Redmi Note 8 Pro vs Redmi Note 7 Pro
Design: Newer is better
Starting with the design, the Redmi Note 7 Pro offers a typical glass sandwich build with a cornered dual-camera setup, and a segregated fingerprint scanner sitting in the median. On the contrary, the Redmi Note 8 Pro looks much more modern and premium with the brand new gradient finish, center-aligned cameras, and seamless curved back. Besides, the unique White, Emerald, and Grey color options give a refreshing character to the handset in comparison to 7 Pro’s generic Blue, Black & Red variants.
Flipping over to the front, both the devices flaunt a water-drop notch, and minimal bezels on the side, followed by a bottom chin. Interestingly, the one on the Note 8 Pro is slightly smaller than the former, aiding for a more immersive experience. Anyways, do note that the Note 8 Pro is significantly heavier at around 199.8 grams compared to the 186-gram weight of the 7 Pro. Also, it is slightly larger and thicker with 161.3 mm x 76.4 mm x 8.7 mm dimensions while the latter sits a tad neat at 159.2 x 75.2 x 8.1 mm.
Display: Another IPS LCD Panel
Just like the Note 7 Pro, Xiaomi is using a Full-HD+ IPS LCD panel with 19:5:9 aspect ratio on the Redmi Note 8 Pro- no OLED for now. Nonetheless, the screen size has now been bumped up to 6.53-inches compared to the 6.3-inch panel on the former.
Further, bezels have been reduced massively to improve the screen-to-body ratio from around 81 to a whopping 91.94-percent. By the way, both the phones feature 2.5D curved glass up front and vaunt Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection on either of the sides. In all, there’s not much to talk about here.
Performance: MediaTek Helio G90T vs Snapdragon 675
Under the hood, the all-new MediaTek Helio G90T chipset powers the Redmi Note 8 Pro. This 12-nm based octa-core processor gets two Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.27GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 1.7GHz. Graphics are handled by Mali-G76MC4 GPU, and the phone is accessible in 6/64GB, 6/128GB and 8/128GB configuration. Interestingly, the handset also bears liquid cooling for extended gaming. The Redmi Note 7 Pro, on the other hand, packs in Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 which is an 11nm-based SoC, featuring two Kryo-460 Gold cores clocked at 2.0GHz and six Kryo-460 Silver cores running at 1.7 GHz. It’s further coupled with Adreno 612 GPU and is available in 4/64GB, 6/64GB, and 6/128GB RAM and storage variants. The Helio G90T, being a gaming-centric chip, blows almost all of its competitors straight out of the water including the one on the Note 7 Pro. In fact, it even goes head to head with last year’s flagship Snapdragon 845 and Kirin 970 chipsets, in terms of raw performance. Moreover, you’re getting a 6GB RAM on the base model, so yeah, performance is one of the most significant upgrades you’ll find in the new Note!
Software: MIUI is here to stay
Both the phones run on MIUI 10 based on Android 9 Pie and offer precisely the same software experience. Anyways, the UI is heavily skinned, has a lot of bloatware and is degraded by spammy notifications/ ads which might be a bummer for some.
Cameras: 64MP Quad vs 48MP Dual
The Redmi Note 7 Pro came with a dual-camera setup, comprising of a 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 primary shooter with f/1.8 aperture and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. And the cameras were indeed impressive for the price, counting in the low-light aspects and the ability to shoot crisp 48MP images.
That being said, the Note 8 Pro propounds next-level photography prowess with a total of four cameras at the rear. It boasts of the new 64-megapixel Samsung ISOCELL GW1 primary sensor with f/1.8 aperture, followed by an 8-megapixel wide-angle shooter with 120-degree field-of-view, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. Xiaomi has also improved the front camera by giving a 20MP f/2.0 unit on the Note 8 Pro compared to the 13MP shooter on the outgoing model.
Battery & Charging: A small leap in the size
While we didn’t expect, Xiaomi has gone a step ahead and provided a larger 4,500mAh battery on the Note 8 Pro. And talking of charging capabilities, the phone not only supports MediaTek’s Pump Express 4.0 but is also compatible with Qualcomm QuickCharge 3.0, QuickCharge 4+ and USB Power Delivery 3.0. For starters, the Note 7 Pro came with a 4,000mAh cell with support for Qualcomm QuickCharge 4.0. However, a mere 10W charger was supplied with the device. Thankfully, this time, Xiaomi will be bundling a compatible fast charger inside the box, which is indeed a welcome move by the company.
Price & Variants
The Redmi Note 8 Pro price in China starts at 1399 Yuan (about INR 14,000) for the base model with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage. Whereas, the 6/128GB and 8/128GB models are priced at 1599 Yuan (approximately INR 16,000) and 1799 Yuan (around INR 18,000), respectively. In comparison, the Note 7 Pro was launched in India, back in February for a starting price of INR 13,999 for the 4/64GB model. The 6/64GB and 6/128GB variants were introduced for a price of Rs. 15,999 (later cut down to INR 14,999) and Rs. 16,999, respectively.
Redmi Note 8 Pro vs Redmi Note 7 Pro: Conclusion
Looking at the comparison, it’s clearly evident that the new Redmi Note 8 Pro does offer major upgrades over the Note 7 Pro. In fact, it even sets its own benchmarks in the segment when it comes to performance and cameras. So if you’re planning to buy a new Xiaomi smartphone, it’ll definitely be worth waiting for the global unveil. By the way, the Realme XT could also be launching anytime soon. So what’d be your pick? Let us know in the comments below. Also, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for more updates. Also, read Realme XT or Redmi Note 8 Pro: Which Phone will be Launched First in India?
