Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition review: A see-through-back Mi 8 with in-display fingerprint and 3D face unlock.
A see-through enthusiast Mi.
Mi 8 Explorer was Xiaomi's enthusiast flagship — a (faux) transparent back, in-display fingerprint sensor and iPhone-X-style 3D face unlock on Android. A genuine spec-list standout for 2018.
01Display
86/100At 86/100 this is one of the strongest display showings among flagship phones of 2018 — 6 points above the cohort average.
02Camera
76/10076/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2018.
03Performance
84/100At 84/100 this is one of the strongest performance showings among flagship phones of 2018 — 8 points above the cohort average.
04Battery
60/10060/100 is one of the weaker battery results among flagship phones of 2018 — 12 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
05Build
82/10082/100 puts it above the 79-point average for flagship phones of 2018.
06Value
70/10070/100 puts it above the 65-point average for flagship phones of 2018.
- Transparent back showing component layout.
- In-display fingerprint sensor.
- 3D structured-light face unlock.
- SD845 + 8 GB RAM.
- "Transparent" was a faux decorative layout.
- Small 3,000 mAh battery.
- No jack.
- Only China at launch.
How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 138-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .