Xiaomi Mi 8, which is discussed in the review, has excellent characteristics and a very pleasant price. The review from tells in detail about what is still waiting for the buyer.

Appearance

Xiaomi Mi 8 copied the style of the iPhone X, like many manufacturers. The dimensions of Mi 8 are comparable to devices with conventional screens of 5.5-5.7 inches. In the “bangs” there is not only the front camera, but also a missed events LED, an infrared emitter and an infrared scanner, which is needed to unlock the face, as well as the usual proximity sensors and automatic brightness control.

The back side is covered with protective glass. Camera lenses look like you know who. Xiaomi did not rely only on face unlocking and equipped the smartphone with a fingerprint scanner. By the way, the smartphone is available in four colors: blue, gold, white and black.

The frame is made of aluminum, so the flagship does not feel cheap in the hands, and besides, it is not a fluff (175 grams). In terms of assembly, everything is fine, except for a small gap between the rear glass and the frame. Of the connectors, there is only USB Type-C. Multimedia speaker one. Speaking does not help him.

Display

The screen diagonal is 6.21 inches, an AMOLED matrix with a resolution of 2248 × 1080 pixels is used. The aspect ratio is 18.7:9. There is an oleophobic coating. In the sun, he behaves perfectly, just a little fades. The brightness is adjustable from 1.3 to 433 cd / m², and the contrast is maximum, since this is an AMOLED matrix. There are many screen settings that will help you adjust the color reproduction. There was an Always on mode, which constantly displays the time, date, as well as missed notifications. The manufacturer indicates that the display is initially calibrated according to the DCI-P3 standard.

Hardware platform

Xiaomi Mi 8 is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. The amount of RAM is 6 GB (LPDDR4x), and the user memory is 64/128/256 GB (UFS 2.1), there is no memory card slot.

Wireless interfaces have everything you need: NFC, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0 and GPS. There is no infrared port for controlling household appliances. There are no problems with the reception of mobile networks. While Mi 8 is running MIUI 9.5 and Android 8.1.0.

autonomy

Built-in battery capacity - 3400 mAh. Support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+ is declared, but a Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 charger is included. In the PCMark Work 2.0 battery life test at 200 cd/m², the battery life was 8 hours 38 minutes, an average result.

cameras

Xiaomi Mi 8 received two main cameras with 12 megapixel sensors (Sony IMX363, f / 1.8, with four-axis image stabilization and Samsung S5K3M3, f / 2.4). AI mode is supported (artificial intelligence mode), there is automatic HDR, 2x magnification (due to the use of the second module), portrait mode and manual mode, in which you can not only adjust the white balance, focal length, shutter speed (up to 16 seconds), ISO, but also the camera module (wide-angle or telephoto).

In most cases, the camera gives a good result, only in the dark or in very difficult conditions, in some pictures, the correct operation of the noise reduction is noticeable. DxOMark rated the smartphone's cameras at 99 points (photo 105, video 88). The portrait mode works well, but the blur is not realistic.

Video recording is possible in 4K resolution, but there is practically no stabilization in it. Of the interesting - the ability to record video in 720p/1080p resolution at 120/240 fps.

Grigory Kopiev

editor

iPhone killer

In early October, a very strange story happened in one of the American medical clinics - after testing a new MRI machine, employees' smartphones and smart watches stopped working, and the problem affected only Apple devices. The clinic staff immediately thought that it was the magnetic field from the tomograph, but everything turned out to be much more interesting. The reason for the “death” of smartphones was helium, which is necessary for cooling the device. We tell you why modern Apple devices are afraid of this light gas.

Dante Lee/YouTube

The incident, described by Erik Wooldridge, a system administrator at the private medical clinic Morris Hospital in Illinois, occurred on October 8th. On this day, employees of one of the departments began to launch a newly installed magnetic resonance imaging scanner from GE Healthcare. At the end of the day, the IT department was told that employees' smartphones and smartwatches had stopped working. Since the building also houses servers that store the company's database, Wooldridge, as one of the system administrators, was immediately sent to investigate the situation.

Initially, the administrator thought that the cause of the incident was an electromagnetic pulse from the tomograph, which damaged the components of the devices, but in the clinic itself he was told that only users of Apple devices encountered problems. For most, they simply did not turn on, and some gadgets began to work poorly. For example, some of them "hung" with the screen on, and some had interruptions in communication. Neither Android smartphones nor other electronic devices in the building stopped working. What was even more strange, there was a person with an iPhone 5 in the building at the time the tomograph was launched, but nothing usual happened to his gadget.

The tomograph manufacturer's support service put forward their version of the reasons for such a strange behavior of smartphones and said that the reason could be the interaction of helium with electronic components. The version seemed implausible to Wooldridge, besides, it did not explain the selectivity of problems that affected only the iPhone and Apple Watch. Therefore, the Morris Hospital sysadmin decided to seek help from Reddit users.

One of the r/sysadmin community members explained to Wooldridge that it was most likely due to the MEMS oscillators that Apple has been using for years to keep track of time in their devices instead of conventional crystal oscillators. In particular, it is known that the company installs SiT1532 silicon generator manufactured by SiTime in the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and even the Apple Pencil stylus. As with conventional crystal oscillators, its function is to continuously create oscillations at a given frequency (usually 32 kilohertz), allowing time to be measured. Such generators are quite inexpensive and also take up much less space in smartphones, which have become so thin in recent years that manufacturers have had to remove the 3.5 mm jack from many models.

Since the vibration of a mechanical resonator is affected by the environment, chip manufacturers place it in a chamber that is isolated from the outside atmosphere. In the vast majority of cases, this protection really works. However, the chipmaker admits on its website that for gases with small atoms, such as helium and hydrogen, this protection is not intended, because in a normal atmosphere their concentration is at a level of only five parts per million by volume (ppmv ). These gases, due to the small size of the atoms, can penetrate the protective wall of an insulated chamber, increase the pressure in it, and change the characteristics of the sensor. Since the operation of the central processor directly depends on the operation of the generator that counts the time, a strong deviation from the normal mode can lead to incorrect operation of the entire device. It turned out that information about the "fear" of helium is also in the iPhone user manual on the Apple website.

The system administrator of the clinic decided to find out where helium came from in the hospital in an amount sufficient to disable smartphones. It turned out that during the testing of the tomograph, experts poured liquid helium into it. This is a standard procedure for keeping the superconducting magnets in the scanner cool. However, the office with the tomograph was not isolated from the rest of the building and was connected to the general ventilation system. Apparently, a significant part of the 120 liters of liquid helium, during evaporation, got into other cabinets, and then into the MEMS generators of the devices.

Wooldridge decided to visually demonstrate the effect of helium on the iPhone. He placed the gadget in an airtight transparent plastic bag with a zipper and inflated it with helium. In the video, you can see that after eight minutes the same thing happens with the smartphone that happened during the launch of the tomograph in the clinic with other Apple devices - it just “freezes”. Apparently, other users' iPhones actually worked after the "freeze" too, but since their screen was off, users thought their smartphones were turned off.

Update: The original video has been removed from YouTube, but other users, including engineers at iFixit, have replicated Eric Wooldridge's experiment and posted their version.

Today, Chinese smartphones are at the peak of their popularity. Consumer interest in Huawei, Meizu and Xiaomi products made even one of the market leaders, Apple, worry. Only according to the results of the second quarter, sales of the "apple" brand in the Middle Kingdom decreased by 33% compared to the same period last year, and Apple's share in the smartphone market in China, according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, decreased by 1.8% - to 17, nine%. Leading the Chinese market are Huawei with a 25.7% share and Xiaomi with 18.5%.

Following the largest brands Huawei and ZTE, smaller companies reached Russia - Meizu, Xiaomi, LeEco and OnePlus. The Hi-Tech Mail published the opinions of the owners of budget and flagship models of Chinese iPhone competitors and issued a verdict.

Meizu M3s mini

Pros: The “well-coordinated device” in a thin metal case with 2.5D glass bribed Runet users with its design and low price. Decent performance and battery life are noted: the battery will last for two days of “moderate use”. The speed and accuracy of the fingerprint scanner is delightful: "Works better and faster than on the iPhone," writes one of the owners.

