Redmi 8 launched in India, priced at Rs 7,999

Redmi 8 launched in India today & it is the latest budget phone from the brand the succeeds the Redmi 7 which was a pretty solid phone in the budget segment with the Snapdragon 632 SOC. The upgrades include a new design, better camera setup, a massive battery, fast charging support, Type-C port & more. It is not very different from the Redmi 8A that launched in India last month.

REDMI 8 – DESIGN & SPECIFICATIONS

The phone does look beautiful in the renders & on the rear, there is an “Aura Mirror” design. Now, it is a glossy plastic back instead of real glass, so that’s something you should keep in mind. Still, that strip in the middle looks nice that has the dual-camera setup, the fingerprint scanner & the Redmi branding on it.

On the front, there is a display with Waterdrop notch on top & a huge bottom bezel that has the Redmi branding. The Redmi 8A with Type-C port has now set a standard which means every Redmi phone from now on will have a Type-C port. That’s true with the Redmi 8 as it has a USB Type-C port on the bottom. There is a triple card slot which means you can add two SIM cards & a microSD card at the same time.

Coming to the specifications, the phone has a 6.22-inch HD+ (1520*720) IPS LCD panel with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on top. Compared to the Redmi 7, the SOC is definitely a big disappointment since there is Snapdragon 439 SOC powering the Redmi 8. FYI, the Redmi 7 had Snapdragon 632 so a good upgrade should’ve launched with Snapdragon 636 at least. Still, it looks like Redmi did some cost-cutting here & there.

There is 3/4GB LPDDR3 RAM & 32/64GB eMMC v5.1 internal storage. You can add a microSD card up to 512GB as well.

Coming to the cameras, the Redmi 8 packs a dual-camera setup on the rear & there is a 12MP primary camera with the flagship Sony IMX 363 sensor. It is the same camera sensor that’s there on Poco F1, Zenfone 5Z, Pixel 3 etc. but do keep in mind the SOC is different & so is the ISP. So, don’t expect it to perform in the same way as in the case of flagships. The camera has an f/1.8 aperture & 1.4-micron Pixel size. The secondary rear camera is a 2MP depth sensor.

On the front, there is an 8MP camera with an f/2.0 aperture. Some camera features include AI Portrait Mode, AI Selfie Portrait, AI Scene Detection, AI Face Unlock etc. The rear camera can shoot 1080p videos at 30fps.

The Redmi 8 has a massive 5,000mAh battery & while it supports 18W Fast Charging, you get 10W Adapter in the box, but that’s normal with Xiaomi phones. MIUI 10 runs out of the box based on Android 9 Pie.

REDMI 8 – PRICING & AVAILABILITY

The phone comes in three colors – Onyx Black, Ruby Red, & Sapphire Blue. The phone comes in two storage options & here is the pricing –

  • 3GB + 32GB – Rs 7,999
  • 4GB + 64GB – Rs 8,999

Here is a catch! Xiaomi has announced that the first 5 Million units of the 4GB RAM variant will be priced at Rs 7,999 which means you get upgraded to the 4GB variant if you order 3GB variant. The sale is going to start on October 12 & you can buy it via Flipkart, Xiaomi’s official website & Mi Stores.