Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite review

Decent IPS panel with barely noticeable drawbacks

The Mi 8 Lite comes with a 6.26-inch IPS display with a tall 19:9 aspect ratio and 1080 x 2280 pixels resolution achieving 403 ppi. Or in other words - nothing too fancy except for the notch. Like it or not, it's there, but we didn't find it overly distracting because it's quite narrow. It just houses the earpiece, the front-facing camera, the usual sensors, and the subtle LED notification light. The only issue we had with the notch is the poor uniformity of the backlight around it and the top bezel.

The small light bleed is most noticeable with a white or gray background and since the majority of the menus and apps use bright color palettes, the issue will be more prominent. Good thing you can visually hide the notch with a black strip across the top of the screen.

Keep in mind that this is a mid-range device we are talking about here. Yet, it was able to surpass the 400 cd/m2 mark, which appears to be the median for today's affordable LCDs. It got 468 cd/m2 with the slider cranked up to maximum - it's not the best result out there, but it's just enough to make the content on the screen readable outdoors. Just avoid direct sunlight as legibility is far from stellar in this scenario.

And as far as color reproduction goes, we suggest switching over to the "Standard" mode in the display calibration menu as it renders colors way more accurately. The "Automatic" mode spilled an average deltaE of 5 and maximum 10.1 while the "Standard" screen mode brought those digits down to an average of 0.9 with a maximum of 2, which is a stellar score. Note that deviations under deltaE=2 can't be seen with a naked eye, only with lab equipment. The trade-off here is that the maximum brightness will go down to 415 cd/m2.

In the end, you will have to choose between accurate colors and slightly dimmer display or blue-ish whites and almost 470 nits of maximum brightness.

With the default mode the sunlight legibility is satisfactory and our sunlight contrast ratio score puts it right behind the Huawei P20 Lite and the Motorola One. Again, we've seen better, but it's good enough to make the content readable under the sun - sort of.

