Xiaomi India has released its new Redmi branded smartphone in India under its K series. The Redmi K50i 5G is the latest smartphone in the Redmi K series featuring a massive 5nm Dimensity 8100 CPU for high performance, a whopping 144 Hz smooth display with support for Dolby Vision, 64 MP triple cameras, and supports a 67W Sonic fast charging that charges up to 50% in 15 minutes. Let’s see what the smartphone has to offer, here’s our Redmi K50i 5G review.
Redmi K50i 5G Specifications
- Display: 6.6-inch Liquid FFS LCD display, Full HD+ resolution (2460 x 1080 pixels, 407 ppi), 144 Hz refresh rate, 650 nits brightness, 85.1% screen-to-body ratio, Dolby Vision, HDR10, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5.
- Software: MIUI 13.0.2 Interface, Android 12 Operating System
- CPU: 5nm MediaTek Dimensity 8100 octa-core SoC clocked up to 2.85 GHz
- GPU: ARM Mali-G610 MC6 Graphics
- Memory: 6 GB OR 8 GB RAM LPDDR5 (+3 GB RAM Extension)
- Storage: 128 GB OR 256 GB UFS 3.1 internal storage, no microSD card slot
- Main Camera: Triple cameras (64 MP f/1.9 primary + 8 MP f/2.2 ultrawide + 2 MP f/2.4 macro), LED flash
- Selfie Camera: 16 MP f/2.5
- Others: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, AI Face Unlock, Dolby Vision, HDR10, Dolby Atmos
- Cellular: 5G network, dual SIM, dual standby
- Battery: 5,080 mAh battery
- Charging: 67W Sonic fast charging, 50% in 15 minutes, 100% in 46 minutes
- Thickness & Weight: 8.9 mm, 200 grams
- Price: ₹25,999 (6 GB + 128 GB), ₹28,999 (8 GB + 256 GB)
- Offers: 10% instant discount up to ₹1,500 with Select Bank Credit Cards & Debit Card EMI, Up to ₹3,000 Instant Discount with ICICI Bank Cards & EMI, Extra ₹1,500 Discount on checkout
- Availability: Mi.com, Mi Home Stores, Amazon India, and other retail stores
Design, Display, & Build
Moving to its design front, the Redmi K50i 5G looks familiar, the design offers a camera on the back with two big ones and a small one that might be familiar to you, so there’s nothing much special in the design. The back has a sparkling effect with reflections, however, the back isn’t glossy. The Redmi K50i 5G comes in three color variants – Stealth Black, Quick Silver, and Phantom Blue.
The surface on the back isn’t glass, but rather polycarbonate, we would like to see glass instead for premium quality. The sides are flat, the corners are round, and it gives a nice grip. The phone seems quite bulky, it’s 8.9 mm thick and weighs around 200 grams. We didn’t find any IP rating or water-resistant design on the phone.
On the front side, you will find a 6.6-inch Liquid FFS LCD display with Full HD+ resolution (2460 x 1080 pixels, 407 ppi) and a whopping 144 Hz refresh rate with 650 nits brightness. The phone offers an 85.1% screen-to-body ratio and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The display highlights include Dolby Vision and HDR10 and offer a smooth 144 Hz refresh rate, likely to be useful for gamers.
Moving to the sides, you get a power key on the right side with a fingerprint scanner mounted on it, and volume control just beside it while the left side area is empty. The bottom side has dual slots for 5G SIMs, no microSD card slot is available, a USB Type-C port for fast charging and data transfer, a microphone (another at the top side), and a loudspeaker (stereo). The top side has another loudspeaker, an IR Blaster, and surprisingly a 3.5 mm port which is good.
Software & User Interface
The Redmi K50i 5G runs on the latest MIUI 13 update version 13.0.2, based on the Android 12 operating system. The security patch on the phone is 2022-02-01. The Redmi K50i 5G is secured in terms of software, you can at least expect the smartphone to receive 2 years of Android software updates and 3 years of security updates. Expect the Redmi K50i 5G to receive the MIUI update based on the next Android version i.e. Android 13.
The MIUI 13 offers all the latest features and customizations of the Android 12. About the MIUI 13 interface, you will see a bunch of new features which include upgrades in design, better background efficiency, faster processing, as well as longer battery life.
There are some pre-installed apps but those can be removed, we saw apps from Xiaomi and third-party apps like Amazon, Facebook, Zili, Spotify, and LinkedIn. Regardless of its little bloatware, we didn’t see a hiccup in its UI performance, the user interface runs incredibly smooth, thanks to its 144 Hz display which gives you a smooth motion feel. The MIUI on the Redmi K50i 5G is reliable and delivers a smoother UI experience and better UI responsiveness. You do have the option to choose the refresh rate you like in the Display Settings.
The MIUI 13 is optimized for performance and battery, it’s now smoother and better than older MIUIs. You get a bunch of homescreen customizations, display settings, battery tweaks, and MIUI perks such as dual apps, storage cleaner, app locker, game turbo, ultra battery saver, and more in addition to all the regular features you see on the previous MIUI versions.
