Design of Redmi Note 8 Pro
Xiaomi has changed the design of Redmi 8 series smartphones and Redmi Note 8 Pro has also benefited from it. Redmi Note 7 Pro ,review), the Redmi Note 8 Pro has a larger 6.3-inch display. There is a waterdrop notch on the front panel of the phone and the selfie camera has got a place in it.
The earpiece has been placed just above the display. Corning Gorilla Glass 5 has been used in the handset for protection. There is a power and volume button on the right side of Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro. We found that the power button is well placed but you will have to stretch your hand a bit for the volume button.
There are two trays on the left side of Redmi Note 8 Pro, the first has a Nano-SIM slot and the second has separate space for the Nano-SIM slot and microSD card slot. Xiaomi has provided a microSD card slot especially for the Indian market, remember that this feature is not present in the Chinese variant of Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro.
Corning Gorilla Glass 5 has been used on the back panel of Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro. To ensure good grip of the phone in the hands, the handset has curved edges. The camera module was placed in the middle, for your information, let us tell you that Xiaomi has placed the fingerprint sensor in the camera module itself.
The Redmi Note 8 Pro has an LED flash on the right side of the camera module and a macro camera just below it. The USB Type-C port, loudspeaker and primary microphone are located at the bottom of the Redmi Note 8 Pro, while the IR emitter and secondary microphone are located at the upper part of the phone. Xiaomi has provided an 18-watt fast charger and clear plastic case in the retail box.
Redmi Note 8 Pro specifications and software
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro sports a 6.53-inch full-HD+ (1080×2340 pixels) display with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. This handset has been launched with HDR support. There was no problem in using the phone outdoors because the display is quite bright. Xiaomi has used MediaTek Helio G90T processor in Redmi Note 8 Pro.
This chipset will compete with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G processor. Helio G90T is an octa-core processor, for graphics there is ARM Mali-G76 MC4 integrated GPU whose speed is 800 MHz. To maintain the operating temperature on this processor, Xiaomi has used liquid cooling with dual pyrolytic sheets.
The price of Redmi Note 8 Pro starts from Rs 14,999. This price is for 6 GB RAM and 64 GB storage variant. There are two more variants of the phone. The 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage variant of this Xiaomi phone will be sold for Rs 15,999. The price of 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage variant is Rs 17,999.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro uses UFS 2.1 storage instead of eMMC 5.1, which is common in this price segment. It is possible to expand the storage up to 512 GB with the help of microSD card. Talking about connectivity in Redmi Note 8 Pro, it includes Bluetooth version 5, Wi-Fi 802.11 AC, dual 4G VoLTE and four navigation systems.
The battery of Redmi Note 8 Pro is 4,500 mAh, apart from this, Xiaomi said that selfie-cleaning speakers have been provided in this latest handset. Redmi Note 8 Pro also runs on MIUI 10 based on Android 9 Pie. Please note that our review unit runs on the September security patch. Like other Xiaomi smartphones, Redmi Note 8 Pro will also come with many apps pre-installed.
Some of the Google apps the Redmi Note 8 Pro comes with include Amazon, Facebook, WPS Office, Netflix, Dailyhunt, Gaana, and Opera Mini. Games like Ludo Master, Block Puzzle Guardian, Pop Shooter Blast and Dust Settle will also be pre-installed in Xiaomi handset. The Redmi Note 8 Pro also has a GetApps app store that suggests you new apps.
You will also find Xiaomi’s apps like Mi Community, Mi Pay, Mi Store and Mi Credit pre-installed in the device. Apps like Music and Mi Video keep sending spammy notifications all day long. Users can also switch from the traditional three-button navigation layout to swipe-based navigation if they wish. Since the MediaTek Helio G90T supports dual-wake, Xiaomi has also added Amazon Alexa support along with Google Assistant.
Performance and battery life of Redmi Note 8 Pro
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro is the first smartphone to come in India with the new MediaTek Helio G90T processor. We have the 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage variant of the handset for review. The handset does not slow down even after heavy load, the handset launches apps fast. Due to Redmi Note 8 Pro having 8 GB RAM, there is no need to close apps in the background.
