It is not all the time you see a manufacturer market a device that already has a successor, but that is exactly what Xiaomi is doing for the Mi 8 Pro a.k.a. Mi 8 UD.
The official Xiaomi phone Weibo account, as well as that of top executives, has begun advertising the 2018 flagship ahead of the 618 shopping festival. According to Xiaomi, the Mi 8 Pro will now have a starting price of ¥1999 (~$288). That price gets you the 6GB RAM + 128GB version while ¥2199 (~$317) is the price tag for the 8GB RAM + 128GB version.
Those prices are really amazing for a phone that sold for ¥3599 (~$519 for the 8GB RAM version) when it launched last year, but the low price isn’t the only reason why Xiaomi wants you to buy it. The Chinese giant has actually listed 10 new features of the Mi 9 which are now available for the Mi 8 Pro and makes it even a more compelling purchase. Below is the list of new features:
- Game Turbo – improves gameplay quality of games like PUBG
- MI Turbo – improvement in system performance
- New battery optimization features
- NFC support for more bus cards
- Dark Mode
- Dynamic Wallpaper
- Color Always-On-Display
- New charging animation
- In-display fingerprint shortcuts
- Screen stays “locked” when you raise the phone in case you just want to check notifications and time.
In three other separate posts, Xiaomi lists features such as the Snapdragon 845 processor, the dual-frequency GPS, and its pressure-sensitive in-display fingerprint scanner as top features of the phone. It particularly brags about the last two since it is the first phone in the world to have both features.
[envira-gallery id=”258980″]The Mi 8 Pro has a 6.21-inch 1080 x 2248 Super AMOLED display with a wide notch at the top for an IR Face Unlock mechanism, a 20MP selfie camera, and sensors. It is powered by the 10nm Snapdragon 845 and paired with 6GB/8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It has dual rear cameras – a 12MP f/1.8 primary camera and a 12MP f/2.4 telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom. It has a bunch of camera features including 960fps slow-motion recording and Night Mode.
The Mi 8 Pro packs a 3000mh battery with support for Quick Charge 4+. It charges via a USB Type-C port but misses out on wireless charging like its successor. Add all of the above to its unique see-through back and you will be hard pressed to find a better phone at under $300.
The phone will be available at the new prices on the official Xiaomi online store.
