Xiaomi will be launching a row of products at an event in China today at 2PM Beijing time, which is around 11:30AM IST. The key highlight of today’s event will be the company’s next flagship device and the successor to the Mi 6, the Mi 8. Yes, the Chinese OEM is skipping the Mi 7 and launching Mi 8 instead, this is to celebrate the company’s eight-year anniversary in the smartphone market. Alongside the Mi 8, which is expected to come with an iPhone X-like notch, Xiaomi may also launch Mi Band 3, MIUI 10, a special edition Mi 8 SE and also Mi Note 5. The event will be livestreamed on the company’s website.

As Mi 8 is going to be the major announcement of the event, let’s talk about it first. We have already come across several renders and leaks about the flagship device which suggests that Mi 8 is going to follow the market trend and come with a notched display and minimal bezels compared to the predecessor Mi 6. Rumours also say that Mi 8 will sport dual camera set up on the back, and in display fingerprint sensor, just as the newly launched Vivo X21. Reports also claim that the Mi 8 camera is going to work better than that of the Mi Mix 2S. The Mi 8 camera will be one of the best seen on a Xiaomi phone so far.

Earlier this week, Xiaomi via an official teaser had confirmed to bring the Mi 8 to 8 markets in total, and India is one of them. As of now, the company hasn’t confirmed the Mi 8 India launch timeline, but chances are the phone will hit the Indian shores later this year. There are no details if Xiaomi will be bringing other products that the company will be announcing at today’s event, like the Mi Band 3, Mi Note 5, and Mi 8 SE, to other markets or not.

All the upcoming Xiaomi products have been subjected to several leaks and rumours already, and here’s all we know about them:

MI 8

As already mentioned, Mi 8 is going to be the star of today’s event. The full specs sheet of the Mi 8 was leaked last week. The specs sheet suggests the smartphone will come with a dual camera setup on the rear and a single sensor on the front. It will sport a 20-megapixel primary sensor with f/1.7 aperture, while the secondary camera will include a 16-megapixel sensor with f/2.0 aperture on the back. On the front, the Mi 8 will come with a 16-megapixel camera with f/2.0 aperture. The smartphone will come with iPhone X like 3D Animoji which Xiaomi will design and develop on its own. Mi 8 will come equipped with a structured light 3D module which will be responsible to bring the 3D facial recognition feature.

The 3D module will enable users to unlock the Mi 8 just by scanning their face in 3D. Not only that, the module is also said to work perfectly in low-light conditions.
Mi 8 will come with a 6.2-inch IPS (LCD) display with a 1080p+ resolution and come with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage and run Android 8.1 Oreo software and because Xiaomi will be announcing the MIUI 10 on May 3. This means that the Mi 8 would be the first phone to ship with the new version of MIUI. The phone will be backed by a 3,300mAh battery and also come with an in-screen fingerprint sensor which goes in line with Vivo’s newly launched X21 UD.

MI BAND 3

Mi Band 3 is expected to cost around CNY 169, meaning it will be slightly pricey than the Mi Band 2, which was launched for 149 yuan. The Mi Band 3 will be available in three colours — red, black and blue. The upcoming Mi Band 3 will be an improved version of the Mi Band 2, in terms of both design and hardware specs. All we know so far is that Mi Band will come with a touch-screen display and more curves on the sides compared to the Mi Band 2. Rumours say that the Mi Band 3 will come with IP67-certification which may protect the watch from water and dust.

The Mi Band 3 will sport a removable strap, meaning users will be able to remove the strap whenever they want and also fix it back when needed. The Mi Band 3 will come with several connectivity options like Bluetooth and NFC built-in and support gestures. Rumours say that Mi Band 3 is also expected to come with health-related features like heart rate monitor, sleep tracker, calorie counter and step calculator. No details on the Mi Band 3 India launch yet, but chances are Xiaomi may bring it to India in the next few months, like it did with the Mi Band 2.

MI 8 SE

This is going to be a special edition phone, and a toned down version of the Mi 8. As the Mi 8 SE will be a limited edition phone the device may be available only in limited quantities, and chances are it may not enter other markets. But then, you never know. The retail box of the Mi 8 SE was leaked on Wednesday. The box reveals some hardware information about the phone like it will come with Snapdragon 710 processor paired with either 4GB RAM or 6GB RAM. The retail box also reveals that the front camera of the Mi 8 SE will be slightly better than the Mi 8. The Mi 8 SE will sport a 20-megapixel image sensor on the front. Considering Xiaomi is also expected to unveil MIUI 10 in today’s event, we can expect the Mi 8 SE to run MIUI 10 on top of Android Oreo.