Two months after the launch of Redmi 7A in India, the Redmi 8A launched in the Indian market today & it’s an excellent phone for the price. It comes with some specifications that we don’t see on phones at sub Rs 10,000 price like the Sony IMX 363 camera sensor, Gorilla Glass 5 protection, a 5,000mAh battery, 18W Fast Charging, USB Type-C port etc. And when it comes to the price, it starts at just Rs 6,499, which is crazy for such specifications.
REDMI 8A – DESIGN & SPECIFICATIONS
Yes, the Redmi 8A has a plastic build, but still, it has a nice Aura Wave Grip design on the back that provides excellent grip & also avoids unnecessary fingerprints, something that’s normal on glossy plastic back panels that we see on almost all the phones in the budget segment. The phone does lack a fingerprint scanner, but when we take a look at other specs, it makes sense if Redmi does some cost-cutting.
There is a single camera on the back & on the front, we get a display with Waterdrop notch which is an upgrade from Redmi 7A’s 18:9 display. The phone has a splash-proof coating as well.
On the front, the Redmi 8A has a 6.22-inch HD+ LCD panel with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. So, the Gorilla Glass 5 protection is definitely a big plus since we hardly get it on phones at this price. Under the hood, there is an octa-core 2.0GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 SOC which is paired with 2/3GB RAM & 32GB storage. Again, it is a good thing that Redmi didn’t go for 16GB storage for the base variant. You can expand the storage via microSD card.
Wanna know something interesting? Well, the Sony IMX 363 sensor on the Redmi 8A is the same sensor that’s present on Google Pixel 3, Poco F1, Zenfone 5Z etc. & all these are flagship devices. Obviously, there will be a huge difference in the lens assembly & the post-processing, but still, it is great to see flagship camera sensors on budget phones.
There is a 12MP rear camera with f/1.8 aperture & 1.4-micron pixel size. There is an 8MP selfie camera as well.
It gets one more plus for its battery. It has a massive 5,000mAh battery that’s more than enough to last more than a day. Then, there is the 18W Fast Charging support (Keep in mind that you get 10W Charger in the box). That’s not it! You have the USB Type-C port on this device which is rare in budget phones.
REDMI 8A – PRICING & AVAILABILITY
The phone comes in three gorgeous colours named Midnight Black, Ocean Blue & Sunset Red. There are two variants of the phone & the pricing is as follows –
- 2GB + 32GB – Rs 6,499
- 3GB + 32GB – Rs 6,999
The phone will be available on Mi.com & Flipkart starting September 29.