Xiaomi's spin-off brand Redmi has launched the Redmi 8 smartphone at a starting price of Rs 7,999 in India. The launch follows the debut of the Redmi 8A that was unveiled last month at a starting price of Rs 6,499. Interestingly, at the end of today’s announcement, Redmi said that it will launch its '64MP quad-camera beast’ on October 16 in the country. The phone is likely to be the Redmi Note 8 Pro. This suggests that Xiaomi wants to take advantage of the favourable market scene during Diwali. The company claims that it sold 3.8 million smartphones during the recently-concluded sale on various e-commerce platforms.
The Redmi 8 will be offered in two variants – 3GB RAM + 32GB storage version at Rs 7,999 and 4GB RAM + 64GB storage version at Rs 8,999. The phone will be first up for grabs on October 12 via Mi.com, Flipkart, and Mi Home stores in Sapphire Blue, Ruby Red, and Onyx Black colours. An Emerald Green colour option will be launched at a later date.
The Redmi 8 sports an HD+ 6.22-inch HD+ display with Dot Notch and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. Under the hood, the phone comes equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 mobile platform paired with up to 4GB RAM and up to 64GB onboard storage. The storage can be expanded up to 512GB. The handset features an IR blaster, 3.5mm audio jack, and the phone's back panel comes with P2i splashproof coating.
In the optics department, the phone sports a dual camera setup on the back. There is a 12MP Sony IMX363 primary sensor with f/1.8 aperture lens. The secondary shooter is a 2MP depth sensor to click portraits. The camera ships with features like AI Scene Detection and Google Lens support. On the front is an 8MP AI-powered selfie camera. The Redmi 8 packs a 5,000mAh battery with 18W fast charging support.
As mentioned, Redmi will launch the Redmi Note 8 Pro on October 16 in India. The phone, which was first unveiled in China in August, is powered by the MediaTek Helio G90T chipset. This will be the company’s first phone with 64MP quad camera setup in the country. The phone uses the same 64MP Samsung GW1 sensor that we have already seen in the Realme XT smartphone, which was launched in India last month.