Minuses: The case is made of low-quality material: “it is rather easily subjected to cosmetic defects.” The vaunted fingerprint scanner often fails, the same happens with the touch button "Back". The camera “soaps”, the colors are faded, and at a low level of illumination it “chokes” with noise. Users who switched to Meizu M3s mini from old iPhones regret their deeds: “If not Apple, then who?”

Referee: Inexpensive elegant productive middle peasant in a metal case. Amateur photographers will be disappointed with the quality of the camera. It is worth buying a smartphone in white retail, so that in the event of a fingerprint scanner breakdown, there will be no problems with a return or warranty repair.

Xiaomi Redmi 3s

Pros: The attention of the vast majority is attracted by the low price tag. Happy smartphone owners are delighted with the battery: it lasts for two days in intensive mode. At the same time, the hardware is powerful enough - you can even play. The final touch is a quick fingerprint scanner: the smartphone is unlocked in less than a second.

Minuses: You need to follow the firmware update so as not to drown in glitches - either the time zone will be reset after a reboot, or incoming calls are not detected, or the cheek presses on the screen during a conversation. Nuances - darkness! In general, “dancing with tambourines cannot be avoided,” Runet users summarize.

Referee: Average with impressive autonomy for little money. Everything is good in it, except for the "raw" firmware. For geeks, the need to delve into a smartphone is only a joy, but for an ordinary person, it will cause a bad mood.

LeEco Le 2

Pros: For little money, you get everything in the world - from a metal case to a powerful processor and a USB-C port. There is even fast charging.

Minuses:“Battery drains as fast as it charges,” wrote one user. With an intense load, the charge may not be enough even for a day. Many report a squeak from the USB connector - it cannot be heard with the naked ear, but when recording video or audio, as well as during a conversation, it manifests itself. The camera lathers even in daylight, users say. The chip, in the form of the absence of a 3.5 mm audio jack, turned out to be a drawback of the smartphone for many.

Referee: Beautiful, powerful, modern smartphone. But, unfortunately, it leaves the impression of incompleteness. It seems that the manufacturer was in too much of a hurry to put it on sale.

Xiaomi Mi5

pros: “This phone is without compromise. He really does everything he has to - and he does it beautifully! The smartphone is not inferior to branded flagships with a similar filling and at the same time costs much less, Runet users are sure. Not only high performance is noted, but also a quick charge function: up to 100% in one hour. The rear and front cameras are simply gorgeous, write the owners of the smartphone.

Minuses: Many people are annoyed by the black frames around the screen. "Eats battery like crazy." The firmware is teeming with unpleasant little things. With an incoming call, the subscriber's number is indicated, and not his name from the phone book, even if the subscriber is recorded, one of the users clarifies. “After you add a fingerprint, then it is not deleted, it writes an error. But this is easily solved by temporarily changing the language to English,” says another. It is noteworthy that there are much fewer complaints about the firmware of this model than the state employee Xiaomi Redmi 3s.

Referee: This flagship would be flawless if not for the "dampness" of the firmware and high power consumption.

Meizu MX6

pros: “Everything is like that of well-known flagships, only cheaper at times,” - the opinion of Runet users. Cool design a-la iPhone 6. Performance is also on top. No freezes or slowdowns were noticed, one of the owners of the smartphone shares. They also praise fast charging, thanks to which the smartphone “fills up” up to 100% in 75 minutes, the camera and the sound in the headphones.

Minuses: Users don't like the lack of a microSD card slot. They also report that under heavy load, the smartphone heats up decently, and the battery barely lasts until the evening.

Referee: Flagship Killer. Powerful, beautiful, inexpensive, but autonomy is lame.

One Plus 3

pros: In addition to design, construction and materials, users note the ultimate performance and admire the 6 GB of RAM. Praise the mode switch button. “A very handy thing, especially for me, as a former iPhone owner,” explains one of the owners. A camera, fast charging, an accurate fingerprint scanner, an adequate price and “clean” Android 6.0 Marshmallow are the advantages of this smartphone, according to Runet.

