Introduction
Xiaomi drops yet another bang for the buck offer that comes just in time for the frantic shopping season. It is the Redmi Note 8T - the European version of the popular Redmi Note 8 and the latest addition to the budget series.
The Redmi Note lineup needs no presentation - it has always delivered good smartphones with sustained performance and long-lasting battery life on a bargain price. The Redmi Note 8T is an enhanced version of the Redmi Note 8 and we very much believe the 8T will repeat the Note 8 success.
So, the Redmi Note 8T is a Note phone done by the book - it has a large 6.3 IPS LCD screen with a small notch, a promising Snapdragon 665 chip, some whooping camera count on the back, and a beefy 4,000 mAh battery within.
Naturally, the Redmi Note 8T uses a dual Gorilla Glass 5 shell and its back is painted in some trending gradient colors - Starscape Blue and Moonlight White, but you can also opt for a more traditional Moonshadow Grey that is not as casual and is easy on the eyes.
The Redmi Note 8T adds NFC option over the regular Note 8 and comes packed with an 18W fast charger (up from 10W). It runs on Android 9 with MIUI 10 and while MIUI 11 is coming at some point, it's not available just yet.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T specs
- Body: Gorilla Glass 5 front and back, plastic frame, splash-resistant nano-coating, 190g.
- Display: 6.3" IPS LCD, 1080 x 2340px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 409ppi.
- Rear camera: Primary: 48MP, f/1.8 aperture, 1/2" sensor size, 0.8µm pixel size, PDAF. Ultra wide: 8MP, f/2.2, 1/4", 1.12µm pixels. Macro camera: 2MP, f/2.4, 1/5", 1.75µm Depth sensor:2MP; 2160p@30fps, 1080p@120fps, 720p@960fps video recording.
- Front camera: 13MP, f/2.0 aperture, 1.12µm pixels. 1080p/30fps video recording.
- OS: Android 9 Pie; MIUI 10.
- Chipset: Snapdragon 665 (11nm): Octa-core (4x2.00 GHz Kryo 260 Gold & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Silver), Adreno 610 GPU.
- Memory: 3/4/6GB of RAM; 32/64/128GB storage; dedicated microSD slot.
- Battery: 4,000mAh; 18W fast charging.
- Connectivity: Dual-SIM; LTE-A, 4-Band carrier aggregation, LTE Cat-12/ Cat-13; USB-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; dual-band GPS; Bluetooth 4.2; FM radio; NFC.
- Misc: Rear-mounted fingerprint reader; 3.5mm jack; single down-firing speaker.
The Redmi Note 8T also offers basic splash-protection via the so-called special nano-coating, so there is literally nothing missing on the 8T. Realme also offers splash-resistant phones at the same price bracket and it will be one very though choice if it boil down to Redmi vs. Realme in the end.
Unboxing the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
The Redmi Note 8T box contains the usual - the phone itself, a USB-C cable, and an 18W charger. This is a bit different from the Note 8 - it is bundled with a slower 10W adapter.
There is also a semi-transparent silicone case in the box, which is appreciated. What's not on the Redmi Note 8T is a factory-applied screen protector. Maybe it will come with extra shielding in some markets. Maybe it won't.
Design
The dual-glass smartphone has become a standard already and even the budget phones are getting such an exquisite treatment. And we are not talking about shatter-proof glass only, hues and effects come into play in a similarly important fashion.
Redmi Note 8T in Starscape Blue and Moonshadow Grey
And fashionable it is the Redmi Note 8T, equally appealing to youths and adults. The three paintjobs - Moonshadow Grey, Moonlight White, and Starscape Blue - easily impress and it's easy to fall in love with the 8T at first sight.
The Redmi Note 8T comes in different hues than the Redmi Note 8 and that's the first tell. Sure, the difference isn't groundbreaking, but it is there, and it is enough.
Redmi Note 8T and Redmi Note 8
The Redmi Note 8T uses two flat Gorilla Glass 5 pieces on both ends, while the frame is made of plastic and painted in matching hue to the main motif back. The Starscape Blue model has a gradient back with lighter blue going towards darker blue, but there is no S-curve as on competing models, including the Redmi Note 8.
