Redmi Note 8 Review: With 64 Megapixels and MediaTek New SOC

Earlier this month, the Redmi Note 8 series was released, including Redmi Note 8 Pro and Redmi Note 8. The former we have done a detailed evaluation, the portal we put at the end of the text, today we mainly talk about Redmi Note 8.

Redmi Note 8 focuses on two aspects of upgrades. On the one hand, Redmi Note 8 is the most commonly used four-shot of the current mid-end models – 48MP HD + 8MP super wide-angle + 2MP depth of field + 2MP macro, On the other hand, the SoC equipped with it is changed from Snapdragon 660 to Snapdragon 665 with Xiaomi CC9e.

In addition, the addition of the highest optional 128GB storage model, standard 18W fast charge charger, the whole life splash, double-sided fifth-generation Corning Gorilla Glass.

Design & Appearance

Redmi Note 8 currently has three colors, and our hands are 6GB+128GB fantasy blue version. On the front of the mobile phone, the Redmi is equipped with a FHD+ resolution, 6.3-inch shaped screen for the Redmi Note 8, and a drop-shaped design on the top, which accounts for 90% of the screen. The screen ratio is 19.5:9, the default color is more glamorous, you can adjust it yourself. The back value of Redmi Note 8 is enough for us to give it a good rating. It uses the popular gradient color design, and it is also rare to use a two-thousand-yuan mobile phone glass material – GG5 glass.

The hardness of GG5 is 9H. This hardness can almost make you not worry about scratches. Even if the phone is used for a long time, it will be very new. In addition, the surface of the phone has a nano-splash-proof coating that makes it easy to handle water stains in everyday life. The layering and agility of this cool gradient process add a lot to the overall value. Because it needs to load a 4000mAh battery under a small size body, its thickness is inevitably more than 8mm, reaching 8.35mm, plus some square appearance, it will feel slightly thicker.

In addition, the weight of 190g is light and light, and the weight is not heavy. Combined with the 6.3-inch screen, the grip and one-hand operation are very friendly. The rear four cameras are arranged vertically, and the bumps are certainly expected. This is a close-up of the top area, in addition to the visible earpiece, the phone breathing light is also hidden in the forehead.

The bottom of the phone is a Type-C charging socket and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It looks at the entire thousand yuan machine market, and the 999 yuan mobile phone uses the Type-C manufacturer. On the other hand, the speaker is on the right side, and the speaker is equipped with a Smart PA and a large volume.

Redmi Note 8 still inherits the fine tradition of Redmi series scalable storage, which is 2 + 1 card slot, supports dual card dual standby + memory card, which can store up to 512GB.

Hardware & Performance

From the name, the Snapdragon 665 is an upgraded version of the Snapdragon 660, but strictly speaking, it is more accurate to say that it is an “incomplete” upgrade.

The main reason for this is that the Snapdragon 665 upgraded the process from 14nm to 11nm, while the main frequency was reduced, which led to the performance improvement that could be brought about by the original process upgrade. The test scores of GeekBench, a professional CPU test software, can prove this. The single-core score and multi-core scores are basically the same as the Snapdragon 660.

In addition to the slight decline in the main frequency, the Snapdragon 665 is still very remarkable in other respects. For example, the latest Hexagon 686 and Spectra 165, the Hexagon 686 can support HVX, and the Spectra 165 will greatly improve AI performance. The direct benefit of AI performance improvement is that the processing of high-pixel cameras and multiple cameras will become more handy, and the camera algorithm and system memory scheduling management will be more intelligent, which we will look at later in the sample evaluation section.

In addition, the Snapdragon 665 also supports Qualcomm TWS Plus true wireless technology, compared to the Snapdragon 660 can better support the recent popular wireless Bluetooth headset, so that the true wireless headset audio delay is lower, longer battery life.

The following is a routine running test:

1. Antutu

Ann Bunny Introduction: The world’s number one mobile phone/tablet hardware performance evaluation tool can comprehensively examine the performance of all aspects of the device including the user experience, and visualize the ranking. Support multiple mainstream platforms, running points can be compared across platforms.

In the test of the Antu Bunny running software, the improvement is more focused on power consumption, photographing and AI. The simple performance is limited compared to the Snapdragon 660.

2, Androbench

AndroBench is a benchmark application that measures the 4K random storage and storage performance of Android devices, including internal or external storage.

It is still unrealistic to use UFS2.1 at this price.

3, PCMark

PCMark is a test software considering the comprehensive performance of the whole machine. It can accurately reflect the processing performance of the daily use of the mobile phone, and multiple daily test scenarios, such as web browsing, video editing, document writing, photo editing, etc., and can carry out battery life. test.

It should be noted that PCMark’s running point is biased towards energy consumption, that is, the higher the power consumption and performance of the more balanced mobile phone score.

Standard thousand yuan machine level.

Battery 

The current 4000mAh battery is basically standard in the thousand yuan model. Compared with the battery capacity, it is worth paying attention to the upgrade of the GPU part of the Snapdragon 665 (Adreno 610).

Although the Adreno 610 is still in the rear of the Adreno 6 series, it has introduced support for the Vulkan 1.1 API compared to the Adreno 5 series. In theory, its power consumption can be reduced by about 20%.

In addition, the 11nm process is also very impressive for power consumption and heat generation compared to 14nm. The following is the endurance test conducted by the author:

Online video

Use the BiliBili client to play online barrage video, mute, 75% brightness, and play 1080P video online for 60 minutes from 35% of the battery.

