If there’s a phone that has stood the test of time then it’s non other than the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8, a budget Smartphone with some of the best specs that are hard to come by at a price of just Ksh. 17,500.
While the Redmi Note series has been a huge game changer in the mid and budget smartphone segments, the Redmi Note 8 seems to be at the top of the game with a number of impressive specs that are still hard to come by even at a price twice the price of this amazing less known smartphone.
Released October 2019 just one month after the pro version, the Redmi Note 8 is one of the Best Under 20k Smartphones currently available in Kenya if not the best.
From the beutifuly crafted curved Corilla Glass 5 display to the stunning slim design, the Redmi Note 8 has a flagship feel and performance that’s almost surprising to get at such a price and is almost the only phone that has no close Competitors or rivals as it stands on it’s own glory.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Price in Kenya.
The Redmi Note 8 is available in a number of stores countrywide. Currently Jumia is selling the 4 + 64 GB Redmi Note 8 for Ksh. 17,500. That might look like the expected price of any phone with such an amount of memory, with the likes of Vivo Y20, Samsung Galaxy A12 and Tecno Camon 15 and others within the same price tag. But wait till you go through this phone's features and you will easily understand why the phone will remain the king of the budget segment.
The Redmi Note 8 Key specs are:
- Price: Ksh. 17,500
- Screen size: 6.3
- Memory: 3/32, 4/64, 6/64,6/128.
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 (11nm).
- Cameras: Quad 48MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP rear cameras and a single 13MP front camera.
- Battery: Non Removable Li-po 4,000 mAh with 18W fast charge.
Why Buy the Redmi Note 8.
As stated above, and explained below, there are a number of reasons why the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 is a good phone to go for and some of it’s greatest strengths in include:
1. A Full HD+ display with a 1080 x 2340 pixel resolution. Many phones at this price range have HD or 720p displays including the Vivo Y20, Infinix Note 8, Infinix Note 7, Xiaomi Redmi 9c to name just but afew. All have 720p displays and none comes close to the display quality of the Redmi Note 8.2. The phone is made of Gorilla Glass 5 both front and back, making it the only Ksh. 17,000 phone with such level of protection.
3. The Redmi Note 8 features a quad-rear camera setup with a primary 48MP. Many phones at this price have a 13MP primary lens.
4. The Redmi Note 8 supports IR blaster that allows you to use the phone to communicate with other electronic devices including the TV, setop boxes, DVD players, air conditioners, projectors and so on.
5. The Snapdragon 665 in this phone is a good mid-range processor that is much more powerful than many processors at this price.
What is in the Box.
Once you get your Redmi Note 8 you will find a number of items in it’s box including the phone itself, an 18W adapter, a USB-C cable and the Sim card ejection toolkit as well as a protective case. Unlike in many Smartphone packaging, this phone doesn’t come with the earphones and you will have to look for one separately.
- Price: Ksh. 17,500.
- Released October 2019.
- Measures 158.3 x 75.3 x 8.4 mm
- Weight of 190g.
- Has a dual standby Sim.
- Made of a Glass front, Glass back and Plastic frame with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection (both front and back).
- 6.3 inch IPS LCD Capacitive touchscreen with 16 Million Colors.
- Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels , 409 ppi pixel Density and 19.5:9 aspect ratio.
- MIUI 12 based on Android 9.0 (pie) upgradable to Android 10.
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 665(11nm) Chipset with Octa-core (4 x 2.0 Ghz kyro 260 Gold & 4 x 1.8 Ghz Kyro 260 Silver)
- Adreno 610 GPU.
- 3/4/6GB RAM.
- 32/64/128 GB internal Storage without external SD card support.
- Quad with 48MP (wide) primary lens + 8 MP (ultrawide) + 2MP (macro lens) + 2MP (depth sensor)
- Features include LED flash, Panorama, HDR, Autofocus, Digital Zoom, Face recognition, Beauty filters, Bokeh, Geo-tagging.
- Video formats of 4k@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS.
- A Single 13 MP Selfie Camera with LED flash and can shoot videos of 1080p@30fps
- Non removable Li-po 4,000 mAh battery with 18 W fast Charge.
- WLAN:. Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Dual band, WiFi Direct, Hotspot.
- Bluetooth:. 4.2, A2DP, LE, aptx HD.
- USB Type-c 2.0, USB On-the-go.
- Fingerprint: rear mounted.
- Proximity
- Accelerometer
- Gyro
- Compass.
- Neptune Blue, Moonlight White, Space Black, Nebula Purple, Cosmic purple.
Design.
Xiaomi have been well known for their beautifully looking smartphones like the Xiaomi Mi 10 which according to me is the most beautiful phone till date.
Looking at the Redmi Note 8 you will be hard-pressed to believe that the phone is actually priced at Ksh. 17,500 since it looks and feels way more expensive. Just like Nokia phones, the Redmi Note 8 has an international appeal thanks to it’s premium design and finish.
Measuring 158.3 x 75.3 x 8.4 mm, the phone looks slightly smaller than the phones where’re used to at the sub 15K but the stunning high-quality finish makes this phone stand out from the crowd.
The front is largely made of the 6.3 inch IPS LCD screen, with a waterdrop notch so small you might think it is a punch hole. The bezels round the phone are also very slim, and despite the Xiaomi branding at the bottom they still managed to keep the chin as small as possible, unlike with many Nokia Phones.
