Like every other smartphone company in the market, Xiaomi brings the next generation of the flagship smartphones every year.
And this year they are bringing the 7th generation of the flagship, the ‘Mi Series’.
They have named it Xiaomi Mi 8, to align with the 8 year anniversary of their existence as a smartphone company.
But this year, they did something different, perhaps, to celebrate their 8th anniversary, they did something that Apple did at their 10th anniversary of the iPhone.
So they have launched not one but two different smartphones in the Mi Series.
There are actually three, the third one is the Mi 8 Explorer, which is exactly like the Mi 8, but with only a 128GB/ 8GB RAM variant and a Transparent Back.
When is there regular xiaomi Mi 8 and the other one is xiaomi mi8 SE, which is an affordable variant of the Xiaomi Mi 8 (no points in guessing where the inspiration for the name comes from).
Having choices is a good thing for a consumer, but it often creates confusion as to which smartphone you should pick because we have always suggested to our readers to buy the phone they really need, by closely looking at what features the smartphone offers.
Send this post we are going to compare both the smartphones to clear out your confusions as to which phone you should buy.
And does the price cut on the xiaomi MI 8 SE really makes sense to buy the smartphone looking at the compromises it will bring.
Let’s talk about the Design
Talking about this line of the phones is important because both the phones are from the same series, but one is a bit cheaper variant.
If you look at the physical size of the smartphone the MI 8 SE is a bit shorter, and a little lighter, as it’s a 5.88-inch smartphone with a screen to body ratio of 81.3%, while the Xiaomi MI 8 is a 6.21-inch smartphone with 83.8 screen-to-body ratio.
Things like network bands connectivity options speed, SIm Slots, Screen type are similar.
Let’s talk about the camera
Both the smartphones have got dual camera setup, but the dual camera set up on the Xiaomi MI 8 SE is a 12 MP + 5 MP Camera (depth sensor), while the dual camera set up on Xiaomi MI 8, is it 12 MP + 12 MP (2x optical zoom)
The secondary camera on both the smartphones is 20 megapixels.
Both the smartphones are capable of shooting 4K videos at 60fps and full HD videos at 30 / 120 FPS, But the Xioami Mi 8 is also capable of recording full HD videos at 240fps.
Talking about the sensors, almost all the sensors are available on both the smartphones, but the Xioami Mi 8 Se has only electronic image stabilization (EIS) while the xiaomi MI 8 has also got optical image stabilization (OIS) along with electronic image stabilization (EIS).
Let’s talk about the specifications
The battery is also a slightly larger on the Xioami Mi 8 (3200mAh) in comparison to the Xioami Mi 8 SE (3120mAh).
The biggest difference between the smartphones, and probably the reason why Xioami Mi 8 SE exists, is the Snapdragon 710 processor.
The Snapdragon 710 processor is the newest Siri is introduced by Qualcomm to bring features of high-end smartphones do the semi-budget segment.
And the Xiaomi Mi 8 SE it’s probably one of the first smartphones to be powered by this new Snapdragon 710.
The Xioami Mi 8 comes in different storage options (64GB/128GB/256GB) and 6GB RAM, while the Mi 8 SE comes in only 64GB / 3/4GB Variant.
Let’s talk about the price and availability
Talking about the price there is a huge difference between both the smartphones for obvious reasons, the AC is more of an affordable flagship smartphone that is placed in Mid-Rang segment.
The price of Xiaomi Mi 8 Mi8 6GB 64GB is around $550
And the price of Xiaomi Mi 8 SE 4GB 64GB is roughly half at $300.
Which phone should you buy?
At the starting of the article, I already told you that it is really not necessary to have a smartphone with the high-end processor if you are not a heavy smartphone user or use your smartphone like a computer.
Even the processor in smartphones in the budget segment is also powerful enough to use social media apps to browse video content, or even play games.
And the new Snapdragon 710 processor brings the performance of a high-end processor.
Looking at the specifications, all the important features are nearly similar in both the smartphones.
So, if you can live with the compromises made on the design of the Smartphone in the xiaomi MI 8S, and the absence of features like optical image stabilization (OIS) in the primary camera, ability to shoot HD videos at 240fps, and are not looking for a higher storage variant. Then the xiaomi Mi 8 is a would be a better choice, plus you would be saving almost $250.