Hardware, Performance, & Gaming
About the hardware, the Redmi K50i 5G latest CPU from MediaTek – this is the Dimensity 8100 which is a flagship SoC. The CPU is among the main highlights of the smartphone followed by its 144 Hz display, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and 67W fast charging.
The MediaTek Dimensity 8100 is clocked at 2.85 GHz along with Mali-T610 MC6 (6-core) GPU for smooth gaming. The CPU appears to be similar to the Snapdragon 888, the Dimensity 8100 is also one of the most power-efficient premium chipsets in the segment leaving behind the Snapdragon 870 and Snapdragon 888.
About the CPU, the MediaTek Dimensity 8100 is a fast SoC manufactured in a 5nm process consisting of 4+4 core configurations, four high-performance cores ARM Cortex-A78 cores clocked at 2.85 GHz, and four power-efficient ARM Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 2.0 GHz.
For gaming, you will find the Mali-T610 MC6, a 6-core GPU that is best suited for gamers. The gaming performance is great, it handles games very smoothly and lag-free on the default settings, even at max graphics settings, expect the games to run smoothly. The chipset is aided by vapor chamber liquid cooling 2.0
Speaking of the RAM and storage options, the Redmi K50i 5G has a faster LPDDR5 RAM type and UFS 3.1 storage type. About the variants, you will find two RAM and storage variants i.e. 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage and 8 GB RAM and 256 GB. You can’t expand the storage via a microSD card slot due to the lack of microSD card support. The RAM expansion technology extends the RAM up to 3 GB extra on top of internal 6 GB or 8 GB RAM.
The Redmi K50i 5G comes in three color variants – Phantom Blue, Quick Silver, and Stealth Black. The price for the Redmi K50i 5G starts at ₹25,999 (6 GB + 128 GB), and ₹28,999 (8 GB + 256 GB). Offers include a 10% instant discount up to ₹1,500 with Select Bank Credit Cards & Debit Card EMI, up to ₹3,000 instant discount with ICICI Bank Cards & EMI, and an extra ₹1,500 discount on checkout.
Cameras
On the camera’s front, the Redmi K50i 5G equips a total of four cameras, three on the rear side and one on the front. The triple cameras on the back offer good on-paper specs, a 64 MP f/1.9 main camera along with an 8 MP f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera, and a 2 MP f/2.4 macro camera with dual LED flash. The main camera doesn’t support OIS, and no telephoto camera is available on the setup. The front side has a 16 MP f/2.5 camera for selfie needs and video calling.
Looking at the interface, the camera app supports 2x zoom, 0.6x (wide-angle), and up to 10x digital zoom, you can take macro shots, and portraits, as well as 4k videos at 30 fps. There are a bunch of handy camera features – VLOG, Long Exposure, Focus Peaking, Night Mode, Pro Mode, Time Lapse, Time Burst, Super Slow Motion (960fps), Clone, Exposure Verification, Documents, Movie Frame, Panorama, along with all the standard modes that you have seen in the MIUI camera app.
The main camera takes incredible shots, the images look crispy, and detailed, and have a good amount of background blur (bokeh), the camera focuses well on the objects. Take a look at the images we took from the Redmi K50i’s camera, the samples are attached below. The 16 MP snapper is good, selfies turn out to be fairly well.
The phone can record up to 4K at 30 fps, super slow motion at 960 fps (at 720p resolution), and 120 fps at 1080p resolution. You can also record wide-angle videos which is a handy feature.
Redmi K50i 5G Camera Samples
Battery Runtime & Charging
The Redmi K50i 5G packs a 5,080 mAh battery with support for Xiaomi’s 67W Sonic fast charging. The battery life is reliable for moderate usage and can be charged quickly, much more useful if you are in a hurry. Along with the MIUI battery optimizations, you can expect a battery life of up to 2 days on moderate usage, however, it all depends on your usage.
On the charging side, the Redmi K50i can be charged quickly with its 67W fast charger provided in the box. You can expect the battery to be charged from 0% to 50% in 15 minutes and 0% to 100% in 46 minutes.
Even though there are smartphones such as the Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge with 120W charging power at a similar price, you are still getting decent charging speeds with far better performance on the Redmi K50i 5G.
Verdict
The Redmi K50i 5G is a massive performer, the MediaTek Dimensity 8100 offers stunning performance at this price and is paired with LPDDR5 RAM and a faster UFS 3.1 storage which is more than enough for those who are looking for pure performance under this price segment. Performance users and gamers take note – the Redmi K50i 5G has a faster CPU, GPU, a 144 Hz responsive display, and charges quite fast. On top, stereo speakers, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos add to the overall multimedia experience.
Aside from this, the phone has a great camera, clicks impressive shots, supports 4k recording, a bunch of camera perks, and customizations from the latest MIUI 13 interface. The only thing we would miss is the AMOLED display with an in-screen fingerprint scanner, however, you can’t ask for everything at this price (₹25,999). The phone competes with the OnePlus 10R (₹38,999) and realme GT Neo 3 (₹36,999) which are higher in price, but offers similar performance due to the identical specifications. The Redmi K50i is overall a good value for money and great for users who demand performance out of a smartphone.