At the Left of the notch is the notification LED thay is also so small you might not notice it at all and directly above the notch is the earpiece. The Sim tray is placed at the Left side just like in many phones. The volume rockers and the power button are placed at the right hand side while at the bottom are the 3.5 mm jack port, the USB-C port and the bottom firing speaker.
Just like the front the rear of the phone is also made out of Gorilla Glass 5 and is quite appealing safe for the rather oddly designed camera module and the fingerprint sensor that feels slightly bold. The purple/Blue color gradient is nicely balanced without one overpowering the other giving the phone a nice warm feel.
The rectangular camera module is placed near the top left and apart from it’s odd looking curved edges protrudes so much that it gives the phone a wobble when placed on a flat surface. This could also lead to scratching of the camera lenses.
Display.
The Redmi Note 8 features a 6.3 inch IPS LCD screen slightly smaller than the 6.53 inch in the Redmi Note 8 Pro. The Full HD + resolution of this phone is a major plus at this price tag and the slightly smaller screen coupled with a high resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels results in a surprisingly high pixel Density of 409 ppi. This is the same pixel density as the just launched Oppo Reno 5F which is almost twice as expensive. It is even slightly higher than the 393 ppi in the Samsung Galaxy S21+.
The high pixel density results in a more pleasant viewing experience with crisp and detailed images, texts and icons making this phone an ideal device for watching movies and gaming as well as online streaming.
With a maximum brightness of 450 nits, the phone’s display is bright enough to be used outdoors but won’t be that good in direct sunlight. However we don’t expect anything different from similarly priced phones.
The Redmi Note 8 is powered by the Snapdragon 665 processor, a 11 nm fabricated chipset that is slightly more efficient compared with other mid-range and budget chipsets that are mostly 12nm fabricated. It’s GPU is also slightly powerful and this makes it an ideal processor for this phone. With a top clock speed of 2.0 GHz, the processor can handle pretty much everything in terms of multitasking and gaming, but we should mention here that this is not a heavy gaming chipset and might therefore experience some lagging and slight heating when handing Graphic intensive Gaming. The Snapdragon 665 also powers other phones inuding the Nokia 5.3, the realme 5 and the Oppo A52 to name just but afew.
Being a 2019 phone, the Redmi Note 8 comes with Android 9.0 (pie) atop the MIUI 12 skin. While the Android 9 is a good OS though slightly old, the phone was planned to receive Android 10 update.
Just like many OS skins, the MIUI user interface comes with a lot of bloatware in the name of preloaded apps most of which cannot be uninstalled and the numerous pop up ads totally ruins the user experience. This is the same issue with Infinix and Tecno phones and we wish Xiaomi would have been slightly different.
The phone is available in quite a number of memory Variants of 3/32, 4/64, 6/64, 4/128 and 6/128. While you can pick any memory size you choose depending on how much you’re willing to pay for, I would strongly go for the 4GB RAM for obvious reasons considering the phone’s year of release and the type of processor.
Cameras.
Cameras are still considered a key marketing feature in smartphones and many phones now come with more than three cameras. Most camera arrangements are made of a primary camera that does most of the work, an ultra-wide lens for increased field of view, a telephoto lens for optical zoom, a depth sensor for increased details and a macro lens for close up photos.
Of all these, the telephoto lens is not usually found in many budget phones die to it’s technical aspects which raises pricing, and the depth sensor is usually interchanged with the macro lens in most cases.
Considering that many of the secondary lenses have very low resolutions (usually below 5Mp), their performances are not that quite noticeable and therefore I usually give much emphasis on the primary camera, and let others do what manufactures intent them to-marketing.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 just like many others has a Quad-rear camera setup made of a primary 48MP lens supported by an 8MP ultrawide lens, a 2MP macro lens and a 2MP depth sensor. The primary camera produces quite decent photos, and considering it’s price you will be more than happy with it’s results. The 8MP ultrawide lens also surprisingly does a good job, and despite the increased field of view it would almost be impossible to tell the difference between pictures from the two lenses.
The cameras can also shoot videos of upto 4K resolution and considering that this is a 2019 phone we must give it to Xiaomi for including such high camera specs that we’re beginning to start seeing them now.
The selfie camera is a single 13MP wide lens, and just like the rear camera it also does a good job and you will love how your selfies look on your social media platforms.
Battery.
The phone comes with a non removable 4,000 mAh battery which might look rather small considering the over 5,000 mAh batteries we’re uses to. Thankfully the slightly smaller screen and the power efficient Snapdragon 665 are a major battery saver. A single battery charge can last you well over a day with heavy use, and there will be nothing much to worry about.
While the 18W fast charge is also something not that extraordinary to talk about considering that many budget phones now come with such, the fact that Xiaomi included an 18W charger in the box is a huge plus. Many brands don’t include fast charges in their packaging, and in most cases you have to look for one.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Commonly Asked Questions.
1. Is Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Waterproof?
This phone has no IP rating, and therefore is not waterproof. Therefore you should be careful with your phone near water or any liquid for that matter. The plus here is that the phone comes with Gorilla Glass 5 both in front and back, and you won’t have to worry about screen scratches.
2. Does Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 have a fingerprint scanner?
As mentioned earlier, the Redmi Note 8 has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor that you can use to unlock your phone. You can also try the inbuilt face unlock feature on the phone if you don’t want to use the fingerprint scanner.
3. How much is the Redmi Note 8 in Kenya?
The Redmi Note 8 is currently retailing a Ksh. 17,500 for the 4+64GB memory variant on Jumia Kenya, and is also available on many stores both online and traditional retail stores countrywide.
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