The new Redmi K50 series phones are now official in the Chinese market, and unlike last year when we got three phones, only two were launched today. There is the vanilla Redmi K50 and the Redmi K50 Pro. So, there is no Pro Plus variant like last year, at least for now. The main USP of these two phones is the chipsets that they are using. The K50 comes with Dimensity 8100 SOC, whereas the K50 Pro with Dimensity 9000 SOC, both being MediaTek’s current flagship SOCs.
REDMI K50
Design-wise, the phone gets a new camera module design compared to the last year’s model. This time, the triple camera setup is arranged in a triangular fashion in the camera module. The fingerprint scanner still sits on the side and doubles as the power button. There are four color options to choose from, and one of the color options has a unique pattern underneath the glass. Redmi says it is the result of a nano-microcrystalline process.
There is no 3.5mm headphone jack, but you do get an IR Blaster that is present on the top. There are stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos.
The display on the front is quite special because it is a 6.67-inch Quad-HD+ Samsung OLED panel with 526 PPI pixel density and 1200 nits peak brightness. The refresh rate of this panel is 120Hz, and the contrast ratio is 5000000:1. Also, the panel is protected with Gorilla Glass Victus & has HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support.
Under the hood, the phone has MediaTek Dimensity 8100 SOC which is built on the 5nm TSMC process and has Cortex-A78 cores for performance with up to 2.85GHz clock speeds. The GPU is Mali-G610. This chip is paired with 8GB or 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB or 256GB UFS 3.1 storage. For better cooling, there is a VC Liquid Cooling system under the back panel. So, in terms of performance as well, there are no compromises at all!
Speaking of the cameras, Redmi K50 has three on the rear. There is a primary 48MP Sony IMX582 sensor with OIS, an 8MP sensor for ultrawide shots, and a 2MP macro camera. There is 4K video recording support, but it is limited to 30fps. For selfies, the phone has a 20MP Sony IMX596 sensor.
Finally, Redmi K50 gets a large 5,500mAh battery and supports 67W fast charging. The phone supports Power Delivery 2.0 and 3.0 standards as well.
Here is the pricing for China –
- 8GB + 128GB – ¥2399 (~$379)
- 8GB + 256GB – ¥2599 (~$409)
- 12GB + 256GB – ¥2799 (~$439)
REDMI K50 PRO
The Redmi K50 Pro is hardly different than the vanilla K50 when it comes to design. The only change is the text on the camera module, and that’s because the phone has a different primary camera sensor. The rest is the same, even the color options and the size.
One of the main differences is in performance because the K50 Pro gets MediaTek’s best flagship SOC right now in the market, the Dimensity 9000. It is MediaTek’s answer to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and is based on the 4nm TSMC process. There is a Cortex-X2 prime core along with Cortex-A710 cores for performance and a Mali-G710 GPU. The SOC is paired with 8GB or 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB or 256GB or 512GB UFS 3.1 storage.
Another difference is in the cameras. Redmi K50 Pro’s primary rear camera has a 108MP Samsung HM2 sensor with OIS. The other two cameras are the same. Just like Redmi K50, the video recording is limited to up to 4K 30fps. There is the same 20MP selfie camera.
Finally, Redmi K50 Pro has a faster 120W charging but a smaller 5,000mAh battery. It is a single-cell battery, and this single-cell implementation is possible thanks to Xiaomi’s Surge P1 chip.
Here is the pricing for China –
- 8GB + 128GB – ¥2999 (~$472)
- 8GB + 256GB – ¥3299 (~$519)
- 12GB + 256GB – ¥3599 (~$567)
- 12GB + 512GB – ¥3999 (~$630)