Redmi Note 8: Great budget buy with excellent camera; price starts at Rs 9,999

Budget smartphones have always been popular in India, and now Chinese handset maker Xiaomi has launched Redmi Note 8 with four rear cameras at an affordable price for the price-conscious Indian market. Xiaomi`s Redmi Note 8 has good specifications which will give some tough competition to rivals Realme and Vivo in the budget segment. Redmi Note 8 is available in 6GB+64GB and 6GB+128GB storage variants for Rs 9,999 and Rs 12,999, respectively.

The device is available in three colours -- Neptune Blue, Moon Light White and Space Black. It has 48MP quad-camera setup at the rear. It has a 48MP ultra-high-resolution primary camera, an 8MP ultra-wide camera, 2MP macro lens, and 2MP depth sensor. On the front, the handset houses a 13MP selfie camera.

We tested 6GB RAM+128GB device that costs Rs 12,999. Let`s see how it fared. When it comes to design, the device ticked all the right boxes. The space black variant we used did not pick up fingerprint smudges easily.

If you love taking photos and you don`t have a big budget this phone will meet your requirements. The quad camera at the rear is placed on the left side in a vertical fashion along with an LED flash and the fingerprint sensor, interestingly, is underneath the flash, which was small but worked pretty well. With a quad-camera setup of 48MP+8MP+2MP+2MP the Redmi Note 8 took good pictures both indoors and outdoors. We especially liked the photos shot in artificial lighting.

The photos were sharp and well detailed. Talking about videography, it could record 4K video with electronic image stabilisation (EIS). The rear camera comes with portrait, night and video modes, along with some interesting image-enhancing AI features. In the budget phone segment, the device has one of the best portrait modes. On the lower-left corner at the back, the Redmi logo is placed vertically in style. Low-light imaging of the handset is likely to be appreciated by most. 

With a choice of several beautifying filters, the 13MP front camera produced some good selfies, especially during daylight. This device supports dual SIM cards and features a dedicated microSD card slot with up to 512GB expandable storage.

The device is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back. The front panel of the device has a waterdrop-style notch. The volume rockers and power button placed at right were quite easy to operate. The lower edge of the phone houses dual speakers, USB-Type C charging slot with fast-charging support and 3.5-mm standard audio jack.

The smartphone is powered by Qualcomm`s Snapdragon 665 mobile platform that offered decent performance while maintaining power efficiency, backed by a 4000mAh battery with 18W charging. The Redmi Note 8 runs Android 9 Pie OS with Xiaomi`s own MIUI skin.

The 4,000mAh battery helped the smartphone last a little over a day on a single charge. Basic tasks like switching between apps, using multiple social media applications were smooth.

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When it comes to gaming, this phone is good for light gaming like PUBG mobile light. However, this smartphone will disappoint heavy gamers who are fans of Call of Duty or Asphalt 8: Airborne. The quality of graphics while gaming was okay.

Conclusion: Xiaomi`s Redmi Note 8 is the phone to go for budget buyers as it comes with decent features and an excellent primary camera.