Xiaomi Mi8 processor: a full technical overview of the Snapdragon 845 and its capabilities

Why is the processor in the Mi8 still relevant?

The Xiaomi Mi8, launched in 2018, has become one of the brand’s most talked-about flagships. Despite being more than 5 years old since its launch, the device is still in high use today, thanks to its balanced performance and custom firmware support. The centerpiece of this performance is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, which at the time of release was considered the pinnacle of mobile chipsets.

In 2026, the Mi8 remains a popular aftermarket destination, especially for users looking for a budget flagship for gaming, multimedia, or firmware experiments. But how relevant is the Snapdragon 845 today? Will it cope with today’s challenges? In this guide, we’ll look at the unique features of the Mi8 processor, including its architecture, benchmark performance, and comparisons with new low-end chipsets.

Technical characteristics of the Xiaomi Mi8 processor

The heart of the Xiaomi Mi8 is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (SDM845), an 8-core processor built on a 10-nm process, which was the first in the Snapdragon lineup to support LPDDR4X memory and UFS 2.1 drives, which significantly accelerated the work with data.

• 🔹 Architecture: 4 Kryo 385 Gold cores (up to 2.8 GHz) + 4 Kryo 385 Silver cores (up to 1.8 GHz)
• 🔹 Graphics: Adreno 630 with OpenGL support ES 3.2 and Vulkan 1.1
• 🔹 Neural processor: Hexagon 685 DSP for AI tasks (e.g., face recognition in Face Unlock)
• 🔹 Modem: Snapdragon X20 LTE (up to 1.2 Gbps in the network)
• 🔹 Display support: up to 4K HDR and 60 Hz frequencies

The feature of the Snapdragon 845 was optimization for machine learning: the chipset could process AI tasks 3 times faster than its predecessor, the Snapdragon 835. Mi8 functions such as AI-camera with scene recognition and face ID infrared-scanner.

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If your Mi8 is starting to slow down, try turning off animation in the developer settings (Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version → 5 times press MIUI Version → Turn on Developer Mode → find Windows Animation and set 0.5x) This will speed up the interface by 15-20%.

Performance in 2026: benchmarks and real-world tests

To assess how much the Snapdragon 845 is capable of performing today’s challenges, we tested the Xiaomi Mi8 in popular benchmarks and real-world scenarios.

Despite the loss to the new chipsets, the Snapdragon 845 still shows decent results:

• 🎮 Games: PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty: Mobile and Genshin Impact run on medium settings. FPS before 30-40 via graphics settings.
• 📸 Camera: Processing 48-The Mpm of the images takes ~2-3 seconds against 1 seconds at the new flagships).
• 🔋 Energy consumption: When used actively, the processor is heated to 65-70°C, but trottling (reset frequency) is not observed due to effective cooling in the Mi8.

Importantly, performance is highly dependent on the firmware version. For example, on MIUI 14 (the latest official for the Mi8), the smartphone is slower than on custom firmware like LineageOS 20 or Pixel Experience, which is due to kernel optimization and the lack of excessive bloatware (preinstalled Xiaomi applications).

Comparison with competitors: Snapdragon 845 vs other chipsets

To understand how competitive the Snapdragon 845 is in 2026, compare it to popular chipsets in the budget and mid-range segment:

The table shows that the Snapdragon 845 is inferior to modern chipsets in process technology and energy efficiency, but ahead of them in single-threaded performance (due to the high frequency of the Kryo 385 Gold).

• 💼 Office work: Fast document processing in Microsoft Office or Google Docs.
• 🎥 Video editing: CapCut or KineMaster work without lags in rendering 1080p.
• 🔧 Development: Supports Termux and Lungs IDE (for example, AIDE Android-based).

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The Snapdragon 845 in 2026 remains the best choice for a budget “working” smartphone, if you do not need 5G and ultra-high performance in games.

Cooling and trottling: how to avoid overheating

One of the weaknesses of the Xiaomi Mi8 is its cooling system, which, despite having a hot pipe, heats up to 70-75°C at long loads, leading to trottling (automatic frequency reduction), especially in games or when recording video in 4K.

To minimize overheating, follow these tips:

If you notice that the smartphone has become overheated more than usual, check:

1. Battery state (the worn-out battery loads the processor).
2. The presence of dust in the charging connector or speakers (may block the heat sink).
3. Firmware version (some custom builds turn off heating restrictions).

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To check the temperature of the processor, use the CPU Monitor application or enter the code ##4636## → “Battery Information” in the engineering menu.

Overclocking and optimization: can you speed up the Snapdragon 845?

Unlike PCs, overclocking on smartphones is extremely limited due to the closed architecture, but there are several ways to optimize the performance of the Snapdragon 845 in the Xiaomi Mi8:

• 🔧 Core and scheduler: Install a custom core (e.g., FrancoKernel) for better frequency management CPU/GPU.
• ⚡ Undervolting: Reduced voltage at the cores (via EX Kernel Manager reduces heat and increases operating time.
• 🗑️ Cleaning the system: Remove unnecessary apps and cache using ADB: adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.miui.analytics adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.xiaomi.ab
• 🔄 Firmware: Transition to Android 13 LineageOS gives you productivity gains 10-15% nucleus-new.

⚠️ Attention: Overclocking or modifying the core can cause the device to fail if you don't follow the instructions. TWRP before experimentation!

For those who do not want to take risks, the alternative is to optimize the software:

• Turn off MIUI Optimization in the developer settings.
• Use Greenify to “freeze” background apps.
• Activate Force GPU Rendering in the developer settings to speed up animation.

Frequent Processor Problems and Solutions

Xiaomi Mi8 users often face problems associated with the Snapdragon 845. Let’s consider the most common and ways to fix them:

⚠️ Attention: If yours Mi8 suddenly switched off when loaded (for example, in games), this may indicate a defect in the soldered contacts of the processor. ~3 000 ₽).

If none of the methods did not help, it is worth checking the status of the processor through diagnostic tests:

1. Run the Throttling Test CPU from Play Market to check for trolling.
2. Use AIDA64 to monitor the loading of cores in real time.
3. Check logs via adb logcat for errors: adb logcat | grep -i "thermal"

FAQ: answers to popular questions about the Xiaomi Mi8 processor