The Moonlight White is gradient from white towards pink, while the fancy sounding Moonshadow Grey is the easier on the eyes with dark gray paint that catches and reflects light rays in a very subtle way.
Naturally, the front is where the 6.3" LCD screen lies, and it has the same resolution as the majority of the panels on the market right now - an extended 1080p. There is a waterdrop-shaped cutout for the 13MP selfie camera.
The earpiece grille is very thin and barely noticeable above the screen. Oddly, there is no notification LED around, even though the Redmi Note 8 had one.
And while on the subject, the Redmi Note 8 has its chin sprinkled with the paint from the back, but on the 8T none of the three options has such accent.
Now, let's look at the back. There is a massive hump at the top left corner and it contains four cameras - the 8MP ultrawide, the 48MP primary, the 2MP macro, and the 2MP depth snappers. A single LED flash is right next to this setup, and not that far away is the fingerprint reader.
The camera setup on the back is budging big time and the Redmi Note 8T wobbles an awful lot. We guess this is the price to pay for so many snappers.
We would have liked the fingerprint scanner a bit downwards, as some finger stretching occurs more often than not and the situation is not ideal.
There are a lot of stuff around the frame. On the top is an IR blaster, at the bottom is the speaker, the audio jack, the charging port, and the mouthpiece, of course. The Redmi Note 8T also has a triple-cards slot on its left accepting two SIM cards and a microSD.
We are quite the fans of the paintjobs Xiaomi has chosen for the Redmi Note 8T and both the black and blue version are equally captivating. We would have like a trimmed camera hump, but that's something the Note 9 has to improve, we guess.
The Redmi Note 8T measures 161.1 x 75.4 x 8.6 mm and weighs 200 grams, making it 2mm taller and 10g heavier than the Redmi Note 8. The extra weight maybe due to the inclusion of NFC.
The Redmi Note 8T is a looker, a well-built and splash-resistant one at that. It is somewhat slippery, but that's the deal with the glass phones. You get a case with the Note 8T though, so if slippery or handling is an issue - it is easily resolvable one.
Display
The Redmi Note 8T packs a large 6.3" IPS LCD display with a droplet-shaped notch at the top to make room for the selfie camera. The resolution is extended 1080p - 2,340 x 1,080 pixels - making for a 409ppi density.
The screen on the 8T is protected with a Gorilla Glass 5 on top of it, but it seems this Redmi ships without a screen protector as opposed to other Xiaomi models.
Xiaomi promises 1500:1 contrast ratio for the Note 8T screen and our measurements show it is possible. The maximum brightness varied between 430 and 460 nits, while the black levels were between 0.250 and 0.330 in sequential measurements. After a restart we began getting more consistent readings and that's what you are seeing in the table below.
The screen can be brighter though if you leave it on Automatic Brightness - it can light up as high as 600 nits in bright ambient light.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0.331 | 450 | 1360 | |
| 0.450 | 600 | 1325 | |
| 0.311 | 473 | 1521 | |
| 0.475 | 631 | 1328 | |
| 0.358 | 479 | 1338 | |
| 0.347 | 460 | 1326 | |
| 0.486 | 640 | 1317 | |
| 0.314 | 481 | 1532 | |
| 0.273 | 512 | 1875 | |
| 0 | 447 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 433 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 548 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 437 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 641 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 363 | ∞ | |
Xiaomi offers three different Contrast settings for the 8T's display. With the Automatic contrast set to on, the screen output seems to be tuned for accuracy in the sRGB color space, and we measured an average deltaE of 6.3 Only in this mode, you can choose the color saturation (default, warm, cool) and the Delta E of 6.3 was measured with the Default preset. Choosing warm will diminish the noticeable blue tint but won't improve the overall accuracy by much.
The Standard Contrast setting has superb accuracy within the sRGB color space, and we recorded an average deltaE of 0.7 for color accuracy.
Finally, the Increased Contrast makes the colors pop at the expense of reproduction accuracy.
Battery life
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T, just like all Notes to come before it, is powered by a 4,000mAh Li-ion battery. It supports Qualcomm's 18W Quick Charge and the 8T ships with a proper 18W charger. It fills about 45% of the entirely depleted battery in 30 mins.
