Woman wearing a red jacket and holding the Meitu T8
The Meitu T8 is one of the best smartphones in China. Image: YouTube.

Meitu, a Chinese beauty company, announced on Tuesday the Meitu T8 smartphone. The device has a 12 MP, dual-pixel selfie camera and it comes with AI technology that enhances facial features on pictures to make users more beautiful.

The T8 is the third handset by the company. Previously, Meitu manufactured the V4 and the M6, also with an intense focus on looks and beauty for a glamorous user experience.

The selfie phone is already available for purchase, but only in Chinese territory. A couple of tech outlets have managed to snag one of the devices, and reports suggest it takes better pictures in low light than the iPhone 7.

Meitu T8: specs and design

Marketed as a phone designed to create and share beauty like Meitu’s mission statement, the T8 features a unique hexagonal body made of aluminum.

The device will come in four different colors: Magical Orange, Jazz Gold, Diamond Grey, and Dazzling Blue. A fifth, Phantom Black option designed by fashion model Angelababy will be available as a special edition in limited quantities.

Meitu’s T8 has a 5.2-inch AMOLED, full HD display with resolutions of 1920 x 1080. Under the hood, it has a deca-core, 2.3 GHz MediaTek Hello X MT6797 processor.

Additionally, the smartphone has 4 GB RAM and 128 GB of storage, expandable with a microSD card. A 3,580 mAh battery powers the T8, and it supports fast charging via USB-C.

Meitu T8: pros and cons

The most relevant aspect of the Meitu T8 is its impressive camera and photo software. The dual-pixel phase detection autofocus (PDAF) on the front-facing camera is the same tech found in Samsung’s Galaxy 7 and ASUS’ ZenFone 3 Zoom.

The selfie camera only gets better thanks to the Magical AI Beautification system on the phone, which registers the user, detects its facial features, and enhances them in real time even when shooting video.

Meitu T8 has an AI that beautifies the selfies.
Meitu T8 has an AI that beautifies the selfies. Image: YouTube.

On the other hand, the Meitu T8 runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow masked by the company’s MeiOS 3.5 skin. It means the phone comes with bloatware and preloaded beauty apps by the firm. The selfie-dedicated device is available exclusively in China.

Meitu T8: price and availability

The Meitu M8 costs ¥3,300, roughly US$479. The company will sell the smartphone online through their official site or third-party partners.

Users in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau can buy the device starting this February 22 until it sells out. The firm may implement a regime of flash sales similar to Nokia’s strategy with their new Android phones.

Source: Meitu