Name: Mi 8 Explorer Edition Durability Test - Is it FAKE?!
Uploaded: 2020-03-06T18:24:04.000Z
Duration: 7 min 2 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

So I've been making clear phones for about 3 years now.

Lately we've had a few manufacturers jump on the transparent bandwagon with me, which

HTC made one, and now Xiaomi's released the Mi 8 Explorer Edition.

This one caught my eye because it's transparency might not be the real deal.

The only way to find out for sure was to get one for myself.

Huge thanks to NordVPN for sponsoring this video.

Xiaomi's circuits back here on the Mi 8 seem too perfectly aesthetic.

Components don't match up to where they should be, and each circuit has it's own logo with

Don't get me wrong, it still looks super cool and I'd totally still rock this phone, but

it might just be a sticker under the glass back and not the real components.

Starting the durability test like I've done with the last 100 phones I've tested.

Some phones have plastic screens that scratch at a level 3, which HTC has made a sapphire

Xiaomi has been using the very much standardized Gorilla Glass 5 on this phone, so we'll see

the normal hardness level of 6, with a deeper groove at a level 7.

It'll resist keys, coins, and razor blades, but pocket sand and other minerals harder

The Mi 8 top notch contains the face scanner and 20 megapixel selfie camera, along with

a wire mesh earpiece grille that's very solidly attached to the frame.

The bottom of the phone has no physical buttons which is also the norm these days.

Let's get a closer look at that back panel.

Seriously one of the coolest looking phones I've seen in a while, even if it does just

None of the printed words or logos are on the exterior of the glass, and therefore can't

The Xiaomi Mi 8 does have dual cameras and they are doing it right with both a normal

The sides of the phone are made from aluminum, a tad bit softer than the stainless steel

They are covered in a thin layer of paint, so the silver will start showing through if

it ever gets dropped or accidentally scratched.

The power button is painted red and still made from metal.

Nice little accent to an already good looking phone.

If we accidentally scratch the top of the phone, we get more metal.

Xiaomi has had plastic end caps on their phones in the past for signal transfer, but it looks

like they avoided that this time around with the glass backed design, allowing for the

There is a dual SIM card tray, but no rubber waterproofing around the opening.

This Mi 8 has no water resistance, so keep that in mind.

Down here at the bottom we find a USB-C charging port, more metal, but no headphone jack.

It's interesting that companies yelling innovation the loudest, usually have the least amount

Xiaomi has plopped a 6.2 inch 1080p HDR 10 notched AMOLED display on the Mi 8 – meaning

that if we add a little heat, it'll turn white.

Now lately, with the Note 9 and the iPhone X, we have had AMOLED screens recover after

But after 15 seconds, this Mi 8 remains burned and the pixels do no recover even when the

One thing I forgot to mention is that this phone does have an in-screen fingerprint scanner,

So far, we've only seen this tech on Vivo phones so it's good to see the in-screen fingerprint

hardware expanding to other manufacturers.

Apple's going to be pretty pumped when they invent this tech in a few years.

Sometimes bending a smartphone is the quickest way inside, like with the Mi 5 back in the

This time around though, even with a hefty amount of force applied from both the back

and the front of the phone, the Explorer Edition remains solid and intact.

It adds a slight flex to the frame, but nothing permanent remains when the pressure is released.

Lucky for us, with no IP rating, the glass should pop off relatively easily, which needs

to happen if we're going to investigate those circuits.

A little bit of heat to soften the adhesive and a slight bit of persuasion with my razor

knife and metal pry tools, and the back glass starts coming off.

The adhesive is only around the edge of the transparent glass, so whatever material lies

underneath is not stuck to the glass directly.

You can see the way the glass fades from transparent to black around the edges to kind of mask

This looks awesome, and hopefully we see more of it in the future.

From the outside it looks like this Explorer Edition had a carbon fiber layer over the

3000 milliamp hour battery, but in reality, it's just a final sticker.

Now I'm not going to say I invented putting stickers on batteries, but we kind of did

do it first with the One Plus 6 before the Mi 8 was even announced.

Now let's dig into this motherboard thing.

Whatever it is, it is held down with 9 pentalobe screws – the same style we see holding iPhones

Then the whole decorative plastic top just pops off the actual motherboard underneath.

The whole thing is a decoration all made from plastic.

The quotes, the Qualcomm logo are all superficial garnish covering up the real circuits below.

I think it's pretty cool that Xiaomi is leaning towards a more techie design.

But I do think that we shouldn't succumb to the unrealistic standards and expectations

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Mi 8 Explorer Edition Durability Test - Is it FAKE?!

awesome

accent

simultaneously

scratch