Friends+Design
- In recent times, Redmi has adopted some very premium and stylish design aesthetics, and the Redmi 8 continues that trend, with great design and build quality
- The ruby-red color variant especially looks stunning, and it is astonishing to see how far budget hardware has come
- The phone also feels premium to the touch
- The front is sharp and modern, with a dewdrop notch, and very similar to the Redmi 8A
- The location of the fingerprint scanner at the back is near perfect - and the scanner is very quick as well
- Of course the glossy hardware catches on fingerprints (Xiaomi has thankfully tossed in a TPU case in the box, though)
- Xiaomi has added a Redmi logo on the lower bezel and that feels like a bit of an overkill given there is Redmi already engraved on the back
Display
- Decent 6.2-inch IPS display, the same as the one on the Redmi 8A - gets bright enough for outdoor use
- Packs Gorilla glass 5 protection, which is a big bonus in this price segment
Software
- MIUI is one of the more refined and smooth Android skins around, and has a lot of customization/theming options - there’s ample features for power users - from gestures to the ability to switch around button layouts as well as a robust home screen customisation experience, you can really make the phone your own
- It still continues to pack a lot of bloat though - you get 20-something pre-installed applications with wide-ranging requirements for user permissions
Performance
- Decent day-to-day performance, with the same Snapdragon 439 as the Redmi 8A (it's not really meant for gaming though)
Camera
- Ok camera setup, at this price point
- Outdoor shots look good enough with Xiaomi’s AI enhancements kicking in to deliver punchy images
- The dedicated secondary camera enables portrait mode, and edge detection is decent
- Limited dynamic range - the camera has a tendency to blow out highlights
- Despite support for dual-pixel autofocus, the camera constantly hunts to get a focus lock
- Images have a pervasive softness to them in anything less than perfect light - indoor images tend to be pretty short on details
- Videos are again fine in daylight, but not so much in anything less than that
- Overall, the camera is not a particularly strong area for the Redmi 8
Connectivity
- USB-C at an entry-level price deserves kudos
Battery
- Phenomenal battery life with a 5000mAh cell paired with entry-level hardware - you will comfortably get 2 days of use
- 18W fast-charging support (though a standard 10W brick is included in the box)
Verdict
- Overall, the Redmi 8 is another very good budget option from Xiaomi's camp, and along with the Realme C2/3i, will likely dominate the entry-level smartphone segment in India