After 60 minutes, the remaining power is 19% and the power consumption is 16%. According to this power-down rate, Redmi Note 8 Pro online video life can reach more than 6 hours. At high screen brightness, the endurance performance is not ideal. In the following game test, the author lowered the screen brightness to 50%.

Game testing

Here use “Glory of the King” to test the game life, the default quality, starting from 18% of the power, the game 60 minutes.

In an hour, three matches were made, the remaining power was 3%, and the power consumption was 14%. The reduction in screen brightness was significantly increased. The estimated duration of the “Glory of the King” was about 7 hours.

Charging

Like the Redmi Note 8 Pro, the Redmi Note 8 features a 1.8-liter fast charge (18W) and comes with a fast charge kit. In the test, we started charging from the 0 battery automatic shutdown state and charged with the original charger.

In 30 minutes, it rushed into 41%, and in 70 minutes, it rushed into 89%. Then the charging speed started to drop, and it entered the protection charging state. It was fully charged for 1 hour and 36 minutes.

HIGH FPS

Given the price of Redmi Note 8 thousand, we do not impose stringent requirements on its game performance. The items we used to test, “Breakdown 3” and “The Son of Tomorrow”, are no longer carried out here. We only test the two most popular games, “Glory of the King” and “Peace Elite”.

King glory

The game runs the default quality and records the frame rate value for 10 minutes after entering the game.

In the high frame rate mode, the maximum number of frames in the game is 61 frames, the lowest frame rate is 58 frames, and the frame rate fluctuates around 0.7 frames.

Peace elite

“Peace Elite” is an anti-terrorist military competition experience mobile game created by the Photonic Studio group. Based on the development of Unreal Engine 4, it has extremely high requirements for mobile phone performance. Last year, most mobile phones only supported medium frame rate and high-definition mode. Some models opened the extreme frame rate and ultra-high-definition mode, but few mobile phones can be fully controlled.

As expected, the game is only open to high frame rates. At present, the adaptation of “Elite Elite” is still very slow. Whether it is the higher-end Snapdragon 7 series or the Kirin 810, the game quality that can be experienced is basically the same.

The author started recording the frame rate after entering the game parachute landing. In 15 minutes, the average game frame rate was 29 frames, and a short frame rate fluctuation occurred in the middle. As far as the game experience is concerned, the overall operation is very stable, and there is no perceptible drop frame or jamming phenomenon.

Cameras

One of the biggest highlights of the Redmi Note 8 upgrade is the AI ​​four-camera combination of 48 Megapixels main camera + 8 Megapixels super wide-angle + 2 Megapixels depth of field + 2 Megapixels super macro.

The main photo is the Samsung GM1, we have seen this sensor countless times. From the initial use of the flagship, and slowly used to the middle-end, now theRedmi will be decentralized to the hundred yuan machine for the first time.

Regarding the Samsung GM1, there have been many rumors in the market. The more sensational statement is that the Samsung GM1 is a fake 48 Megapixels, and the Sony IMX586 is orthodox.

From the specification parameters, there is no difference between the two – 1 / 2.0 inches, 48 ​​Megapixels physical pixels, the default output of 12 Megapixels, the same pixel is 1.6 microns. The biggest difference between them is that the Sony IMX586 supports hardware out of 48-megapixel photos with a single pixel of 0.8 microns.

However, in actual use, there are not many opportunities for us to use hardware to get out of 48 Megapixel photos. A very important reason is that photography in the 48 Megapixels modes is very demanding on lighting conditions, and it is not satisfactory in an environment with relatively poor light.

So for photos, the size of the bottom is often more important than the number of pixels. Whether it is Huawei P20 Pro or Huawei Mate20 Pro, its default output quality is 10 Megapixels, and its imaging quality also proves this.

Verdict 

In fact, this is not the high hat that the author has worn it. It is described by a Weibo blogger. A few days ago, after reading the Apple conference, the bloggers marveled at Apple’s chicken thief and shamelessness.

Users want to experience 18W fast charge, they have to go to the official website to buy, the price is 243 yuan + Type-C to Lighting line 145 yuan, a total of 388 yuan, a fast charge set price is almost equivalent to the price of Redmi Note 8.

The important upgrade of Redmi Note 8 is actually placed in the photo section. The 48 Megapixel AI four-shot is placed in the thousand yuan. At present, the Redmi can be obtained. From a practical point of view, the four-shot combination provides enough gameplay, whether it is 4800W high-resolution proofs, super wide-angle mode, or portrait mode and super macro, four cameras can be easily controlled by different combinations. .

Obviously, Redmi Note 8 is not only a backup machine, a senior machine, but also a low-cost student machine. The performance of the game is enough to use the popular gradient color appearance, which is also a small temptation for young people. .

In general, the Redmi Note 8 completely negated the saying that “hundred yuan machine is equal to electronic waste”, and it is also another declaration of war for Redmi to all unreasonable premium, and also let users know how to spend money to buy benefits and Spend money to buy the difference in brand premiums.

If you have high requirements on mobile phone design and performance, and users who are not very sensitive to price, Redmi Note 8 Pro is a good advanced choice . From the creative rear “hidden” fingerprints to the double-sided gorilla glass, the first 64 Megapixels and G90T game processors are launched…everything can be played.

Visit Also: Redmi Note 8 Pro Review: World First 64MP Cameras Mid-Range Phone