Xiaomi’s Redmi brand launched the Redmi 8A smartphone in India earlier this week. It has a large 6.22-inch HD+ screen and packs a 5000mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging at a price of Rs. 6499. Here we have the first impressions of the phone. Also, check out the unboxing from our FoneArena Tamil channel.
Box Contents
- Redmi 8A smartphone in Ocean Blue color
- 2-pin 10W charger (5V-2A)
- USB Type-C cable
- SIM Ejector tool
- User manual and warranty information
The first major change in the Redmi 8A compared to the Redmi 7A is the screen. This has a large 6.22-inch HD+ screen with a Dot Notch and 19:9 aspect ratio, compared to the 5.45-inch HD+ 18:9 aspect ratio screen. It also has Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection that you rarely see in the price range. The phone is powered by Snapdragon 439 SoC, same as the predecessor. It runs Android Pie with MIUI 10 on top, but it should get MIUI 11 in the future.
The notch is small, so you won’t notice it. This houses an 8-megapixel camera with f/2.0 aperture and 1.12µm pixel size. This is used for AI face unlock since the phone doesn’t have a fingerprint sensor. The proximity and ambient light sensors are present on the top bezel. The bottom bezel is smaller than the Redmi 7A. This has Redmi branding.
On the bottom there is a speaker grill. At the launch the company said that the phone has 0.82CC acoustic chamber for louder audio experience. Next to it is the USB Type-C port, which you rarely see on phones in the price range. There is also the primary microphone and 3.5mm audio jack. On the top there is a secondary microphone. The phone also has Wireless FM Radio, same as the predecessor. On the right there are usual set of power button and volume rockers. On the left there is are Dual SIM and microSD slots arranged in a single tray.
There is a 12-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, Sony IMX363 sensor, 1.4μm pixel size, f/1.8 aperture, 6P len, Dual PD auto focus. This is the same sensor used on the POCO F1, Mi 8 and other phones. Check out some samples below (Click the image to view the full resolution sample).
The phone has Aura wave grip design that offers a good grip since it has tiny patterns. It also comes with splash resistant P2i nano coating. The phone packs a 5000mAh battery with 18W fast charging, even though it comes with 10W charger in the box.
The Redmi 8A comes also comes in Midnight Black and Sunset Red colors, is priced at Rs. 6499 for the 2GB RAM with 32GB storage version and the 3GB RAM with 32GB storage version costs Rs. 6999. It will be available from Flipkart and mi.com starting from September 29th midnight. It will be available at Mi Home stores from 30th September, and will soon be available across all other offline stores.
Photography by Siraj and Siva Bharani