Xiaomi has been making affordable smartphones in India with its Redmi series smartphones, the Redmi Note series is the most popular mid-range smartphone lineup so far. But, the Redmi’s flagship lineup was certainly missing lately, now the company has finally launched a flagship smartphone under Redmi series, the Redmi K20 Pro.
The Redmi K20 Pro is the first-ever smartphone by the company to feature a pop-up camera yielding a bezel-less screen experience similar to the Mi MIX 2. And on top of that, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC is stuffed inside to give you the power to do more with the phone. Here’s what we have to say in the Redmi K20 Pro review.
Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro Specifications
- Display: 6.39-inch AMOLED display, Full HD+ resolution (1080 x 2340 pixels), 19.5:9 aspect ratio, Corning Gorilla Glass 5
- Software: Android 9.0 Pie, MIUI 10
- Fingerprint Scanner | Face ID: Yes, on the screen | Yes
- CPU: Up to 2.84 GHz octa-core Kryo 485, 7nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC
- GPU: Adreno 640 GPU
- Memory: 6 GB OR 8 GB RAM, LPDDR4X
- Storage: 128 GB OR 256 GB, no microSD card support
- Main Camera: Triple Cameras 48 MP (main) f/1.75 26mm + 8 MP (tele) f/2.4 53mm + 13 MP (ultra-wide) f/2.4 12mm, PDAF, laser autofocus, 2x optical zoom, LED flash, 4K@60fps, slow-motion 1080p@960fps, 1080p@240fps
- Selfie Camera: 20 MP f/2.0, pop-up style, backlit-LED
- Connectivity: USB Type-C, 3.5 mm audio jack, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz + 5 GHz), Bluetooth 5.0, GPS + GLONASS
- Cellular: 4G LTE, dual SIM (GSM), dual-VoLTE
- Other: Qualcomm Aqstic WCD9340 Hi-Fi audio chip
- Battery: 4,000 mAh, 27W fast charging
- Colors: Flame Red, Glacier Blue, and Carbon Black
- Price: ₹27,999 (6 GB + 128 GB), ₹30,999 (8 GB + 256 GB)
- Availability: From 22nd July via Flipkart and Mi.com
Design, Build & Ergonomics
Xiaomi has recently launched two new smartphones in the Redmi K-series, the Redmi K20 Pro, and the Redmi K20, the latter being categorized in the upper-midrange featuring a Snapdragon 730 SoC.
If there’s something to brag about the phone is its design, it’s gorgeous, the glass back and the bezel-less screen grabs the attention. The overall design is somewhat similar to the Xiaomi’s Mi MIX 2 and it seems the bezel-less design is inspired from it.
No there’s no fancy curved screen as seen on the OnePlus 7 Pro or other curved screen phones, but you get the idea, the screen with least bezels around. Nevertheless, the pop-up camera is new to the table for Xiaomi fans.
The back has a Gorilla Glass 5 protection with a 3D design that looks flashy when light falls on it. We have the Carbon fiber Black variant which is a bit different from the rests. The sides are metallic and the whole construction feels pretty much solid, to be honest.
You may get confused between the Redmi K20 and the Redmi K20 Pro since both of them look almost the same from the outer side, what has changed is from the inside, the CPU is a major difference.
The front has a bezel-less display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, no notches anywhere to be specific, the selfie camera resides in a pop-up mechanism which gives the screen a full view. The fingerprint scanner is under the screen which can be used to unlock the phone and lock certain apps.
Also highlighted is the triple camera setup on the backside with a colored ring over the main camera. Also colored is the power button on the right. The overall design of the phone feels appealing and good to hold in the hands.
To the surprise, the 3.5 mm jack is present on the top alongside the pop-up camera which has an LED lighting when it comes into action. The bottom has a type-C USB and a hybrid SIM tray. The speakers are stereo utilizing the Qualcomm Aqstic WCD9340 Hi-Fi audio chip and the microphones are present at the top and the bottom.
Display
Speaking of its display, you get a 6.39-inch AMOLED screen which is a nice addition to the phone and is superior over the IPS panels we’ve seen on the past Redmi phones. The rival, ASUS 6z loses out a few features due to its IPS LCD.
The screen uses a Full HD+ resolution (2340 x 1080 pixels), a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and is capable of playing HDR videos. The visibility outdoor is good, and the content is super crisp. As it’s based on the MIUI platform, you get the same display features you might see on the rest of the Redmi devices.
Software & User Interface
On the software front, the Redmi K20 Pro uses the MIUI 10 customized Android interface based on the Android 9.0 Pie and it packs a lot of features that you’ve already seen on the smartphones running MIUI 10.
