Xiaomi already has three variants of its flagship Mi 8-series, including the Mi 8, Mi 8 SE and Mi 8 Explorer Edition. But the Chinese tech giant isn't done yet. Xiaomi is going to launch a new variant that will fit into the flagship series without feeling crowded.
Xiaomi's next flagship smartphone is going to be called the Mi 8X, which by the looks of it, will be a mix of Mi 8, Mi 8 Explorer edition and Mi 8 SE. Built on the same platform as the Mi 8, complete with rounded corners and vertical dual cameras at the back, the Mi 8X will borrow the in-display fingerprint scanner from Mi 8 Explorer edition and Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 chipset from Mi 8 SE, according to the latest leak.
Xiaomi hasn't confirmed the Mi 8X just yet but the leaked images of the Mi 8X show the final design, which means the official unveiling could happen sooner than later. The handset is pictured in blue and white colours without a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, which makes us believe the rumour about in-display fingerprint scanner.
Additionally, 91Mobiles has reported that the Mi 8X will not only have an under-display fingerprint scanner but also feature 3D facial recognition like the Mi 8. With all these leaks, the Mi 8X is likely to be positioned between the Mi 8 and Mi 8 SE in terms of pricing.
Following the latest leak, another picture of the Mi 8X surfaced on Weibo – this time showing Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun holding the device while boarding a flight. The lack of rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and transparent back suggests it could be the Mi 8X, but there's some scepticism as the photo could be a photoshopped version of the Mi 8, Playfuldroid pointed out.
Unless Xiaomi officially unveils the smartphone, these rumours are worth nothing more. But the consistency of these leaks does add some level of seriousness to the mix. Earlier reports suggested that the Mi 8X would have a 3,100mAh battery, OLED display, Android 8.1 Oreo, dual SIM support, NFC, microSD card slot, Always-on Display and Adreno 616 GPU. The Mi 8X is also likely to be the Comet smartphone that XDA Developers unearthed from Xiaomi's leaked firmware files.
