Redmi has announced two new smartphones in China, the Redmi Note 8 and Redmi Note 8 Pro. This launch event was announced quite recently, and the two phones are now official.
The two devices are quite similar in terms of the design, but not identical. Both are made out of metal and glass, and feature vertical camera setup on the back. The Redmi Note 8, interestingly enough, has one camera more than the “Pro” model.
The Redmi Note 8 features four cameras on the back, while the Pro model includes three sensors. Both phones include a display camera notch, of a waterdrop variety.
Both also include a “chin” below the display, but only the Note 8 has a Redmi branding down there. That “chin” is thinner on the “Pro” model, by the way.
Buttons are placed on the right-hand side of both smartphones. You will find the volume up, volume down, and power / lock buttons there. Both devices include a 3.5mm headphone jack. Both devices include a rear-facing fingerprint scanner.
Redmi Note 8 specifications
The Redmi Note 8 features a 6.39-inch fullHD+ (2340 x 1080) LCD display. That display is protected by the Gorilla Glass 5. The device is fueled by the Snapdragon 665 64-bit octa-core processor, and includes 6GB of RAM and 64GB / 128GB of storage. You can expand that storage up to 256GB via a microSD card.
The phone comes with Android 9 Pie out of the box, and MIUI 10 on top of it. Two SIM card slots are available on this phone, while the device is splash proof (P2i nano-coating). A 4,000mAh battery is also a part of the package, with 18W fast wired charging.
48-megapixel (f/1.79 aperture, Sony’s IMX586 sensor, 6P lens, PDAF, EIS), 8-megapixel (120-degree ultrawide angle lens, 1.12um pixel size), 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-megapixel camera for 2cm macro shots with 1.75um pixel size and an f/2.4 aperture.
A 13-megapixel camera (f/2.0 aperture) is included on the front side of this phone. The device measures 164.4 x 75.6 x 9.3mm, while it weighs 198 grams.
Redmi Note 8 Pro specifications
The Redmi Note 8 Pro sports a 6.53-inch fullHD+ (2340 x 1080) display with Gorilla Glass 5 on top of it. MediaTek’s G90T 64-bit octa-core processor fuels it. The Note 8 Pro comes in 6GB and 8GB LPDDR4X RAM variants, with 64GB and 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage, respectively.
Two SIM card slots are included, while Android 9 Pie comes pre-installed with MIUI 10. Redmi has included a 4,500mAh battery inside of this phone with 18W wired charging. The device supports Quick Charge 3.0, Quick Charge 4+, USB PD, and MTK PE.
The Note 8 Pro is splash resistant (IP52 rating). 64-megapixel (Samsung’s GW1 sensor, 0.8um pixel size, f/1.8 aperture, EIS), 8-megapixel (120-degree ultra-wide angle lens, 1.12um pixel size), 2-megapixel depth sensor, and 2-megapixel camera for 2cm macro with 1.75um pixel size are included here.
This handset measures 161.3 x 76.4 x 8.79mm, while it measures 199.8 grams. Dual 4G VoLTE is available on the phone, as is Bluetooth 5.0.
Availability & pricing
The Redmi Note 8 comes in Black, Blue, and White color variants. It will go on sale in China on September 17. The Pro model, on the other hand, comes in White, Jade Green, and Electric Gray colors. The “Pro” model will become available on September 3 in China. Redmi did not announce global availability for these two phones, but it probably will soon.
The Redmi Note 8 with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage is priced at 999 Yuan ($139). The device with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage will be sold for 1,199 Yuan ($167. The most powerful variant with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage costs 1,399 Yuan ($195).
The Redmi Note 8 Pro with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage will become available for 1,399 Yuan ($195). Variant with the same amount of RAM and 128GB of storage will be sold for 1,599 Yuan ($223). The most expensive model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage will be sold for 1,799 Yuan ($251).