There’s a hefty of bloatware found on the phone, but this time the ads won’t appear in the UI. Unlike the Redmi Note 7 and other MIUI smartphones that shows you ads on the phone, the K20 Pro won’t be showing any of those. The software has been optimized not to show ads, it adds an ad-free layer for high-end user experience.
You can make use of the new dark mode on the AMOLED display whereas other features are pretty much similar in the MIUI that you’ll see on the other phones running it.
Hardware, Performance & Gaming
One of the major things to consider the phone is its CPU. Yes, the Redmi K20 Pro comes with a flagship-grade CPU, the Snapdragon 855 SoC is one of the most powerful SoCs out there in the market. The Snapdragon 855 is also seen on the expensive smartphones that cost more than Rs 50,000.
Furthermore, the phone comes in two variants with the top being the most powerful one, uses as much as 8 GB PDDR4X RAM and 256 GB UFS storage. Other variant includes 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage. The storage cannot be expanded via a microSD card, no microSD slot provided.
There’s no question that the Redmi K20 Pro tops out in the benchmarking apps, we saw the name already in the list of top 5 most powerful smartphones of the year. Our test unit gave us 3rd position in the AnTuTu benchmark after the OnePlus 7 Pro and the Xiaomi Mi 9.
Geekbench includes as much as 3,447 points in single CPU and 11,046 points in multi CPU benchmarks. Here, we have shown the benchmarks performed on the Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro below, take a look.
Gaming is not a problem on the phone, in fact, the Redmi K20 Pro is a gamer’s choice when it comes to gaming, thanks to the Adreno 640 GPU. Games can be played at maxed settings, we played PUBG Mobile on extreme graphics levels. Similar to it, expect other games to be played in the highest settings.
No major heating occurred during game sessions, the phone remains to be on the cooler side.
Cameras
The Redmi K20 Pro is nothing less than a camera phone as well, it packs triple cameras on the rear side and a selfie camera that pops out when you turn on the selfie camera mode. The rear camera consists of three sensors, the 48 MP being the main camera using the Sony IMX 586 sensor with f/1.75, the 8 MP f/2.4 secondary tele camera that’s used for the portraits and the third camera 13 MP f/2.4 for ultra-wide angle shooting.
The pop-up mechanism on the top has a 20 MP camera for selfies. The selfie camera has backlit LED support which comes to light when you trigger the selfie camera. The pop-up camera glows when you turn on the selfie mode and turns off the LEDs when it retracts.
The interface you see has not been changed a lot, a 48 MP option is added to easy access to the mode while there are no other special features made available to the camera, the interface is as usual.
Do note that, it’s the first Redmi phone to offer triple cameras, means you get the standard 1X view, a 2X zoomed view and the 0.6X wide-angle view. The camera is quite versatile for this, but not as much as the Honor 20’s camera packed with features.
Since the camera has a separate 48 MP mode, the regular shots will be taken in 12 MP. The images tend to be good and sharp, there’s a good dynamic range, thanks to the AI which enables you to auto set the scene or environment and also detects the scenes based on the lighting conditions.
Some of the images may look more bright or exposed to the areas where there’s more light. Also depending on the lighting conditions, the image quality loses in low-light. The 20 MP snapper for selfies looks decent enough for social media. The camera performance is good for the price but is certainly not a camera-centric device.
Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro Camera Samples
Battery Life
Like any other Remdi phone, the Redmi K20 Pro offers the standard 4,000 mAh battery which is decent enough for the daily use. But since it’s not a midrange like the rest, a flagship CPU draws more power when in load.
Thanks to the battery optimizations in the MIUI, the overall battery performance of the phone is good and can survive the second day on moderate use without any problems, and also seems to be better than the OnePlus 7 Pro, at least due to the capacity.
For the charging, the Redmi K20 Pro supports the 27W fast charging, however, it’s not bundled with the box. You need to purchase the charger separately to get the phone charge faster. Otherwise, you still have the stock 18W charger (9V, 2A) to charge the phone which usually takes about 90 mins to charge the battery fully.
Verdict
The Redmi K20 Pro has made a stunning entry in the affordable flagship market which not only competes with the OnePlus 7 Pro but also proves itself a real deal. There’s no other smartphone right now to feature such beefy specs at this price.
With that said, if you are looking for a value for money phone with a flagship-grade performance and a gorgeous bezel-less design, the Redmi K20 Pro is what you need to look for.
Rivals
Strength
- Glass design | Solid build quality
- Bezel-less screen | AMOLED display
- Top-notch performance | Snapdragon 855
- Pop-up selfie camera
- Good battery life
- Value for money
Weakness
- 27W fast charger isn’t bundled
