Xiaomi Mi 8 and Mi 8 Pro review: great camera, performance, and value for money but MIUI has many quirks and the in-display fingerprint scanner is inconsistent
Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi is a jack of all trades. It makes a variety of connected gadgets, including TVs, toothbrushes, scooters, and even kettles.
Context & Ripple Effects
Xiaomi's playbook has been consistent since the Mi 5 set the bar for cheap flagships at $260: near-flagship silicon and cameras at aggressive prices, traded against software rough edges and finish-quality compromises. The Mi 8 review extends that template into 2018 — strong camera, performance, and value, offset by MIUI quirks and an inconsistent in-display fingerprint scanner.
What makes this review a data point rather than a one-off is how the same trade-offs resurface: the follow-up Mi 9 review flags the same unreliable in-screen fingerprint sensor a few months later, while Xiaomi's later launches — the Xiaomi 15 and 15 Ultra at €999+ and €1,499+ — show the company climbing well past its budget origins.
First-order effects
- Buyers get genuine flagship camera and performance at a midrange price, but accept two named defects as the cost of entry: quirky MIUI software and an in-display fingerprint scanner that works inconsistently.
- Xiaomi's own naming splits the burden — the Mi 8 Pro carries the in-display scanner experiment, so reliability complaints attach to the premium variant specifically rather than the whole line.
Second-order effects
- Rivals competing on value — OnePlus is the explicit benchmark in the related Mi 9 coverage — face pressure to match Xiaomi's hardware-per-dollar while differentiating on software polish, where MIUI's quirks leave an opening.
- A recurring hardware flaw across generations gives reviewers a standing checklist item, forcing Xiaomi to either fix the in-display sensor or keep discounting to compensate.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the value-brand identity becomes a ladder rather than a ceiling: the same company that shipped a $260 Mi 5 later fields tiered lineups from a €279 Mi 10T Lite up to a €1,499+ Ultra, with the budget DNA persisting in Lite models while the top of the range goes premium.
- Software quality becomes the durable brand question: hardware parity is cheap to buy, but MIUI's quirks are what separate Xiaomi from polished incumbents as its prices rise toward theirs.
The trend: Xiaomi is migrating from disruption-priced flagship killer to a full-tier premium manufacturer, carrying its early value-era compromises — software polish and first-generation biometrics — up the price ladder with it.