Xiaomi today announced that it will be unveiling the Mi 8 in China on May 31 at an event in Shenzen, China. The handset will be released on the occasion of the eighth anniversary of the company and will be the successor to the Mi 6 which was released in 2016.
The Mi 8 will likely be Xiaomi’s budget flagship handset. The company had unveiled the Mi Mix 2S earlier this year at MWC 2018, though the handset is only available for purchase in China.
Rumors point to the Mi 8 coming with an in-display fingerprint scanner, a 6-inch display with a notch, and 3D facial scanning using a camera setup similar to that of the iPhone X. It will possibly be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 chipset and sport 6/8GB RAM and up to 256GB of storage space. Other rumored specs include an AI camera and wireless charging.
BIG announcement Mi fans. The brand new #Mi8, a nod to our 8th anniversary, is coming on 31 May. Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/UGwmwO7Xi0
— Xiaomi (@Xiaomi) May 22, 2018
Other specs of the Mi 8 will likely be similar to that of the Mi Mix 2s, though it is unlikely to sport a premium design as the latter. This will allow Xiaomi to cut cost thereby allowing it to price the handset lower than it. The release of the Mi 8 will allow Xiaomi to compete with Honor 10 and OnePlus 6, both of which are also offered as a budget flagship offering in the country.
Like other smartphones from Xiaomi, it is unlikely that we will see the company bring the Mi 8 to markets other than China. The company had released the Mi 5 in India but met with limited success with it. Its the company’s Redmi series of handsets which have done tremendously well in the country.