Sunlight contrast ratio

• Apple iPhone XS
  5.171
• Apple iPhone X
  5.013
• Huawei Mate 20 Pro
  4.965
• OnePlus 5T
  4.789
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  4.768
• Samsung Galaxy S8+
  4.658
• Samsung Galaxy S9
  4.63
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  4.615
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  4.537
• Samsung Galaxy Note9
  4.531
• Apple iPhone XS Max
  4.516
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  4.502
• Motorola Moto Z2 Play
  4.459
• Google Pixel 3
  4.35
• OnePlus 6
  4.321
• LG V40 ThinQ
  4.256
• Oppo R15 Pro
  4.251
• Nokia 8
  4.239
• Google Pixel 2 XL (pre-update)
  4.234
• Google Pixel XL
  4.164
• ZTE Axon 7
  4.154
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  4.148
• Meizu Pro 7 Plus
  4.147
• OnePlus 6T
  4.138
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
  4.124
• vivo V11
  4.113
• Huawei Mate 10 Pro (normal)
  4.096
• Huawei P20 Pro
  4.087
• Xiaomi Mi 8
  4.086
• Meizu 15
  4.082
• Nokia 6 (2018)
  4.052
• Google Pixel 2 (pre-update)
  4.023
• LG V30
  4.022
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  4.019
• vivo NEX S
  4.012
• Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
  3.998
• OnePlus X
  3.983
• Vivo Xplay5 Elite
  3.983
• LG G7 ThinQ (outdoor)
  3.978
• Oppo R7s
  3.964
• Apple iPhone 7
  3.964
• Apple iPhone 8 (True Tone)
  3.957
• Huawei P9 Plus
  3.956
• Oppo Find X
  3.954
• Meizu Pro 6 Plus
  3.935
• Lenovo Moto Z
  3.931
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
  3.918
• OnePlus 5
  3.914
• Samsung Galaxy C5
  3.911
• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  3.901
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  3.895
• Motorola Moto G6 Plus
  3.865
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  3.859
• Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
  3.842
• Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018)
  3.834
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
  3.817
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  3.812
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  3.804
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
  3.802
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  3.798
• LG V20 Max auto
  3.798
• Sony Xperia XZ
  3.795
• Meizu Pro 5
  3.781
• Xiaomi Mi 6
  3.767
• Sony Xperia XZ1
  3.765
• Nokia 8 Sirocco
  3.745
• Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact
  3.729
• Apple iPhone 8 Plus (True Tone)
  3.725
• Oppo F1 Plus
  3.709
• Vivo X5Pro
  3.706
• Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
  3.688
• Huawei P20
  3.683
• Apple iPhone SE
  3.681
• Huawei Mate 9
  3.68
• Samsung Galaxy A7
  3.679
• Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact
  3.675
• Meizu PRO 6
  3.659
• BlackBerry Priv
  3.645
• Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
  3.597
• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  3.588
• Sony Xperia XZ2
  3.58
• LG G6
  3.556
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  3.526
• Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
  3.523
• Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
  3.523
• Acer Jade Primo
  3.521
• Microsoft Lumia 950
  3.512
• Oppo R7 Plus
  3.499
• Nokia 7 plus
  3.479
• nubia Z11
  3.466
• Huawei P10 Plus
  3.456
• HTC U Ultra
  3.453
• Motorola Moto G6
  3.448
• Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra
  3.445
• Sony Xperia XA2 Plus
  3.445
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  3.422
• Motorola Moto G6 Play
  3.419
• Meizu MX5
  3.416
• LG V20
  3.402
• Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018)
  3.397
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI Dual Camera
  3.393
• LG G7 ThinQ
  3.39
• Huawei P10
  3.379
• Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
  3.378
• Oppo R9s
  3.352
• Honor Play
  3.349
• Honor 8 Pro
  3.341
• Oppo F7
  3.333
• Oppo R7
  3.32
• Lenovo P2
  3.316
• Archos Diamond Omega
  3.305
• Honor 9
  3.289
• Xiaomi Mi 5s
  3.276
• Nokia 5
  3.261
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  3.244
• Xiaomi Mi 5
  3.24
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  3.238
• Samsung Galaxy J2
  3.235
• Oppo Realme 2 Pro
  3.235
• Sony Xperia X Performance
  3.234
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
  3.228
• Motorola Moto X Play
  3.222
• Oppo F3 Plus
  3.218
• BlackBerry KEY2
  3.212
• Huawei Mate 9 Pro
  3.206
• Huawei P9
  3.195
• Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
  3.19
• ZTE Nubia Z17
  3.159
• Oppo R11s
  3.153
• Lenovo Vibe Shot
  3.113
• Honor 8X
  3.113
• HTC U11 Life
  3.108
• Motorola Moto X Force
  3.105
• LG Nexus 5X
  3.092
• HTC U11
  3.089
• Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite
  3.087
• HTC U12+
  3.085
• Xiaomi Redmi S2 (Y2)
  3.077
• Huawei Mate S
  3.073
• Oppo F9
  3.069
• Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
  3.065
• Xiaomi Mi Max 3
  3.061
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  3.059
• Huawei Mate 20
  3.052
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  3.051
• Motorola One (P30 Play)
  3.026
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  3.023
• Asus Zenfone 4 ZE554KL
  3.019
• Sony Xperia XA1
  3.012
• Motorola Moto X4
  3.012
• Oppo Realme 2
  3.006
• Sony Xperia L1
  2.994
• Sony Xperia X
  2.989
• LG Q6
  2.987
• Huawei P10 Lite
  2.974
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  2.97
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
  2.966
• Huawei P20 Lite
  2.952
• Xiaomi Redmi 5
  2.951
• Sony Xperia XA2
  2.938
• Oppo Realme 1
  2.932
• Razer Phone 2
  2.932
• Xiaomi Redmi 4
  2.92
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S
  2.913
• Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
  2.913
• Sony Xperia XA Ultra
  2.906
• Huawei Honor View 10
  2.896
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
  2.884
• Sony Xperia XZ Premium (sRGB)
  2.877
• Sony Xperia XZ Premium
  2.877
• Sony Xperia Z5
  2.876
• Nokia 3
  2.871
• Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium
  2.867
• Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite
  2.862
• Microsoft Lumia 550
  2.851
• Nokia 3.1
  2.837
• Nokia 7.1
  2.804
• Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
  2.803
• Sony Xperia Z5 compact
  2.784
• Honor 10 (Vivid)
  2.757
• Nokia 2
  2.752
• Meizu MX6
  2.751
• Huawei Mate 10 (normal)
  2.742
• Motorola Moto G5S Plus
  2.737
• Xiaomi Redmi 3
  2.735
• Huawei Honor 7X
  2.734
• Xiaomi Mi A2
  2.696
• Sony Xperia M5
  2.69
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  2.689
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  2.679
• vivo V7+
  2.671
• Huawei Mate 10 Lite
  2.654
• Oppo F5
  2.653
• Doogee Mix
  2.642
• Xiaomi Redmi 4a
  2.635
• Xiaomi Mi 5X (Standard)
  2.616
• Huawei P Smart
  2.563
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  2.561
• HTC U11+
  2.556
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A (Y1)
  2.556
• Lenovo Moto G4
  2.544
• Lenovo K6 Note
  2.544
• Oppo F1
  2.528
• Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
  2.525
• Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
  2.506
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  2.503
• BlackBerry Motion
  2.494
• Oppo F1s
  2.481
• Motorola Moto G
  2.477
• Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
  2.473
• Huawei G8
  2.471
• Huawei nova
  2.467
• Sony Xperia Z
  2.462
• Lenovo Vibe K5
  2.459
• Meizu m3 max
  2.447
• Xiaomi Mi 4
  2.424
• Xiaomi Mi 5X (Auto)
  2.417
• Vivo V7
  2.404
• Huawei nova plus
  2.329
• Razer Phone
  2.328

Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite battery life

The handset boasts a generous 3,350 mAh built-in battery, but given that it powers up a powerful Snapdragon 660, we assume the battery life won't be all that impressive.

After all, the Snapdragon 660 features eight Kryo 260 cores (4x running at 2.2 GHz and 4x running at 1.8 GHz) so there are no dedicated energy-efficient cores there. With Snapdragon 660, you sacrifice power efficiency for performance. Still, the 3G talk and standby times are respectable, to say the least. Only the web browsing runtimes keep the phone from getting a better overall score.

The main takeaway from this test is that the IPS panel and the Snapdragon 660 chipset bring down the screen-on-time of the handset, so keep that in mind.

Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSer App. The endurance rating above denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so that our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritty. You can check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.

Compared to most of its competitors, the Mi 8 Lite drags behind, but it's important to note that only a few feature a powerful chipset like the Snapdragon 660. So there's that. Also, the results are almost identical to the Mi A2. Perhaps due to the largely similar hardware.

The phone charged from 0 to 36% with the included charger, which isn't fast by any means but since the unit supports Quick Charge 3.0 standard, you can get yourself a third-party QC 3.0-compliant charger for speedier top-ups. For comparison, we used a QC 3.0 brick in the office and we got significantly better results - the cell replenished from 0 to 52% in 30 minutes. Not too shabby.

Loudspeaker

The phone has a bottom-firing single speaker that gets pretty loud and according to our score sheet, it's assessed as "Very good." It will surely come in handy when you want to hear the phone ringing in loud environments.

Audio quality

The Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite did splendidly with an active external amplifier, delivering very loud output with perfect accuracy. In fact, it was among the loudest smartphones we have tested lately, earning our approval.

Headphones dropped the volume, but it still remained high. The degradation caused was slightly above average with a noticeable spike in stereo crosstalk, some intermodulation distortion and some frequency response shakiness all part of the picture now. It's still a very capable performer starting as high as it did, but the Mi 8 Lite is no longer top of the class here.

Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite frequency response

You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.