Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T review: what more could you ask for?

Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T release date and price

Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T costs £169 with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The smartphone is available in Moonlight White, Moonshadow Grey and Starscape Blue and this last color is, in my opinion, the most intriguing.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T design and build quality

The Redmi Note 8T looks good on the design side with its shiny glass shell (Gorilla Glass 5) and a large 6.3-inch display. It's a solid smartphone, is well built and does not give up those features that many users consider essential: headphone jack, NFC, USB-C port, Dual SIM support, a microSD card slot, and an infrared sensor.

The fingerprint reader is located on the body, making it easy to reach. When you look at the back panel it seems too small but in reality in daily use it does its job without problems. The problem of the body itself is another, namely the particularly protruding photographic compartment that makes the device unstable when placed on a flat surface and that exposes the lenses to scratches. Xiaomi offers a protective cover in the box that allows you to reduce the problem though.

The physical keys are concentrated along the right-hand side while the SIM and microSD slot is on the left. The earphone grille is visible in the central part of the front panel, above the dewdrop notch that houses the front-facing camera.

The Redmi Note 8T is certainly not a compact smartphone with its 75.3 x 158.3 x 8.35 mm dimensions and 190-gram weight, but it can still be operated with one hand. Too bad for the pronounced bezel at the bottom of the display...

Overall, however, the Redmi Note 8T makes a good impression on the design side.

6.3-inch IPS screen in FullHD+

The Redmi Note 8T integrates a 6.3-inch IPS display with a resolution of 2,340 x 1,080 pixels in a  19.5:9 format. There is a dewdrop notch, not it is at all invasive. The screen does a good job with the representation of content even in sunlight. The colors are well represented and even if it is not an OLED panel, even the blacks are not bad.

The brightness, both maximum and minimum, is adequate. From the settings menu in the display section, you can activate the reading mode, customize the contrast level and activate the dark mode.

Android 9 Pie and MIUI 10

Despite being announced in November, Redmi Note 8T arrives with Android 9 Pie onboard . It is supported by the house interface, MIUI, in version 10.3.5. The security patches of the drive we tested are updated to October 1. Too bad about the absence of Android 10...

• EMUI and you: top tips for your Huawei or Honor phone

MIUI is an interface known to those who have already dealt with a smartphone of the brand. For those who don't know it, it's a custom interface that takes inspiration from iOS and offers some interesting features such as, for example, the dark mode mentioned above. Overall, on the software side, I had no problems with this smartphone. If you prefer a pure Android experience this phone is not for you and you should consider the Xiaomi Mi A3 instead.

Pre-installed is some bloatware, such as Mi Community and AliExpress, but also Opera, Facebook, and Netflix that may prove useful for some users. The Redmi Note 8T offers an FM radio. The Redmi Note 8T allows can be unlocked both by fingerprint and facial recognition and both systems work without problems.

Snapdragon 665 and Adreno 610 GPUs

The Redmi Note 8T, despite its elegant design, is a mid-range smartphone and the spec sheet only confirms it. Onboard we find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor (4 cores Kryo 260 Gold at 2.0GHz and 4 cores Kryo 260 Silver at 1.8GHz) supported by Adreno 610 GPU, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. This is the largest memory configuration and I recommend you buy this one. The ability to expand the internal storage up to 256GB with a microSD card helps but there is a 32GB version in some markets that is a little low in my opinion.

In daily use, the Redmi Note 8T can handle tasks without problems. Do not expect a smartphone as fast and responsive as a top of the range device in the management of multitasking and for more graphically demanding games. In spite of everything, it is able to offer good performance in line with other phones in this price range.

The Redmi Note 8T offers a mono audio experience but the volume is enough to accompany games, videos and listen to some music on the go. The calls are also clear and there is no problem with reception. The Redmi Note 8T supports Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi (2.4GHz and 5GHz): 802.11a/b/g/n/ac.

4 cameras on the back

Mid-range smartphones are improving in several ways by reducing the distance that separates them from the top of the range. Even in this price range brands do not want to give up offering smartphones characterized by a beautiful design and an updated photographic sector. The Redmi Note 8T is no exception.

Xiaomi offers one front camera (13-megapixel, f/2.0) and four rear sensors :

• Samsung QW1 48-megapixel f/1.8 Main Sensor
• 8-megapixel wide-angle, f/2.2
• 2-megapixel macro, f/2.4
• 2-megapixel depth sensor, f/2.4

The configuration chosen by Xiaomi makes the Redmi Note 8T a versatile smartphone that leaves room for creativity. Although the shots can obviously not compete with those of the best smartphones in the field of photography, the Redmi Note shoots good photos in terms of detail, representation of colors and contrasts.

To shoot at 48 megapixels you must select the dedicated setting. If you select the regular Photo mode you will shoot at 12 megapixels. The camera does a good job when the lighting conditions are favorable. Although I appreciate the macro mode for its creativity, it is only possible to achieve excellent results when there is a lot of light. In poorly lit environments, both sensors show noise and loss of detail. The best thing to do is to use the night mode for evening shots and play around with the other mode when the lighting conditions allow it. The absence of a telephoto lens is smoothed by the 2x zoom feature available with a single tap.

A fun panorama mode is available for group selfies. The Redmi Note 8T also allows you to shoot videos in 4K at 30fps with your main camera. The camera app is intuitive and quite fast. Operations that require more patience are the night mode and switching from one mode to another. But it's nothing exasperating! Functions such as AI, macros, and filters are available with a tap at the top of the screen while the main shooting modes are displayed at the bottom.

• Photo gallery Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T

4,000 mAh battery

Xiaomi has equipped the Redmi Note 8T with a powerful 4,000 mAh battery . With intensive use, I was able to get to the next morning whilst with moderate use you can even get to the evening of the second day. As always, everything depends on how you use the device such as the use of the camera and the more intensive playback of video weighs on the autonomy. In our benchmark test, it reported a result of 11 hours and 29 minutes.

The purchase package comes with an 18W charger with fast charging that allows you to charge your smartphone completely in an hour and a half.