Do note that Xiaomi turns the OS itself into an adware platform. For now it's opt-out, but we all know how these things evolve.
Having a Huawei myself, I am not opposed to Chinese phones or anything. I'm just hesitant about any ad-supported tech, or tech that you can't own. I wonder if they ever stop supporting rooting/flashing your phone to stop people from undermining their profit model. Which would be fair enough if you understand how technology works and where your data goes and still choose to buy it, but (percentage-wise) almost nobody understands it sufficiently to make that choice.
The other day I found a deal on a Mi A2 for only $150 and it feels like a $400-500 device. Plus it runs Android One, so pretty much stock Android.
I'm a bit concerned about getting China spyware to be honest but AFAIK Xiaomi has been so far legit.