To say that Xiaomi will rediscover itself in 2022 would be an understatement. The Xiaomi 12 Pro took the Indian industry by storm, while the Xiaomi 12S Ultra seems to be setting new standards in China.
Xiaomi’s Redmi sub-brand has been floundering since the awesome Redmi K20 Pro launched in July 2019. Fast forward to 2022 and its spiritual successor, the Redmi K50i, is ready to take its lap of honour.
For just Rs 25,999, the Redmi K50i is just as loaded as its predecessor when it launched. At the time, the Redmi K20 Pro had an AMOLED panel, a pop-up camera module and a flagship processor (Qualcomm 855 SoC). The K50i, on the other hand, has MediaTek’s Dimensity 8100 SoC (the only smartphone in its price segment with a 5nm chip), a refresh rate of 144Hz and a battery of 5080mAh!
Xiaomi has a clear price advantage over its rivals. There are the Oppo Reno 8 Pro, OnePlus 10R, Realme GT Neo 3 and a few other smartphones that rock the Dimensity 8100 SoC. The problem is that they are all priced much higher. So with a clear edge at the start, can the Redmi K50i deliver the knockout punch? Let’s find out.
A simple yet effective design
The Redmi K50i is quite tame compared to the Redmi K20 Pro. It doesn’t have the reflective design on the back and it doesn’t have the pop-up camera either. It lacks the wow factor. However, what the Redmi K50i has is a color-changing rear.
The Redmi K50i is largely made of plastic, which is one of the ways Xiaomi has been able to keep the price low. To be fair, Xiaomi is not the only one in this price range to use plastic. Xiaomi has made sure that the smartphone is well protected as it comes with Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and an IP53 rating.
The handset is quite hefty, but still fits well in the hand. The flat frame, together with the round back, provides a better grip.
On the right side are the volume rocker and the power buttons. The fingerprint sensor is embedded with the power switch. There is an IR blaster, also a favorite of Xiaomi fans. There’s also the headphone jack, which many smartphones are getting rid of these days.
Display: LCD instead of AMOLED
Redmi doesn’t use an AMOLED display for the K50i and it shows with just a peak brightness of 500 nits. The Redmi K50i can’t get nearly as bright as many other smartphones out there and it struggles in direct sunlight. That said, the Redmi K50i has a Fringe-Field Switching (FFS) LCD with a host of benefits. It offers better viewing angles, low operating voltage and fast response times.
The panel refreshes at 144Hz, which is much better than what the competition offers. It’s a 6.6-inch FHD+ resolution display with Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 on top. There is also the punch notch.
With the FFS LCD instead of an AMOLED, you miss out on the impressive contrast ratios and black tones. Still, I was not impressed, despite not being able to find much about the screen. It’s a good screen, but nothing spectacular.
Performance & Software: MediaTek’s Dimensity 8100 Rocks
Where the Redmi K50i shines is in the performance department. MediaTek’s Dimensity 8100 SoC is a real winner. There are two variants of the Xiaomi K50i – 6GB/128GB and 8GB/256GB – and the Redmi K50i is one of the fastest smartphones in the segment.
One thing I noticed is that even when the K50i gets hot, it doesn’t last very long. The Liquidcool 2.0 technology does a great job of keeping the smartphone cool even under prolonged use.
The smartphone performs remarkably well during extended gaming sessions of Call of Duty: Mobile and you will never notice a slowdown in using your everyday apps. Switching between the two is also an enjoyable experience. The buttery smooth scrolling and lag-free experience is a joy in this segment.
The Redmi K50i is powerful enough to handle most games (just don’t try to run Genshin Impact on the highest settings). Real Racing 3 is a game I tried to get the full effect of the 144Hz refresh rate and it ran as smooth as possible.
Many of the performance improvements are also due to the optimization that Xiaomi has done with MIUI 13. The Redmi K50i comes standard with MIUI 13. It is based on Android 12 and offers a large number of customization options. There is also better CPU and RAM usage.
The only downside is the pre-installed apps (aka bloatware) that come with the device. The good part is that most of them can be disabled/uninstalled.
Cameras: great for everyday use
The Redmi K50i comes with a triple camera setup on the back. There’s the 64MP Samsung GW1 (f/1.89 aperture) main sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide (f/2.2 aperture and 120-degree field of view) camera and a 2MP macro shooter. On the front is a 16MP sensor (f/2.45 aperture) for all your selfies.
The main sensor is the clear winner here, as the phone struggles with low-light photos. The videos are decent, but not spectacular.
The primary sensor captures a lot of detail with a good dynamic range. Sometimes some shots are a little more saturated than you’d like. On the other hand, highlights and shadow details are preserved, which makes the resulting photos pleasant to look at. The primary sensor also has a fast shutter speed, making it easy to capture fast-moving objects.
The ultra-wide camera is best for landscape shots. The 120-degree field of view is useful when you go on vacation.
The Redmi K50i starts to struggle when the lighting conditions are not optimal. It’s not to say that low-light photos are the worst in this segment, but it tends to overexpose the photos and lack some details.
The 2MP macro camera has no autofocus, but when it works, it works well. It’s just a little tricky to get it to work.
The selfies, on the other hand, turned out to be sharp with good details preserved. The selfies also retained natural-looking skin tones, which is always a good sign.
As for videos, there’s nothing to write home about as they aren’t the best in terms of color and stabilization.
Battery Life: Stellar battery life helps keep the charger away
I routinely did it for a day and a half before I had to reach for the charger. Thanks to the 5.080mAh battery and the optimized software, my charger was used much less than I thought. The Redmi K50i offers reliable battery backup.
It wasn’t until I pushed the smartphone with hundreds of photos and hours of gaming that it died within a day.
If you have an average usage pattern with Spotify, WhatsApp, Instagram, some calls, email/notes and the camera app, then the smartphone will easily last more than a day.
I easily exceeded 5 hours of screen-on-time (SoT). In short, with the K50i you don’t have to worry about the charger being far away. If you do need the charger, Xiaomi gives you a 67W charger in the box itself. With the charger you have 50% juice within 30 minutes.
However, there is no wireless charging.
Verdict: best smartphone in Xiaomi’s portfolio?
At just Rs 25,999, the Redmi K50i is the best bet for a Xiaomi smartphone under Rs 40,000. It is great value for money and a smartphone that I have already recommended to a number of people.
The Redmi K50i excels in a few key areas. It’s a smartphone that simply doesn’t compromise on performance and can handle mobile games at high frame rates. The battery backup is excellent and the primary sensor is reliable for taking pictures on a daily basis.
The two drawbacks of the K50i are that Xiaomi chose to go with an LCD panel instead of an OLED and the design is very bland and unobtrusive.
With Xiaomi’s software getting better and the phone outperforming its competitors, the Redmi K50i is an exciting proposition.
You only wish the Redmi K50i looked as good as its predecessor, the Redmi K20 Pro. Let’s just say that Redmi has made a comeback with the K50i and there is hope Xiaomi will build on this for its next launch.
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