After the success of the Redmi 7A, Xiaomi recently launched the Redmi 8A in the Indian Market. The Redmi 8A is a major upgrade when compared with its predecessor as it brings a bigger battery, a bigger display, and a much better selfie camera. The price is increased by Rs.500 and but the processor still remains the same. Is the Redmi 8A worth buying? Read our review to find out.
In the box:
- Redmi 8A
- Power Adapter
- Type-C Cable
- Warranty Card
- User Guide
- SIM Insertion Tool
Xiaomi Redmi 8A Specifications
- CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 octa-core processor
- GPU: Adreno 505 GPU
- RAM: 2/3 GB
- Operating System: Android 9 Pie with MIUI 10
- Display: 6.2-inch (1520 × 720 pixels) HD+ 19:9 2.5D curved glass display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection on top
- Rear Camera: 12 MP with LED flash, Sony IMX363 sensor, 1.4μm pixel size, f/1.9 aperture, Dual PD autofocus
- Front Camera: 8 MP
- Internal Storage: 32 GB
- Connectivity: Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, 3.5mm headphone jack
- Other: P2i nano-coating for the splash resistance
- Colors: Midnight Black, Ocean Blue, and Sunset Red
- Battery: 5000 mAh with 18W fast charging
Design, Display, & Ergonomics
The Xiaomi Redmi 8A brings us a completely new design when we compare it with its predecessor. It comes with a plastic body with a wave-like texture on the back and Xiaomi calls it the Aura Wave Grip Design. It weighs 188g and offers a nice grip when you hold it in your hands. As the back is made of plastic it hardly attracts any fingerprints so you won’t have any issues even if you use it without a cover. The camera module is placed in the middle and exactly below that, you get the Redmi branding.
The Power button and the Volume Buttons are placed on the right along with that you get your SIM Tray on the left. The 3.5mm headphone jack is placed in the bottom and surprisingly the Redmi 8A also comes with a Type-C port. The device doesn’t come with a fingerprint scanner and that might be a bummer for some people out there. Apart from that, there are no issues and the device looks great.
Talking about the display, the Xiaomi Redmi 8A flaunts a 6.2-inch HD+ display with a resolution of 1520 × 720 pixels. It comes with an aspect ratio of 19:9 and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on the top. Thanks, to the Corning Gorilla Glass 5 you don’t have to worry if your device falls out from your hand. It’s a Dot Notch Display and you get an 8MP AI Selfie camera in the front. The device further comes with P2i coating which makes it Splash Proof. This means that if the device comes in contact with water due to Rains or you accidentally spill the water on it you don’t have to worry as it won’t affect the device.
The viewing angles on the Redmi 8A are good and you won’t face any problems while using the device in direct sunlight as its bright enough. The color reproduction is also decent considering the price it comes at. At this price, all you get is an HD+ Display and Xiaomi has given that with the Redmi 8A so no complaints from our side when it comes to the Display.
User Interface and Software
Redmi 8A runs on Android 9 Pie that is based on my favorite OS, the MIUI 10. It does come with Ads that can be disabled manually and brings in a lot of additional features. The MIUI 10 on the Redmi 8A is smooth and lag-free which means that you won’t face any problems while using the device. It comes with a lot of additional features like Dark Mode, Full-Screen Display, Dual Apps, App Lock and many more additional features that allow you to customize your phone according to your needs.
It also brings you Gesture and Motion controls and along with that, it comes with a Theme Store. The Theme Store on the Xiaomi devices comes with a collection of hundreds of themes that allow you to customize your looks so you won’t get bored with your same old home screen and those same old icons. As you guys already know, the MIUI 10 doesn’t have an App Drawer which means that every app you install will directly come on your home screen. You can customize your Home Screen layout and transition effects in the MIUI 10.
The device comes with some pre-installed Apps and Games which can be uninstalled, so if you don’t need those Apps and Games you can free up your space. We will be soon coming up with a Tips, Tricks, and Hidden Features video for the Redmi 8A so make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel for that. Meanwhile, you can have a look at the screenshots below to see how the MIUI 10 looks on the Redmi 8A.
Hardware Performance, Benchmarks, and Gaming
Redmi 8A is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 octa-core processor. It is coupled with 2/3 GB of RAM and comes with 32 GB of Internal Storage which is further expandable via MicroSD card. This is the same chipset that we’ve previously seen on the Redmi 7A so there is no major difference when it comes to the performance. It handles all the day to day tasks easily and you won’t have any problems while using your Social Media Apps or watching videos on YouTube or any other services.
The Redmi 8A comes with support for Wireless FM Radio which means that you can enjoy music from all your favorite radio stations without plugging in your Headphones. Now we know that this smartphone isn’t made for gaming but we still tried playing some games on this one and surprisingly it performed better than what we expected. Games like Mario Kart, Agent Dash and PUBG Mobile Lite work smoothly without any problems or frame drops.
Furthermore, the smartphone packs a massive 5000 mAh battery that supports 18W fast charging. It is to be noted that you’ll get a 10W charger in the box but if you want to charge your device faster you can get a fast charger from the market. The battery easily lasts up to 2 days with regular usage and takes approximately 3 hours to charge completely.
Moving on to the Benchmarks, Redmi 8A got a score of 74199 on AnTuTu Benchmark which is higher than the Realme C2 and Samsung Galaxy M10. In addition to this, we also ran a Work 2.0 test on PCMARK and the Redmi 8A got a score of 4544. When it comes to the storage benchmarks, the Redmi 8A got a Sequential Read speed up to 282MB/s whereas the Sequential Write speed was up to 109MB/s on Androbench.
Camera
Redmi 8A comes with a 12 MP Primary Sony IMX363 sensor on the back. It comes with an f/1.9 aperture, Dual PD Autofocus and LED Flash. Whereas for your selfies, there’s an 8 MP selfie shooter on the front. The camera app is just like the other Xiaomi phones and comes with Portrait, Pro and Video mode. You can enable HDR and AI scene detection on the Redmi 8A to get better quality pictures.
Talking about camera performance, the camera works well in natural lighting conditions. The AI Scene detection is accurate and it configures the camera settings according to the conditions you are shooting in. The pictures you get have a high amount of details and vivid colors. Unfortunately, there’s no night mode on the smartphone and the night shots aren’t impressive but at this price point, this is what you get.
When it comes to the selfies, the Redmi 8A comes with the Beautify effects and a few filters in the camera App. The selfies are good with the right amount of background blur but the edge detection fails sometimes. You can have a look at the camera samples below.
Verdict
If you are on a tight budget of 6-7K then Redmi 8A is the perfect choice for you. It comes with better specs than most of its competitors and handles everyday tasks with ease. The design is really good and so is the battery life. Wireless FM Radio, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Protection, A 5000mah Battery, 18W Fast Charging and a Type-C port what else you need in a smartphone that costs Rs.6500? There are hardly any problems with the device and it offers what you pay for. However, if you can spend more we’d recommend you to check out the Redmi 7 and the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 as they’ll offer you much better specs when you compare it with the Redmi 8A.
Pros
- Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Protection for the Display
- Battery Life
- Wireless FM Radio
- 18W Fast Charging Support
- Aura Wave Design looks amazing and the back doesn’t attract fingerprints.
Cons
- No Fingerprint Scanner
