Redmi Note 8 Pro Review: Xiaomi’s No-Nonsense Mid-Range Phone

The Redmi Note 8 Pro comes in three colours – white, black and green.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is saying goodbye to 2019 with another addition to its Redmi series with the Redmi Note 8 Pro.

Redmi has been a stellar performer for the company so much so that Xiaomi decided to make it a separate brand altogether. Since then Redmi phones have managed to capture a major chunk of the budget phone market where competitors like Realme and Honor are also vying for a top spot.

What makes the Note 8 Pro worthy enough to carry the Redmi brand forward? Is this the best offering in the sub-Rs 15,000 market? Here’s is the review of the new Redmi Note 8 Pro.

Pros

• Long-lasting battery
• Camera performance
• Good display

Cons

• Heating issues
• Low speaker sound
• Bulky

What’s Good?

Though Xiaomi hasn’t tinkered around much with the overall design it does approach the ergonomics in a minimalistic manner. Gorilla Glass 5 protection on both the front and the back provides that sense of assurance that the phone will be able to take a fall or two.

The Redmi Note 8 Pro offers a dedicated microSD card slot apart from the dual SIM setup. The fact that the phone survived inside a drenched trouser pocket is a testament that it’s splash-proof protection works.

The Redmi Note 8 Pro comes with a MediaTek G90T processor that is a gaming-centric chipset. Daily tasks and multi-tasking is a cakewalk for the device and it also managed to run graphic intensive games like PUBG and Asphalt (on high settings).

MIUI 10 has seen major improvements and Xiaomi has gone easy on the bloatware as well. The interface looks much cleaner and navigating the UI is not as cumbersome.

The camera is the biggest highlight on the Redmi Note 8 Pro and a feature that’s got everyone talking. The quad-camera setup at the back performs above par and for a phone in this price segment, it’s doesn’t cease to impress.

The addition of the macro lens brings a lot of dynamics to the whole optics while 64-megapixels don’t make us miss a telephoto lens in the lineup.

Check out some of these samples:

Battery life has been bumped up on the Redmi Note 8 Pro. It manages to deliver a day's battery easily with average use. Long gaming sessions will drain the pack a lot faster.

The phone comes bundled with an 18W fast charger. With a standard 6W charger we managed to get the Redmi Note 8 Pro battery from 0-100 percent in 3 hours and 12 minutes while with an 18W fast charger we could get the same amount of charge done in 2 hours and 7 minutes. That’s a 4,500mAh battery we’re talking about.

What’s Bad?

The added glass on the back does add sheen but makes the devices slippery and prone to a lot of smudges.

I didn’t like the protruding camera assembly at the back which doesn’t allow the phone to lay flat on the surface. Not only does that add to the extra weight but it also makes the upper half of the phone heavier which ergonomically might not appeal to some users.

I struggled with heating problems while gaming. Despite having a dedicated Game Mode and also a “liquid-cooling system”, the phone was heating up after an hour-long PUBG session.

There was a slight frame rate drop when I switched to ultra-high graphics and probably the reason why the phone was getting hot.

The sound quality of the speakers could have been better. I would recommend using the speakers in quieter environments as a slight rise in the ambient sound levels overpowers the overall audio quality of the speakers. Headphones sound quality is much better.

Also, the 20-megapixel front camera isn’t as overwhelming as the rear camera. It’s not a bad snapper but certainly doesn’t match the standards that the rear camera brings to the game.

Verdict

The Redmi Note 8 Pro has a starting price of Rs 14,999 which offers 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. In this price range, there are few that can match what a Redmi is offering.

In this segment, you have competitors like the Moto One Vision, the Samsung Galaxy M30s and even the Realme XT.

While the One Vision offers pure Android and a compact design the Galaxy M30s offers a mammoth 6,000mAh battery pack and a big AMOLED display.

The Redmi Note 8 Pro’s closest competitor in this segment is the Realme XT which offers almost similar specs but at Rs 1,000 more.

So, if you’re looking for a bang-for-buck option that manages to deliver an overall good smartphone experience then the Redmi Note 8 Pro is a good option to consider.