Redmi Debuts New Budget Powerhouse Redmi Note 8 Pro For Less Than $200

Redmi welcomed two new members to its Note series smartphones today, the Redmi Note 8 and Note 8 Pro. The Note 8 is a budget handset geared towards the lower-end of the market, while the Note 8 Pro is a new flagship phone from Redmi that's again rocking flagship specs and a non-flagship price tag.

Design

Aesthetically, the two phones are wildly different from each other.

The Note 8 Pro comes in white, grey and green, with the white variant radiating off a pearl-like glossy gleam, the grey giving off a solemn glow, and the dark green, a mysterious luster. The Regular Note 8 comes in blue, white and black.

The Note 8 features a 6.3-inch display and up to a 90% screen-to-body ratio even with a teardrop notch. It's also TUV Rheinland low blue light certified and has an aspect ratio of 19.5:9 and a resolution of 2340 x 1080.

The Note 8 Pro, on the other hand, is rocking a massive 6.53 full screen display with a tear drop notch as well, but with a much larger screen-to-body ratio of 91.4% with super thin bezels down to 2mm on the sides. Enveloped in 3D curved glass, the display has a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and a rear fingerprint scanner sitting on the bottom of the triple camera module.

Performance

Performance-wise, the regular Note 8 has a Snapdragon 665 under the hood for a more budget chipset, while the Note 8 Pro comes equipped with a MediaTek Helio G90T quad-core chipset clocked up to 2.05GHz. According to Redmi, the chipset is very capable and rivals mainstream flagships within the same price range such as smartphones equipped with Huawei’s Kirin 810.

Cameras

Both phones feature a quadruple rear camera setup, but with a very different choice in primary sensors. The Note 8 features a 48MP primary sensor at an aperture of f/1.79, an 8MP 120-degree ultra-wide angle lens, a 2MP telephoto lens, and a 2MP macro lens for taking close ups.

The Note 8 Pro by comparison is rocking similar sensor specs as the Note 8, but with an unprecedented 64MP primary sensor that can take ultra-clear images with a resolution of up to 9248 x 6936. According to Redmi, this is the first smartphone in the industry to come equipped with a primary sensor with 64 megapixels and is capable of delivering images with an unmatched clarity from afar or up close.

The Note 8 Pro is also rocking a 20MP selfie camera and feature a host of interesting functions and features including a short video feature customized for TikTok lovers and many more.

Others

Aside from theses specs, the Note 8 Pro also features liquid cooling and a new TUV Rheinland high network connection performance (gaming) certification for a better gaming experience. The highest RAM configuration it can go up to is 8GB RAM with 128GB of storage.

Battery-wise, the Note 8 Pro has a massive 4500mAh battery while the regular Note 8 has a slightly smaller one at 4000mAh. Both phones come with a Type-C USB charging port and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Thanks to the recent launch of World of Warcraft (WoW) Classic, the vintage server of Blizzard’s popular open-world exploratory video game, Redmi cooperated with Blizzard and launched a special Redmi Note 8 Pro World of Warcraft Edition. The smartphone comes in two variants: Alliance and Horde, with customized phone cases, themes and additional accessories.

Price

The Note 8 Pro on the other hand will start at 1,399 yuan (~$194) for the 6GB RAM and 64GB storage configuration; 1,599 yuan (~$222) for the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage configuration; and 1,799 yuan (~$250) for the 8GB RAM and 128GB storage configuration.

The regular Note 8 will begin at 999 yuan (~$139) with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.

The Note 8 Pro will officially go on sale at 10AM on September 3.