The Redmi Note 8T aced our batter life test and also matched the Redmi Note 8's results. The 8T, running on MIUI 10, posted a top-notch endurance rating of 108 hours and impressive scores across the board. The screen-on times are excellent, while the standby performance was on par with the Redmi Note 8 and a great one at that.
Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSerDevice app. The endurance rating above denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so that our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritty. You can check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Speaker loudness
The Redmi Note 8T has no special treatment for its loudspeaker. It's a single piece, bottom-firing, and tuned mostly for louder mid-tones.
The speaker on the 8T posted an excellent mark in our test, though the output quality is not impressive. It lacks in the high tones and you can tell that when listening to music.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing |
Overall score | |
| 65.9 | 66.6 | 68.4 | Below Average | |
| 65.6 | 66.2 | 70.4 | Average | |
| 64.8 | 71.2 | 82.2 | Good | |
| 66.3 | 72.9 | 85.8 | Very Good | |
| 66.5 | 73.2 | 89.2 | Excellent | |
| 66.8 | 73.0 | 89.3 | Excellent | |
| 74.1 | 74.3 | 81.9 | Excellent | |
| 69.8 | 71.5 | 90.5 | Excellent | |
| 78.8 | 72.9 | 81.3 | Excellent | |
| 78.9 | 74.5 | 79.8 | Excellent |
Audio quality
Moving on to the audio output quality via the jack, we are hardly shocked to find out that the Redmi Note 8T is an exact replica of the Redmi Note 8. It did splendidly when connected to an active external amplifier, reproducing our test track perfectly and at high volume.
Sadly when we plugged in our standard headphones stereo separation suffered badly and a fair amount of intermodulation distortion crept in, while frequency response got slightly shaky, making the overall performance mediocre. Loudness dropped a bit too, but remained nicely high.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| +0.02, -0.01 | -93.9 | 93.9 | 0.0019 | 0.0070 | -93.7 | |
| +0.03, -0.55 | -93.8 | 94.1 | 0.020 | 0.414 | -44.8 | |
| +0.02, -0.02 | -94.0 | 94.0 | 0.0019 | 0.0067 | -93.3 | |
| +0.35, -0.26 | -91.3 | 90.9 | 0.015 | 0.445 | -45.4 | |
| +0.07, -0.07 | -93.6 | 93.9 | 0.0022 | 0.0068 | -91.9 | |
| +0.26, -0.29 | -92.7 | 93.2 | 0.027 | 0.413 | -48.5 | |
| +0.03, -0.01 | -92.3 | 92.5 | 0.0018 | 0.0076 | -89.7 | |
| +0.03, -0.07 | -91.5 | 89.9 | 0.109 | 0.455 | -74.4 | |
| +0.03, -0.06 | -92.6 | 92.6 | 0.0020 | 0.0080 | -88.1 | |
| +0.30, -0.37 | -87.2 | 91.0 | 0.0081 | 0.356 | -48.4 | |
| +0.03, -0.06 | -91.3 | 91.8 | 0.0011 | 0.0077 | -92.5 | |
| +0.21, -0.34 | -90.3 | 91.4 | 0.0066 | 0.297 | -51.5 | |
| +0.02, -0.13 | -94.0 | 94.0 | 0.0013 | 0.0081 | -93.6 | |
| +0.18, -0.11 | -85.6 | 84.8 | 0.0062 | 0.108 | -52.6 | |
| +0.02, -0.02 | -93.0 | 92.8 | 0.0012 | 0.007 | -89.4 | |
| +0.25, -0.30 | -91.8 | 91.7 | 0.0045 | 0.312 | -57.3 |
Redmi Note 8T frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
MIUI 10 and Android 9
The Redmi Note 8T boots the MIUI 10 ROM based on Android 9 Pie, just like the Note 8 at launch. There is no word on when the 8T will be getting MIUI 11 though, as opposed to the already available update for the regular Note 8 model.
While lightweight and intuitive, MIUI is no vanilla Android, so it will take a couple of hours for the purists to get the hang of it.
