Xiaomi unveiled the much-awaited Redmi Note 8 series in China, set to launch in the country in 8 weeks. The company is ready to disrupt the budget smartphone market once again, and this time they have their own quad camera devices to take on Realme 5, Realme 5 Pro and Realme XT.
The Note 8 smartphones start at as low as Rs 10,000, and the Note 8 Pro seem to be a budget killer at under Rs 15,000.
The new Redmi Note series phones includes two devices as the predecessor series: Redmi Note 8 and Redmi Note 8 Pro. The Note 8 Pro is the biggest surprise, and we got to catch up with the launch event at China live. We got the device and used it to experience the change. The new Note has a lot to offer, and we have much to say.
Here’s our quick review of the upcoming Redmi Note 8 Pro decoding every feature and detail.
Contents
Display & Design: New Premium Glass Design & Rain Resistance
Redmi Note 8 Pro comes with a high-quality glass sandwich body, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. It does feel premium. The glass sandwich built is backed by some of the striking colour schemes and hues. Most importantly, the smartphone feels very premium in hand.
You would feel they that you are holding an OnePlus 7 to some extent.
The overall ergonomics are perfect, sturdy, premium and they feel good to be held.
Redmi Note 8 Pro comes with a 6.53-inch Full HD+ screen offering an immersive 91.94 per cent screen-to-body ratio. It has a physical fingerprint sensor. The display is quite vibrant with minimal bezels on the sides with a little chin down under.
Hardware & Storage: A Gaming Beast?
Redmi Note 8 Pro comes with the newly launched MediaTek Helio G90T processor and will support Blackshark’s gaming controller that will sell separately. The smartphone can be doubled as a gaming device. The new MediaTek octa-core Helio G90T chip can clocked at up to 2.05GHz.
G90T uses ARM Cortex-A76 power cores and Cortex-A55 efficiency cores coupled with Mali G76 GPU with clock speeds of up to 800MHz for graphics.
The chip can support up to 10GB LPDDR4 RAM with support for 64-megapixel resolution primary sensor and three additional cameras. The SoC is capable of having full-HD+ displays with up to 21:9 aspect ratio and 90Hz display refresh rate.
The MediaTek chip has a special HyperEngine that will help the device to boost up mobile gaming experience.
G90T can optimize the networking engine to offer 50 percent faster response time from the server. Additionally, there’s a Dual Wi-Fi connection support letting the smartphone to simultaneously connect with two Wi-Fi bands or two routers at a time.
In terms of daily performance, Redmi Note 8 Pro both can run almost all tasks and mid-end games without any hiccups. There won’t be any noticeable difference in daily use given the memory-heavy apps and social media.
It did a great job when it comes to extended gaming and extensive multitasking. There are different models to choose from with upto 8GB RAM and 128GB storage and offered with 4GB, 6GB and 8GB of RAM along with 64GB and 128GB of internal storage. Additional storage supported.
Software: The Same MIUI
Redmi Note 8 Pro comes with the latest MIUI 10 based on the same Android 9 Pie. The newly improved UI does offer some refreshing features compared to the previous OS with an easy-to-use overall structure and few tweaks. It’s a little upgrade over the current generation. You will notice the subtle differences on the notification toggle and some changes in the settings menu.
But again, the MIUI is loaded with irritating system and in-mobile ads. Both the companies have added a ton of features in their latest edition of the software, and it does look fresh and sorted.
You can disable the in-system ads, but the notification ads from browser and other pre-installed Mi apps can’t be disabled. MIUI is more battery efficient compared to other Android-based operating systems. An UI being an individual choice of preferences, leaving it to you to judge it.
Quad Rear Camera Setup: The 64MP Power
Redmi Note 8 Pro comes with a quad camera system at the back, the first for any Redmi smartphone. Note 8 Pro comes with the 64MP camera. The Redmi smartphone features a primary 64MP Samsung GW1 sensor with f/1.7 aperture, 2MP depth sensor, 8MP Ultra Wide lens and 2cm Macro lens.
