Xiaomi forays into UK with Mi 8 Pro, Mi Band 3, Electric Scooter, Redmi 6A and more


Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro

Xiaomi has officially entered U.K with the launch of Mi 8 Pro alongside a range of other products including Mi 8, Redmi 6A smartphone, the Xiaomi Band 3 fitness tracker, and the Mi electric scooter. Apart from U.K, Xiaomi is steadily rolling out its range of products in new regions including Latin America and parts of northern and eastern Europe.

Though Xiaomi products were available in the UK through a 3rd party, this marks the official entry and a major push for Xiaomi. They will be available through brick-and-mortar Mi Store in Westfield London which will be opened on November 18. The Chinese smartphone giant first debuted the Mi 8 Pro alongside the Mi 8 Lite in China back in September, following Mi 8 which launched in May. The company’s senior VP, Wang Xiang said: “Today we witness a new chapter in Xiaomi’s global expansion journey, underpinned by our global ambitions.”

The Mi 8 Pro comes with a pressure-sensitive in-display fingerprint sensor. This only activates the unlocking process once you place your finger on the screen, which is faster and more power-efficient and is 29% faster compared to the in-display fingerprint sensor on the Mi 8. It sports a 6.21-inch (2248 × 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 18:7:9 AMOLED display and is powered by the Snapdragon 845 64-bit 10nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 630 GPU. It packs 6GB / 8GB LPDDR4x RAM with 128GB  (UFS 2.1) storage and runs on Android 8.1 (Oreo) with MIUI.

As for the Mi Band 3, it has a 0.78-inch OLED display, compared to 0.42-inch in the Mi Band 2 so that it can display more characters including WhatsApp, Facebook or SMS messages, Weather info, caller ID and more. It also 5ATMwaterprooff so that you can take it for swimming under 50 meters. It comes with improved activity tracking, and it shows real-time data for running, cycling, walking, and other activities. It still has a button on the front, and you can view the caller name on the band, and reject the call with a long press of the button. It has a larger 110mAh battery that promises about 20 days of standby.

The Mi Electric Scooter weighs just 12.5kg and has a folding design that lets you fold it in just 3 seconds with a press of a button. It has a DC motor with integrated die-casting molding that protects its internal structure. The maximum torque of the motor is 16N·m, rated power is 250W and offers instantaneous maximum power up to 500W. The maximum speed of the scooter is 25km/h. It has 8.5-inch front and rear pneumatic tires for excellent shock absorption and stability.

The Mi 8 Pro starts at £499 ($653 or Rs.47,515 approx.). The device sports a transparent glass back design so you can see inside the phone. Xiaomi also launched the Redmi 6A mobile phone priced at £99 ($130 or Rs. 9,455 approx.), the Mi Band 3 costs £27 ($35 or Rs.2,545 approx.), and the Mi electric scooter costs £399 ($523 or Rs. 38,045 approx.). All the products are available from Mi website.