review features, pricing and features

After launching in China the Redmi Note 8 and Note 8 Pro, as well as the Redmi 8A, Xiaomi officially launched the Redmi 8, a horse-drawn mobile phone between the two previous versions, with the same processor as the 8A, but others were added as double room, finger pupil presence and increased RAM and storage.

Recently, the Redmi 8 has hit the market and has made it a success for the Redmi 7, marking a step below the Redmi Note 8T, in terms of its price and performance. After trying it out for a few days, below we tell you how it works in each category, including that a massive 5,000 mAh battery It supports 18W fast charging.

Redmi technical sheet 8

Nice speaker and nice cover

Although the model is for company grade installation and is obviously made of plastic, Xiaomi has given it a shiny back conveys the feeling of glass through sight and touch. That, in addition to its rounded corners and a few short cuts on the body, gives it a whole new look. On the hand, it feels firm and comfortable, even though it weighs more than it actually is (188 grams).

In the background, the blue sapphire for us, in addition to the fingerprint reader and the Redmi logo, we have two large camera sensors and a flash, everything is directly aligned a piece of black hue. There are two things we appreciate here: the camera module does not appear to come out of the body and dirt, though it does exist, it is less visible than glass.

If you look now, we get a 6.22-inch IPS LCD screen with an HD + solution, notch-shaped and notch (except for the low end) with a phone in this section. This panel shows some acceptable viewing angles and high light that allows you to see beautifully or under the sun.

However, the default light behaves worse and slower than we expected: usually, it gives us a measure of light much lower than the average and we often force us to fix it manually. The colors are somehow cold, but we can always change the contrast or hue with the customization options provided by MIUI.

We turn to the audio segment, where the Redmi Note 8T has one speaker at the bottom to present good sound with good quality phone in this category (unless we increase the volume significantly, which is misleading). It has a jack, though it has no headphones in the box, and features a wireless FM radio that operates without connecting headphones.

Allowed for high performance, outstanding in independence

Its mindset is the eight-core Snapdragon 439 that runs at a high speed of 1.95 GHz and is compatible with the Adreno 505 graphics card at 650 MHz. Surprisingly, Xiaomi chose this low-end chipset when we consider that its predecessor installed the Snapdragon 632, but it was well made. The unit we tested is the one that compiles 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage It is capable of expanding with a MicroSD card, but variants of 4 GB / 64 GB are available.

In fact, the functionality offered by Redmi 8 has surprised us greatly. Do the right job in multitasking too Navigating through menus and between apps works fine, even though we experience some delays when leaving a website or social media. Except for some time (such as when tested with games like Asphalt 9), it doesn't get too hot or experience sudden closure.

As an operating system, it introduced MIUI in its version 10.3.1 on Android 9 Pie, but it was quickly upgraded to MIUI 11. As we always say, the Xiaomi layer has its good points (like this one) More customization options and more effective tools) and its bad side, caused by the large amount of bloatware that has already been preinstalled with duplicate apps and third-party apps (some can be downloaded). That translates into that, at 32 GB capacity, over 19 GB is free to boot, though we can always use the Micro SD card to expand it.

In the biometric section, including student reading fingers and face recognition based on artificial intelligence, something that is introduced into the mobile access range. Both are fast and effective, unless the light conditions are negative, which shows a lot of difficulty seeing our faces.

And now we turn to the main feature of this phone: its 5,000 mAh battery with 18W fast charging. On paper, Xiaomi promises 3 days of standard use per case and the fact is, without reaching that number, easily passes 2 days. Usually it provides between 9 and 10 o'clock screen depending on how much we knit and whether we use the default light or not.

The 18 W boxed charger is not 18 W, but 5V / 2A, but also it takes less than 3 hours to fully mature. To give you an idea, in half an hour connected, you get 23-24%, which we guarantee you give the most hours to spend on this mobile. By the way, it has USB-C, while its predecessor, the Redmi 7, includes a small USB port.

The cameras meet during the day, but not at night

We conclude, as usual, with a bunch of photos, where this Xiaomi model has an 8 MP front camera with f / 2.0 aperture and on-screen flash. Rear camera ride 12 MP Sony main sensor with f / 1.8 aperture and another 2 MP sensor performing depth measurements. Added to this is FullHD video recording at 30 fps, a standard Xiaomi camera app (accurate and necessary shortcuts) and artificial intelligence for spatial automation.

And how do these cameras behave? The back it combines beyond ideal light conditions, though sometimes it reveals the heavens. AF is slow, but not always effective in short distances. In any case, the level of detail and distance that is changing, regardless of appearance, is acceptable for mobile at this stage.

Though the Redmi 8 is an input model, it's a camera offers many opportunities, such as professional shooting mode which allows us to manually adjust the white balance, contrast coating, shutter speed and ISO sensitivity. It's not counted as a zoom (and digital is better to use), but it does have Portrait mode which, without being overwhelming and without allowing us to fix background blur, is not bad. Automatic location recognition is usually very efficient and HDR can help us save a specific scene with a large amount of light difference.

At night or in poor lighting conditions, image quality is greatly reduced. Great sound, many details are lost and the lights are dim. The flash, as always, burns the image, so it is not advisable to pull it.

With the front camera, the same thing happened: when there are good light conditions, the results are more than acceptable, which has good data quality and fast and efficient AF, though it often reveals in the background, especially in Portrait mode (which uses software to achieve a bokeh effect). Including HDR (which we recommend to work by default), filters and adjustable bezel at certain levels.

But at night, the sound is very noticeable and many details are lost; on-screen flash doesn't help, because it causes too much light. In short, if the lighting conditions are not right and we do not have a source of light (traffic lights, mirrors …), the Redmi 8 front camera will only help us to get photographic evidence. But be careful, let's not forget that we're talking about a terminal of 139 euros.

Redmi 8, an idea for Xataka Android

As Xiaomi is not familiar with us, Redmi 8 is a patient with high value for money. It does not stop at any stages and in some of them you get even the best grade. At 139 euros, we have a handset with an attractive design, a great feel in terms of viewing and performance, and cameras that, while kneeling in low light, offer many opportunities and throw some light pictures when light is exciting.

Special mention is due to its battery, which allows us to forget the plug for two days and, when we have to turn to it, gives us a quick charge. Nice work here, Xiaomi. And let's not forget other additions like P2i splash protection and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on the screen, a silicone case is included, a remote control port and a USB-C port, though of course it doesn't have NFC. As for the operating system, if you are not an Android cleaner, you should be aware that MIUI is in the right line and becomes the most complete layer.

In short, we face each other model of equilibrium performance It has its weaknesses (such as the behavior of night cameras or the default screen brightness), but it does have its advantages. And for the best value for what it offers. Between the 3 GB / 32 GB model and the 4 GB / 64 GB model there are 30 variants, so my recommendation is to choose the last one. The problem is that, increasingly, Xiaomi is offering us better alternatives and better cameras.