Minuses: Slippery body. Many would like more autonomy. They write that the battery lasts for a day with a little. There have been several cases of random reboots. The camera does not perform well when shooting at night.

Referee: Given the price, this smartphone can be called the best in the selection.

Did you know that AliExpress celebrates its 8th anniversary? Quite a long and serious period for such a large-scale and world-famous project. This is especially pleasant for residents of Russia, who have been regularly buying various things on AliExpress for several years.

The creators of the site and sellers offer to celebrate the holiday with good discounts and prizes. In the period from March 28 to March 30, almost all goods can be purchased cheaper than usual, some items will be discounted up to 50%.

Our friends from LetyShops, during the sale, an increased cashback will operate and, according to a good tradition, worthy expensive prizes will be drawn among users who have bought something during this period.

How to find real sales discounts:

Even on AliExpress there are unscrupulous sellers, they inflate prices before the sale, and then, under the guise of discounts, they sell the goods even more expensive than usual. Our selection was made using the LetyShops extension, which monitors product prices for the last 30 days. How to use it:

2. Open the page of the desired product.

3. Before buying, check the seller for honesty. If the price has been increased, the extension will tell you about it.

A good reason not to waste your time on trifles, but to buy a really cool gadget at a nice price. Here are 10 good Chinese smartphones that are not inferior to competitors from famous manufacturers.

1.

Affordable 5-inch smartphone with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. For photos, a 13-megapixel camera is provided, good autonomy is provided by a 3,000 mAh battery.

Price for Yandex.Market: from 6 500 rub.
Price on AliExpress: from 5 193 rub. ,

2.

6-inch phablet from a Chinese manufacturer with an 18:9 aspect ratio that is convenient for games and videos. Snapdragon 625 is responsible for computing, on board 3 GB of RAM and 32 internal memory. The battery is already 4000 mAh.

Price for Yandex.Market: from 11 000 rub.
Price on AliExpress: from 9 119 rub. ,

3.

The smartphone was released under the AndroidONE program, which guarantees the device a long period of software support. The device is equipped with 4 GB of RAM and a dual camera with 13-megapixel sensors for shooting with bokeh effect.

Price for Yandex.Market: from 12 500 rub.
Price on AliExpress: from 10 447 rub. ,

4.

Huawei Honor 9 Lite stands out with two dual camera modules at once. This allows you to take cool photos both on the main camera and on the front camera. There are four color options: black, white, gray and blue.

Price for Yandex.Market: from 13 500 rub.
Price on AliExpress: from 11 457 rub. ,

5.

Phablet with a huge 6.44-inch display with a resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels. The battery capacity is as much as 5,300 mAh, the smartphone confidently lasts a couple of days without recharging.

Price for Yandex.Market: from 14 500 rub.
Price on AliExpress: from 12 742 rub. ,

6.

A solid gadget from Meizu with a high-quality Sony camera. 5.2-inch display, fingerprint scanner in the button below the screen and USB Type-C for charging or synchronization.

Price for Yandex.Market: from 14 500 rub.
Price on AliExpress: from 13 775 rub. ,

7.

6-inch smartphone with a powerful 8-core processor and 6 GB of RAM. There is a dual camera module, a biometric scanner and a beautiful rounded body.

Price for Yandex.Market: from 14 900 rub.
Price on AliExpress: from 13 869 rub. ,

8.

Smartphone with a display diagonal of 6 inches absorbed the best of the iPhone and Galaxy. The result is a stylish thin model with minimal frames around the display. There is a fingerprint scanner and a dual camera module.

Price for Yandex.Market: from 16 500 rub.
Price on AliExpress: from 14 975 rub. ,

9.

Meizu model with advanced photo and video capabilities. A special display on the back of the device can act as a viewfinder, and in standby mode can display the time or missed notifications.

Price for Yandex.Market: from 25 750 rub.
Price on AliExpress: from 24 090 rub. ,

10.

Cool 6-inch frameless Xiaomi phablet. Top-end filling and stylish appearance make the device memorable and distinguish it from faceless competitors.

Price for Yandex.Market: from 28 350 rub.
Price on AliExpress: from 26 307 rub. ,