Xiaomi's Redmi Note series phones started the trend of offering great specifications and features on a budget. And it recently launched the newest phones in this lineup - the Redmi Note 8 and the Redmi Note 8 Pro. We got our hands on the Redmi Note Pro 8 and here's what we liked and disliked about this powerhouse on a budget.
Redmi Note 8 Pro gets a 6.3-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. The display tries to appear bezel-less with the tear-drop notch, however, there is a good amount of bezels to the side along with a fat chin, that Xiaomi has neatly made it look cool with the Redmi branding and blue colour accents that many find cool, but I don't.
Even the top corners have a considerable curve that eats up screen space. But all these factors get ignored when you look at the panel. It is bright, vibrant and offers some really good daylight visibility. Thanks to the IPS nature, the viewing angles are perfect with minimal colour shifting. And all this is even more appealing at the price point it's being sold at.?
As mentioned earlier, Redmi Note series by Xiaomi has always been about offering great performance on a budget, and the Note 8 is no exception. The phone is rocking Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 octa-core processor with Adreno 610 GPU. While the processor isn't the best, performs just fine. Paired with 4GB and 6GB of RAM (we got our hands on the latter) the overall experience was seamless and snappy.?
Talking about gaming, yes this can run PUBG and Call Of Duty Mobile , but keep it on the lowest settings to get the best performance out of the device.?
Xiaomi has managed to stuff the Redmi Note 8 with a generous 4000mAh battery. On a single charge, the device could easily last a day and a half, even more, if I had lesser screen-on time. The 18W quick charging got to 40-percent in around 30 minutes of charge. Sure, it is nowhere close to what OnePlus's WARP charging, but at this price point, it is an impressive package nonetheless.
Redmi Note 8 has to be one of the most lazily-made Xiaomi phones this year. It has adopted a similar gradient-glass look at the back and the thick bezels and chin only make it worse.
Even the colour options aren't interesting enough. We got our hands on the gradient-blue variant and I could have easily mistaken it for a Realme or Honor device. And the thick camera bump only made it worse. Even though its a budget device.
Now Xiaomi has gone all-in with the camera setup on the Redmi Note 8. We're seeing a quad-camera setup on this device with a 48-megapixel primary sensor, 8-megapixel ultra-wide shooter, a 2-megapixel macro shooter and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. At the front, you get a 13-megapixel shooter.?
The cameras manage to shoot some really good images in daylight. The colours seem natural, and with fair amount of detail.
The ultra-wide shooter too manages to capture good images during the daytime.
The 2-megapixel macro shooter does capture detail, but the 2-megapixel resolution doesn't wow you.?
Take the camera out at night and the camera takes a toll for the worse with dark grainy images. Shooting in night mode manages to get decent shots, but nothing that you'd really like.
The selfie camera too performs well for the price, but the portrait mode on the front can be a hit and a miss sometimes.?
Xiaomi's Redmi Note 8 is not the phone that has the best specs or the most revolutionary features. It is a budget phone that tries to get the basics right, which it does phenomenally. Sure the camera and design are dated and unimpressive, but it is trying to pack a ton of other goodies starting at a price point of Rs 9,999.?
If you can stretch your budget a bit, we'd recommend you to go with the Redmi Note 8 Pro, but if you're tight-bound on your budget, Redmi Note 8 is a good phone with compromises that won't sting you.