Top 5 reasons to BUY or NOT to buy the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 (2021)

LaptopMedia.com Highlights Top 5 reasons to BUY or NOT to buy the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 (2021)

From: Severin Kolakov 12 August 2021 / 06:00 | 0

The Redmi Note 8 and Note 7 for that matter, were total surprises in the smartphone industry, managing to sell very well. The Note 8 in fact, managed to sell more than 25 million units globally, which is fantastic.

After all, it offered a decently powerful and energy-efficient chipset and premium materials, for a very competitive price. The Indian market especially gets the best deals for devices, as many brands are very competitive with their pricing. Today we have the 2021 refresh of the Note 8, which is a bit weird since the Redmi Note 10 is already available for purchase.

Today we present you with LaptopMedia’s top 5 picks about the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 (2021).

Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 (2021): In-depth Review

You can check the current price of Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021 here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

Specs Sheet

	Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 (2021)
Dimensions	158.3 x 75.3 x 8.4 mm / 190 g
Display	6.3-inch, 1080 x 2340, 60Hz IPS
SoC	MediaTek Helio G85 (12nm)
Configurations	64GB 3GB RAM, 64GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 4GB RAM (eMMC 5.1)
Camera	Back – 48 MP (wide) 26mm f/1.8 ([email protected], [email protected] fps, [email protected]) EIS, 8 MP (ultrawide) f/2.2; 2 MP (macro) f/2.4; 2 MP (depth) f/2.4; Front – 13MP f/2.0 ([email protected], [email protected])
Software	Android 11, MIUI 12.5
Battery	Li-Po 4000 mAh, 18W Fast charging
Sound	Single bottom-placed speaker, 3.5mm jack
Connectivity	Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.2, LTE
Features	Fingerprint (optical, under display), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, FM radio, IR blaster
SAR EU	0.571 W/Kg (head), 0.943 W/Kg (body)

3 reasons to BUY the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 (2021)

1. Design and build quality

The phone comes with the standard glass sandwich build, with two Gorilla Glass 5 panels on the front and the back and a plastic frame, which is standard stuff, considering the price tag. All the way in 2019, the Redmi Note 7 shared the same build. The glass can be a bit slippery in hand, so you have to be careful when gripping the phone without a case. Thankfully, one is provided inside the box, which is generous of Xiaomi.

The phone is also quite compact, considering that it has a 6.3-inch display. The bezels on the sides are quite thin, while the chin and the forehead are a tad thicker. On the front, you get the camera notch, while the back gets a fingerprint reader and a camera bump, which is huge and will definitely leave the phone wobbling on a table. The phone is hefty in hand, which makes it feel more premium, weighing 190 grams.

2. Display quality

The phone has a 6.3-inch Full HD+ IPS panel with a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. Take a minute to calculate the aspect ratio (19.5:9). This does leave black bars on videos, but the world has slowly been adjusting to the change. Xiaomi offers three display presets – Auto, Saturated, and Standard as well as three color temperature modes – Default, Warm, Cool, and a Custom option for advanced users. The max brightness is 500 nits.

3. Battery life

We tested the battery life using the 3DMark Wild Life benchmark, with the screen brightness set to 120 nits. The 4000 mAh battery unit lasted for five hours and 42 minutes for constant gaming, which is quite good. If gaming isn’t your forte, you would be pleased to hear that the phone had a screen time of 8 hours. A full battery charge from 0% to 100% takes 110 minutes.

2 reasons NOT to buy the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 (2021)

1. Performance

The MediaTek Helio G85 SoC is a bit of a letdown. The unit has an octa-core processor with two Cortex-A75 cores clocked at 2.0GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores running at 1.8GHz. Overall the chip is okay for casual gaming if you have some time to kill once in a while.

CPU benchmarks

CPU Benchmarks	single/multi Geekbench 5	PCMark Work 3	Octane V2
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021	354/1332	6984	10946

GPU benchmarks

GPU Benchmarks	3DMark Wildlife	GFXBench Manhattan 3.0 (1080p offscreen)	GFXBench Manhattan 3.1 (1080p offscreen)	GFXBench Aztec Ruins OpenGL (1080p offscreen)
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 (2021)	725	25 fps	16 fps	9.6 fps

2. Video quality

Sadly, the MediaTek chip caps the video quality at [email protected], which is a bummer, since the previous model was capable of filming [email protected] and [email protected] The quality of the videos isn’t that great either, with a very little amount of detail and washed-out colors.