Xiaomi's Mi 8 is the best iPhone X re-creation yet – CNET

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has a new flagship phone, and well, it honestly kinda looks like Apple’s iPhone X.

The Xiaomi Mi 8 follows last year’s Mi 6, skipping the 7 to mark the company’s eighth year. It shares a similar notch design and vertical rear cameras to Apple’s device. It will also come with infrared cameras located at the notch for face unlocking, a feature also available on the iPhone X.

The Mi 8 will run Xiaomi’s custom MIUI 10 skin on top of Android (Xiaomi didn’t say which version, but it’s likely Oreo). The new, updated skin will feature gesture controls and a driving mode that uses Xiaomi’s own Xiao Ai voice assistant. It will also support portrait mode for single-camera phones.

While there is an uncanny resemblance to the iPhone, the Mi 8’s 6.21-inch AMOLED display doesn’t quite stretch all the way to the bottom like the X’s does. Other cool features include being the world’s first phone to adopt dual-frequency GPS, for more accurate navigation.

The rear 12-megapixel dual-cameras will take pretty good pictures — Xiaomi says its cameras achieved a 105 photo score after being rated by DxOMark. On the front is a 20-megapixel camera using “pixel-binning” technology to combine four pixels into a larger one for better low-light selfies.

A smaller Mi 8 SE will also be available, sporting a smaller 5.88-inch AMOLED display, and it will be the first phone to launch with Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon 710 chip (the Mi 8 is powered by the Snapdragon 845).

If you’re still searching for something even better than the Xiaomi Mi 8, you need not look too far. The Mi 8 Explorer Edition is Xiaomi’s coolest-looking phone yet, with a transparent glass back panel that lets you peek into the insides of the phone. It’s also the first Android phone to sport 3D face unlocking, using “structured light” technology that projects multiple measurement points on the face, the method used in Apple’s Face ID and Intel’s RealSense.

The tech behind the face unlocking is also used for Xiaomi’s version of Apple’s animoji — so if you’re looking for an Android phone that can do animoji, here it is.

The Mi 8 Explorer Edition will also pack Synaptic’s underscreen fingerprint scanner. Xiaomi says the scanner’s pressure sensitivity allows it to activate, scan and unlock the phone much faster. The regular Mi 8 uses a standard rear fingerprint scanner.

The Xiaomi Mi 8 and Mi 8 SE will hit China from June 5 and 8 respectively, while the Mi 8 Explorer Edition is set to launch later, though no dates were provided. 

The Mi 8 will have a starting price of 2,699 yuan — about $420, £315 or AU$555. The Mi 8 SE will start at 1,799 yuan (approximately $280, £210 or AU$370). The Explorer Edition will cost the most at 3,699 yuan (about $575, £435 or AU$760).

Apart from the three new phones, Xiaomi also announced its largest TV, a 75-inch 4K capable Mi TV 4; a new Mi-Band 3 fitness tracker that claims a 20-day battery life; and the Mi VR Standalone, a portable VR headset co-developed by Oculus with the intention of being China’s version of the Oculus Go ($199.00 at Amazon.com).