][b]Tre 4G: 2600, 1800, 1500, 800[b]Tre 3G: 2100, 900[b][b]Telecom Italia 4G: 2600, 1800, 1500, 800[b]Telecom Italia 3G: 2100, 900[b][b]Vodafone 4G: 2600, 1800, 1500, 800[b]Vodafone 3G: 2100, 900[b][b]Wind 4G: 2600, 800[b]Wind 3G: 2100, 900[b][b][b]Suisse[b][b][b]Salt Mobile 4G: 2600, 1800, 800[b]Salt Mobile 3G: 2100, 900[b][b]Sunrise 4G: 2600, 1800, 800[b]Sunrise 3G: 2100, 900[b][b]Swisscom 4G: 2600, 1800, 800[b]Swisscom 3G: 2100, 900[b][b][b]NL[b][b][b]KPN 4G: 2600, 1800, 800[b]KPN 3G: 2100[b][b]Tele2 4G: 2600, 800[b][b]T-Mobile 4G: 2600, 2100, 1800, 900[b]T-Mobile 3G: 2100, 900[b][b]Vodafone 4G: 2600, 1800, 800[b]Vodafone 3G: 2100, 900[b][b][b]UK[b][b][b][b]Three 4G: 1800, 800[b]Three 3G: 2100[b][b]EE 4G: 2600, 1800, 800[b]EE 3G: 2100[b][b]O2 4G: 1800, 800[b]O2 3G: 2100, 900[b][b]Virgin Mobile 4G: 2600, 1800 B9, 800[b]Virgin Mobile 3G: 2100[b][b]Vodafone 4G: 2600, 2100, 1!00, 800[b]Vodafone 3G: 2100, 900[b][b][b]Battery life
[b][b]The Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite has a 3350mAh battery which places it below the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 and Honor 8x. It is therefore not surprising that the battery range is less good than these two other devices. However, it is not bad at all because I can hold 2 days using about 2h30 of continuous data every day to which we have to add emails, sms and a few calls. On weekends, I consume less and the battery lasts almost 3 days.[b]Audio quality
[b][b][b]On-call audio test[b][b]I don't have a tool to measure audio quality on call, so I can only rely on my ear. The sound seems quite correct to me, I didn't notice any difference compared to the other devices I use.[b]Performance
[b][b]As with the other phones, I tested the Xiaomi Mi8 Lite with 3Dmark and Antutu. In theory, the Xiaomi Mi8 should offer similar performance to the Honor 8x, these two phones are positioned in the same performance (and price) category. What is the reality?[b]
Gaming performance
[b][b][b]Test PUBG Mobile[b][b]Until now, I hadn't integrated gaming into my tests. For this first test I downloaded PUBG Mobile and took a video during the game. PUBG is quite greedy and should give a good idea of the phone's performance.[b][b]Photo quality
[b][b]The Xiaomi Mi8 Lite is equipped with a Sony sensor at the front (24 Mio pixels) and another Sony sensor at the rear (Sony IMX363, the same as on the Xiaomi Mi 8) at the rear. I had not been very impressed by the Honor sensor, but I had been pleasantly surprised by the Redmi Note 5. The Xiaomi Mi8 Lite is also supposed to produce raw files (RAW) which could be an important advantage for retouching. What about this new Mi8 Lite?[b]
[b][b]The lack of brightness I noticed on the Redmi and Honor is much less pronounced on the Mi8 Lite. We can see very clearly the focus area and the blur area even if the latter is not of an optical nature, it is the camera software that artificially adds it but it does a good job. The grain of the photo is impeccable, the colors are correct.[b]
[b][b]The lack of brightness I noticed on the Redmi and Honor is much less pronounced on the Mi8 Lite. We can see very clearly the focus area and the blur area even if the latter is not of an optical nature, it is the camera software that artificially adds it but it does a good job. The grain of the photo is impeccable, the colors are correct.[b]
[b][b]The picture is darker overall, it's not catastrophic but it shows in comparison with the Mi8 Lite.[b]
[b][b]We obtain here a brightness quite comparable to that of the Mi8 Lite, it is even difficult to distinguish the two devices. Without manual assistance the Mi8 is slightly better than the Redmi Note 5 but with manual assistance, the two devices are completely equivalent.[b]
[b][b]Shot 2: focus on Stormtrooper - manual brightness (Mi8 Lite)[b][b]
[b][b]Shot 2: focus on Stormtrooper - automatic brightness (Redmi Note 5)[b]
[b][b]Shot 2: focus on Stormtrooper - manual brightness (Redmi Note 5)[b]
[b][b]The conclusions are the same but I forced too much light on the Mi8 and a large part of the picture is overexposed but it is mostly a mistake of judgment.[b][b][b]Outdoor test (sun)[b][b]It took me some time to do this test because in December you don't get a lot of light and as I was working most of the month, it was difficult for me to find time to take these pictures. To start this test, I chose a rather varied landscape with a good mix of warm and cold colors. The photo was taken in the late afternoon when the sun was already starting to fade.[b]
[b][b]The photo is quite close to reality, the colors are correct, the sharpness is good, the shadows are a little too pronounced but overall the photo corresponds quite well to what I expected. I then compared more or less the same scene with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5.[b][b]
[b][b]The result is really very similar, you could almost confuse the two devices. In a properly lit environment, the two devices have a very similar behaviour, there is just a difference in colour temperature and blue/yellow hues where Note 5 reinforces blue and Mi 8 Lite reinforces yellow. This difference will be more visible in the following photos. Let's move on to a second example with the Mi 8 Lite.[b][b]