We found that the fingerprint sensor in the smartphone unlocks the phone faster. We did not face any problem in using the phone outdoors because the display is bright. Let us tell you that the speaker of the handset produces loud sound. We tried playing PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile to check the performance of the handset.
PUBG Mobile was set to High preset and graphics HD and frame rate high by default, there were no issues while playing the game in these settings. We played the game for 36 minutes and found that it consumed 12 percent battery. The Redmi Note 8 Pro was a little warm at the end of the gaming session. We set the graphics to HDR and the frame rate to Ultra and then the game ran without any issues.
However, the phone did get warm after gaming for 20 minutes at these settings. The battery life of Redmi Note 8 Pro is good. The 4,500 mAh battery lasted about 14 hours in our HD video loop test. Our usage included active WhatsApp account, some camera samples, playing PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile.
At the end of the day the phone still had 40 percent battery left. An 18-watt charger will be available in the retail box with Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro, which charges the phone’s battery 32 percent in 30 minutes and 62 percent in an hour.
Redmi Note 8 Pro cameras
Compared to Redmi Note 7 Pro, the camera of Redmi Note 8 Pro has been significantly upgraded. Redmi Note 8 Pro is the company’s first 64 megapixel camera phone, its aperture is F/1.79 and 0.8 micron pixels. This sensor clicks 16-megapixel shots in default mode as it uses 4-in-1 pixel binning technology.
The second is an 8-megapixel wide-angle sensor, its aperture is F/2.2, apart from this a 2-megapixel macro camera will also be available. The fourth sensor is a 2 megapixel depth sensor. The phone also has a 20-megapixel selfie camera on the front panel. Xiaomi has not made changes to the camera app on the Redmi Note 8 Pro and it is similar to what we have seen in many other Xiaomi smartphones.
There is a button in the camera app with the help of which you can switch between primary camera and wide-angle. The button to switch on the macro camera is placed along with the AI button above. On the top there is HDR, AI, flash and filters. Apart from the standard photo and video modes, the smartphone has Portrait, Night, Panorama, Pro, Short Video, Slow Motion and 64MP shooting modes.
Photos taken with Redmi Note 8 Pro in daylight came out sharp, and details were also captured well. The camera automatically enables HDR for bright scenes and this helps in getting the correct exposure. The field of view in pictures taken with the wide-angle camera was wide but it lacked detail compared to the primary sensor.
In low-light, AI identifies the scene quickly and sets the camera accordingly. The details were captured properly in the shots taken with the primary camera at night. With Night Mode enabled, pictures taken with the handset came out brighter and details were also captured better. Close-up shots captured with the primary camera had good background separation and natural Bokeh effect.
Even in low light, the primary camera focuses quickly and captures shots with better detail. Shots taken using the macro camera also captured good detail but the resolution is only 2 megapixels. Xiaomi has placed the macro camera below the flash. In Portrait mode, the Redmi Note 8 Pro offers you the option to set the level of blur before taking the shot.
The phone maintains the correct distance between the subject and the background. Colors were also accurate when shooting in portrait mode. The single selfie camera on the phone takes sharp shots during the day but we found that the contrast was slightly boosted. You also get the option to take selfie portraits and it also does decent separation. There was a slight lack of detail in selfies taken in low light.
The primary camera is capable of recording video at 4K 30fps and the selfie camera is capable of recording video at 1080p 30fps. If you want, you can also shoot the video with the help of wide-angle camera or macro camera. Videos made during the day came out stabilized but shimmer effect was seen in the videos made in low light.
our decision
redmi note 7 pro In the upgraded version of Redmi Note 8 Pro, Xiaomi has provided powerful hardware which is not usually seen in this price segment. The MediaTek Helio G90T processor also takes care of your gaming needs. In terms of performance, it also beats Snapdragon 712 and Snapdragon 730 processors.
Xiaomi has launched other smartphones such as Realme 5 Pro And Realme XT ,reviewThe camera hardware has also been upgraded to compete with the . Let us tell you that Realme 5 Pro and Realme XT also come with good camera performance. Overall, the Redmi Note 8 Pro qualifies as an upgrade to Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 7 Pro smartphone. Redmi Note 8 Pro is a good option for those users who are thinking of buying a gaming device.