Review of Redmi Note 8 Pro - smartphone with NFC and 64-megapixel camera

Bezel-less screen and under-camera fingerprint sensor

The smartphone is sold in black, white and pine green. Judging by the page of the gadget on the official website, Xiaomi is betting on the latter color.

In the photo, the dark green back panel really looks interesting, but we could not verify this live: a model in black arrived at the editorial office. On closer inspection, the color appears to be a dark gray.

The front and back panels are made of Corning Gorilla Glass 5 with an oleophobic coating. The frames are made of plastic.

Comes with a black silicone case.

Redmi Note 8 Pro is a large and rather heavy smartphone. And if weight is perceived as a guarantor of reliability and does not interfere with ergonomics, then the dimensions may not suit everyone.

The camera block is located in the center - we saw a similar arrangement on the Mi 9T Pro. A strange solution: a fingerprint sensor is also built into this block. The bottom lens is easy to smudge with your finger when unlocking.

There is a 6, 53-inch screen with a teardrop-shaped cutout for the front camera. The frames are not felt at all. If the eye is confused, in the settings you can add a black edge: the cutout will disappear, and the display will become rectangular.

The screen is made using IPS LCD technology. It is believed that such displays are inferior to OLED ‑ options in image quality, power consumption and contrast. In fact, using Redmi Note 8 Pro is quite comfortable: excellent calibration and high resolution affect.

Nevertheless, the screen is a compromise. It does not have a top-end brightness margin, but in contrast, it is really inferior to OLED displays. If this is the most important characteristic for you, look out for the slightly more expensive Mi 9 Lite or Mi 9T. Or, for example, a scattering of available models from Samsung - the screens are better there.

Good news: the display is the main compromise of the Redmi Note 8 Pro, the rest are much less critical. They are most noticeable when watching videos without headphones: a rather mediocre mono sound is added to the not-so-good screen.

64 ‑ megapixel camera and night mode

Redmi Note 8 Pro received four cameras, but their number is nothing more than a marketing trick. The unit houses a 64-megapixel wide-angle lens, which is used for most images. It is complemented by an ultra-wide-angle lens, which is already classic for new smartphones. The third peephole is a depth sensor that helps you shoot portraits with bokeh. The fourth lens is macro.

Let's start with the main thing - shooting with a resolution of 64 megapixels. This is one of the rare occasions when the appropriate regime really comes in handy.

You can zoom in on the difference between 16-megapixel and 64-megapixel frames. On the left - the result of shooting in normal mode, on the right - in 64-megapixel mode.

The 64-megapixel photo really includes more detail. This can be seen even at low magnification. The HD mode icon is in the most prominent position, and the shooting is instant. Recall: many models with a 48 megapixel lens had the corresponding buttons in the bowels of the menu, and the processor had to "think" before displaying the finished frame. This sinned, for example, Mi 9 from the same Xiaomi.

If you are not taking a photo for printing and close examination under a magnifying glass, it is better to shoot in the classic mode. The shots are pretty good, and without magnification, the difference is not noticeable.

16 megapixels

64 megapixels

16 megapixels

64 megapixels

16 megapixels

64 megapixels

Also, 64-megapixel footage can run out of memory too quickly. The size of such files can be up to 20 MB. And yes, these shots are still taken with algorithmic tricks and filters. Don't even think that the 64 megapixel lens of a smartphone can be compared, for example, with the 24 megapixel lens of a real camera.

In night mode, the camera takes pictures with the main lens at a resolution of 16 megapixels. This function is not always useful even when shooting a city at night: the lens aperture may be sufficient without additional settings. But night mode can be used to make colors a little more contrasty, lights sharper, and a shot vivid.

In automatic mode

In night mode

In automatic mode

In night mode

The ultra wide-angle camera is not very good here. She is whimsical to light and takes mediocre shots.

The macro camera is even worse. A similar lens - also 2 megapixels - is installed in the Honor 20.

At first glance, the Redmi Note 8 Pro's macro lens performs better than the Honor 20. But still bad enough to never use it.

Shooting in automatic mode and at 64 megapixels, as well as night mode, are implemented perfectly. The ultra-wide-angle and macro lenses could be dispensed with: they do no better than the over-the-counter lenses from AliExpress.

Front camera resolution - 20 megapixels. There is a portrait mode with adjustable blur level.

The camera can shoot video in 4K, the maximum frame rate is 60 FPS. Slow motion video is also supported. Stabilization only works when shooting at 720p and 30 FPS.

Powerful liquid-cooled processor

The Redmi Note 8 Pro has a new water-cooled MediaTek Helio G90T processor. At the presentation, Xiaomi shows how a certain mysterious liquid pours into the tubes hidden in the bowels of the smartphone.

It so happened that the Snapdragon processors, which Xiaomi usually uses, are trusted by advanced users more than the hardware from MediaTek. Therefore, liquid cooling is just a marketing ploy that does not affect the smartphone experience in any way. Redmi Note 8 Pro heats up no less than others: moderately under high load.

Helio G90T is not a top processor, and Redmi Note 8 Pro is noticeably inferior to flagships in synthetic tests. But the performance margin is enough for the system operation in multitasking mode, as well as for heavy games or, for example, fast shooting with a 64-megapixel camera. For most users, CPU resources and 6GB of RAM will be sufficient.

Battery for 4 500 mAh and a day and a half without recharging

In standby mode, Redmi Note 8 Pro can hold out for a very long time: for a couple of days that the smartphone was in the nightstand, the charge level almost did not change. With active use, the device will live for a day, with moderate use - 1, 5-2 days.

The kit comes with 18W fast charging. With it, you can fully charge your smartphone in about 2 hours.

Specifications

Colors: black, white, green.
Display: 6, 53 inches, 1,080 × 2,340 pixels, IPS LCD.
CPU: MediaTek Helio G90T (2 × 2.0 GHz Cortex ‑ A76 + 6 × 2.0 GHz Cortex ‑ A55).
GPU: Mali-G76 MC4.
RAM: 6 GB.
Built-in memory: 64/128 GB + slot for microSD ‑ cards up to 256 GB.
Rear camera: 64 MP (main) + 8 MP (ultra wide angle) + 2 MP (macro lens) + 2 MP (depth sensor).
Front-camera: 20 megapixels.
SIM card: two slots for nanoSIM (one hybrid, suitable for microSD).
Wireless interfaces: Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, GPS, IrDA, NFC.
Connectors: USB Type ‑ C, 3.5mm audio jack.
Unlocking: by fingerprint, by face, PIN-code.
Operating system: Android 9.0 + MIUI 10.
Battery: 4,500 mAh, fast charging supported.
Dimensions: 161, 4 × 76, 4 × 8, 8 mm.
The weight: 200 BC

Outcomes

All marketing glamor aside, the Redmi Note 8 Pro is still a great and competitive smartphone. He has NFC, a capacious battery, a decent processor and a camera that produces high-quality images. The screen pumped up a little - and this is the only objective reason to choose another smartphone in the price segment up to 20 thousand rubles.

Xiaomi continues to gain positions in the selection of the best smartphones in terms of value for money. Redmi Note 8 Pro can even bypass the hit Redmi Note 7: the new product costs 4 thousand rubles more.

The version with 64 GB of internal memory can be purchased for 17,990 rubles, and with 128 GB - for 19,990 rubles.