[b][b]And I compare directly with Note 5[b][b]
[b][b]The two photos look very similar again but we are beginning to see the differences in treatment between the two cameras. Blue is more pronounced on Note 5, yellow is more pronounced on Mi 8 Lite. On pictures of this type, you don't see a big difference. If I look at the pictures more closely, the sharpness is the same for both cameras. However, I must point out that as soon as the brightness decreases, Note 5 tends to smooth out the details to make them prettier while Mi 8 accepts the increase in noise more easily.[b]
[b][b]And let's go directly to the same picture taken with Note 5[b][b]
[b][b]This time the differences are clearly visible. We see that the hue of the photo is more bluish on Note 5 and the white on Mi 8 goes a little towards yellow. The photo in Note 5 therefore seems to me to be better than that of the Mi 8 Lite. I had already noticed this problem in other pictures taken before this test but I had not taken Note 5 to compare. There is a glaring difference in treatment here. This difference can be corrected in two ways, either by taking the picture in manual mode and choosing a colder color temperator, or by using the photo processing settings in the camera. Here is an example where I reduce yellow a little bit in favour of blue.[b][b]
[b][b]We now have a picture closer to Note 5 but it's a shame to have to intervene on a picture when Note 5 in automatic mode must not go through there. I suspect the so-called artificial intelligence to play a role because on the Honor 8X, I also noticed that this feature tended to make the images more yellow. It is therefore better to take pictures by deactivating these assistance because they do not work miracles, quite the contrary.[b]
[b]
[b][b]The devices deliver fairly similar performance, conditions are not ideal with a large difference in brightness between the area with the sun behind the clouds and the shadow area in the foreground. The result is not too bad for an automatic mode. We notice here the same difference between the two devices, Note 5 reinforces the blue while Mi 8 Lite reinforces the yellow.[b][b]
[b][b]As the Mi 8 offers more possibilities in manual mode, I compared what Note 5 comes out automatically with another type of setting on the Mi 8. I simply changed the color temperature and brightness, the Mi 8 allows here to recover pixels in difficult conditions where Note 5 does not offer this kind of possibility.[b]
[b][b]I took this picture in automatic mode and by freehand, so these are not good conditions to take a picture and yet the result is really interesting. For a photo in ISO 1600 the noise is visible but without being too present, the sharpness in the center is quite good, we can even read some license plates. Let's move on to another freehand photo in difficult conditions, it's a photo taken from my garden before sunrise with Venus very visible in the sky.[b][b]
[b][b]This picture was taken in manual freehand mode by forcing the sensitivity to 800 ISO and there was very little light. Here too, I think it's pretty good because with 800 ISO, the sensor can capture the light of the dawn without any particular assistance. I didn't use a tripod and the shutter was on 1/15. The blue is more pronounced but I had chosen a colder white balance to make this effect. We can see Venus very well in the middle of the sky without even a drag because of the shutter speed. Let's move on to another picture taken a few minutes after that when the sun starts to show.[b][b]
[b][b]The picture was again taken in manual and freehand mode. This time I forced the choice of ISO 400 because there was more light than the previous picture, I took a cold white balance and a 1/17 shutter again. The noise is almost non-existent, the colours are quite faithful to reality, the sharpness in the centre is good, some branches are very sharp but the sharpness decreases around the edges.[b]
[b][b]This picture is the closest to reality, only the distance will change for pictures taken from a smartphone because the focal length is completely different. Here is a first try with the Mi8 Lite:[b][b][b]
[b][b]A priori, if we don't look at the model, we could say to ourselves that the photo is good because the lighting is good, the photo is precise, there is not too much grain but what happened with the colors? There is no pink on the tree and yet this picture is tinted pink. I found it very curious, so I tried something else using the portrait mode and here's what it looks like.[b][b]
[b][b]In portrait mode the camera uses much more correct colors but portrait mode automatically adds blur around the area where a portrait should be. The same sensor and software therefore deliver a totally different performance depending on the chosen photo mode. Here is another test in manual mode this time.[b][b]
[b][b]The colours are changing and are getting closer to what we should be getting, but there is still a little pink left. This problem is curious because I have not seen it in other types of environments.[b][b][b][b]