Can't help you specifically on the note 8 but have been pleased with the performance and robustness of my Redmi 3S Pro which is still going strong after 3 years despite fairly hard use, dropped plenty of times, cycled with, used in the rain etc.
I wipe mine and put customised android OS on it but my wife is using Xiaomi's MIUI interface with no complaints.
The 3S's camera is not amazing and lacks NFC but otherwise very well specced I think. Those are the only things that make me think of going for a different phone. Looks like there are versions of the Note 8 that include NFC and some that don't.