The 64MP Samsung GW1 1/1.72? sensor can create shots 1.6 micron individual pixel size using image sensing technology via Tetracell to produce 16-megapixel images in low-light.
The Samsung’s 64MP GW1 sensor uses 4-in-1 pixel merging technology to merge four 0.8 micron pixels into a single 1.6-micron pixel to offer detailed images in low light conditions. It can shoot raw 64MP photos with the main sensor.
Up front, Note 8 Pro has a 13MP selfie sensor. The selfies have a lot of details and it supports multiple shooting modes and filters to enhance selfies. The AI-powered modes do a good job in terms of capturing details.
The colours were a bit overdone and slightly artificial, but in overall, the front camera does a good job, be it wide shots or low light shots.
The rear four camera setup has multiple sensors for multiple purposes.
Note 8 Pro can take good detailed and sharp pictures in bright light with accurate colours. In poorly lit conditions, the device manages to click decent photos with almost accurate details and colours. We are yet to test the camera in-depth, but the initial results are very impressive.
The dynamic range on the Note 8 Pro is good and it captures quite accurate details and produce good colours.
The HDR works fine, and the ultra-wide lens work fine. The macro lens and portrait sensor does their job decently.
The camera interface is quite minimal and it’s loaded with AI-powered modes to enhance the overall photography. AI works on both sides to adjust to the particular lighting and adjust the filters. In all, all thee three do good and make use of their respective lenses to take up some great shots.
Battery: Qualcomm QC 3.0 18W & 4,500mAh Battery
Redmi Note 8 Pro houses a newly renovated and larger 4,500 mAh battery backed by AI smart optimization to extend the phone’s battery to last longer supporting 18W fast charging technology. The charge time may vary from 100 to 110 minutes.
Coming to how it performs, the new Redmi device can easily last more than a day on heavy usage, and even a day and a half on moderate use.
With continuous video playback, gaming and performing multi-tasking processes, the smartphones can easily shoot up for a whole day without being charged. The the smartphone ships with the 18W fast charger inside the box.
Pricing: The New Rs 15,000 King?
Realme XT will launch in India in September, while Note 8 series in 8 weeks, Xiaomi India confirmed. Both being quad camera budget smartphones powered by the Samsung 64MP GW1 sensor, it’s going to be a good fight. The device may start somewhere around Rs 15,500.
The base variant of Note 8 Pro will come at around Rs 15,000 in India. Redmi Note 8 Pro will come in three variants: 6GB RAM with 64GB storage will cost 1399 Yuan (around Rs 14,000).
The mid-end model with 6GB RAM with 128GB storage is available at 1599 Yuan (around Rs 16,000) and 8GB RAM with 128GB storage costs 1799 Yuan (around Rs 18,000). The company is expected to continue it’s trend in the country with new series.
Redmi Note 8 will be priced in line with Realme 5, while the Redmi Note 8 Pro price in India will be close to Realme 5 Pro. The regular Note 8 will be launched in the sub-10K segment, while the Note 8 Pro in India will be launched in the sub-15K.
Redmi Note 8 Pro Verdict: The New Budget Beast?
Redmi Note 8 Pro pretty much packs in everything you want on a good budget smartphone. With some excellent features on-board, it does stand on a good spot to be the best in the range again. Also, we expect the price to be very affordable as well.
The 64MP powered quad camera system is going to be the biggest USP on Note 8 Pro, and they certainly do make a good choice considering some of the departments as performance, cameras, display and battery.
Most importantly, Xiaomi has focused on the gaming department, and Note 8 Pro with G90T have a good chance to be the best smartphone in the range.
In all, the smartphone packs in a solid performance backed by a good processor, big display, a large battery and finally the four cameras for different occasions with the much talked-about 64MP Samsung lens backing it up.
In all, both Redmi Note 8 Pro ticks all the boxes right. It will deliver solid gaming and day to day performance with the new G90T, a perfectly designed display with a slight chin, the brand new quad camera technology powered by the 64MP sensor, larger battery, fast charging and much more.
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