Redmi Note 8T, Redmi Note 8 Pro, and Redmi Note 8 all boot MIUI 10 out of the box
You can unlock the screen via the snappy rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. The reader is easy to set up and is always on, so it works fast. The accuracy is very good, too, a notch under the most accurate we've encountered but still great for your daily unlocking.
You can also set up face unlock in addition to it - it's even faster as the Note 8T wakes up the moment you pick it up. Note that the face unlock option may not be available in all regions and is far less secure than the fingerprint scanner.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T has a Dark mode - it will switch all system colors from white to black, and this way, you can save some battery juice by darkening most of the screen. Note that not all apps support the dark mode, but the majority do.
Dark mode
There is no app drawer in MIUI, so all your apps are just sitting there on your homescreen, but you can still add them to folders. Of course, you can always install a third-party launcher if you miss the app drawer.
Here are the default home screens on Redmi Note 8T. There's a weather widget in the upper right corner across from a large clock widget. There is a Quick Card pane, the leftmost one. It contains different cards with relevant information - recent apps, step counter, notes, calendar events, the weather, and favorites, among others. You can configure what shows up here, or you can disable this altogether.
Lockscreen • Homescreen • Homescreen • Tools • Quick Card • Settings
The task switcher felt a bit awkward at first, but we've grown to like it. It shows all of your recent apps in two columns. Tap and hold on a card for the split-screen shortcut, or swipe it left or right to close it.
Recents and Split Screen
Themes are supported on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T, but the app appears only when the phone is set to a supported region, say India.
MIUI also offers a Security app. It can scan your phone for malware, manage your blacklist, manage or restrict your data usage, configure battery behavior, and free up some RAM. It can also control the permissions of your installed apps and allows you to define the battery behavior of selected apps and applies restrictions only to the apps you choose.
MIUI also offers proprietary Gallery, Music, and Video player. In some regions, the music and video apps include paid streaming options. An FM radio app is available, too.
The Redmi Note 8T has an IR blaster on its top, and you can install the Mi Remote app from the Play Store and configure your phone as the one remote to rule them all.
Security app • Security • Gallery • File Manager • FM radio • Mi Remote
In some markets, the pre-installed applications by Xiaomi will show ads, which is how Xiaomi is compensating for the relatively low prices of its devices. We're reviewing a European version of the Redmi Note 8T, and the only places we noticed ads were the File Manager and the Security apps. Those, while pre-installed MIUI apps, are not essential though and there are ways to get rid of them.
Finally, we want to mention our disappointment in the Auto Rotate option. The phone seems very sensitive, and even slight variations in the orientation make it switch to Landscape. What's worse is that when lying on a flat surface, the wobbling because of the big camera hump is enough to trigger Landscape Rotation when you are typing on the keyboard. We had quite a few of these unwanted Landscape switches, and then we had to pick up the phone shake it and then put it back.
Performance and benchmarks
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T, just like the Redmi Note 8, packs a Snapdragon 665 chip. It's a relatively new SoC from mid-2019, and it's available in few smartphones, one of which is the Xiaomi Mi A3. This chipset represents a minor upgrade over the Redmi Note 7's Snapdragon 660 chip.
The Snapdragon 665 chip is based on the more efficient 11nm manufacturing process compared to the 14nm Snapdragon 660. It has the same processor as the SD660 - an octa-core Kryo 260 CPU with 4x2.0 GHz Kryo 260 Gold (Cortex-A73 derivative) & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Silver (Cortex-A53 derivative). Well, almost the same - the high-performance Kryo cores are clocked 200MHz lower than the same on the Note 7's SD660.
There is a new Adreno 610 GPU, which, unfortunately, isn't more powerful than the Adreno 512 inside the old 660 SoC. It should supposedly deliver similar performance for 20% less battery though.
The Snapdragon 665 has a new DSP and a new ISP for 48MP camera support. Its modem is the same as on the S660, though.
Now, let's run some benchmarks.
The raw CPU multi-core performance is excellent - the phone did better than most of its competitors and is bested only by the Realme 5 Pro's Snapdragon 712 CPU.
GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Realme 5 Pro
6106 - Xiaomi Mi A3
5686 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
5620 - Realme 5s
5596 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8
5590 - Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
5549 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 7
5411 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
4933 - Samsung Galaxy M30
4188 - Samsung Galaxy A30
4146
The single-core performance is nothing to talk about, really - it's on par with the competition.
GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Realme 5 Pro
1913 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 7
1650 - Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
1576 - Realme 5s
1533 - Xiaomi Mi A3
1531 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
1519 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8
1512 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
1342 - Samsung Galaxy A30
1319 - Samsung Galaxy M30
1311
The Redmi Note 8T's Snapdragon 665 has Adreno 610 GPU, which should be similar to Redmi Note 7's 660 chip and its Adreno 512 but more power-efficient. Well, it turned out that its raw performance is actually a bit lower than on the Snapdragon 660's GPU, so any graphics upgrade is definitely out of the question here.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi A3
27 - Realme 5s
24 - Realme 5 Pro
22 - Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
13 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 7
13 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8
11 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
11 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
9.7 - Samsung Galaxy A30
7.4 - Samsung Galaxy M30
7.3
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi A3
13 - Realme 5 Pro
12 - Realme 5s
12 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 7
7.7 - Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
6.9 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8
5.9 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
5.9 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
5.9 - Samsung Galaxy A30
4.6 - Samsung Galaxy M30
4.6
3DMark SSE 3.1 Unlimited
Higher is better
- Realme 5 Pro
2253 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 7
1409 - Realme 5s
1140 - Xiaomi Mi A3
1131 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
1128 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8
1126 - Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
988 - Samsung Galaxy M30
645 - Samsung Galaxy A30
587
Finally, the compound AnTuTu test puts the Redmi Note 8T on par with the Mi A3, P30 Lite, and the Realme 5s, but it's still behind the Realme 5 Pro.
AnTuTu 7
Higher is better
- Realme 5 Pro
182765 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8
141915 - Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
141600 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
141077 - Xiaomi Mi A3
140633 - Realme 5s
139103 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 7
139075 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
115605 - Samsung Galaxy M30
101651 - Samsung Galaxy A30
96550
AnTuTu 8
Higher is better
- Realme 5s
168635 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
167395 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8
161572
The Redmi Note 8T is a fast smartphone, but not the fastest around. Its processor is snappy and a very dependable performer across various CPU-intensive tasks, but the GPU behavior is a mixed bag. Hiccups do happen in games, even when scrolling through MIUI 10, and while not that disturbing, they are still noticeable.
What we didn't observe, however, is the phone getting hot - not even when running those benchmarks for longer durations. There is no noticeable performance throttling after longer runs either. Overall, the Redmi Note 8T offers an acceptable level of performance for the class, but you will be able to tell that you have a budget phone in your hands if you do some gaming.
Four cameras sit on the back of the Redmi Note 8T
Xiaomi has skipped the triple camera within the Redmi series and jumped straight to quad-camera setups and the Note 8T has one of these large bumps on the back. The arrangement is familiar - Realme has already use the same - first (top to bottom) is the ultrawide snapper, then the primary one, the depth camera is next, and last is the macro shooter.
The main camera uses the 48 MP ISOCELL Bright GM2 sensor by Samsung. It's a large 1/2.25" sensor with 0.8µm pixels, and the lens has f/1.8 aperture. Native pixel-binning is at play here, so the image output is 12MP.
The 119-degree ultrawide-angle camera has an 8MP sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. There is automatic distortion correction applied when necessary, but you can opt-out of it.
Then there's the 2MP macro camera (the pixels on the sensor are quite large, 1.75µm). Its lens can focus from as close as 4cm away so that you can get really close to your subjects.
The last snapper is the 2MP depth sensor.
Switching between modes is like in every other camera app - swiping left and right will take you through all modes, while tapping in the upper right corner of the screen where the "hamburger menu" resides will expand the options. The real settings menu is in there as well, and it doesn't offer anything out of the ordinary.
Camera app
There's also a dedicated 48MP mode as opposed to before when you had to go to Pro mode and tap on the 48MP icon to shoot 48MP resolution stills. Speaking of Pro, this one offers pretty much all the settings you'd need - white balance, focus, ISO, and shutter speed. The Pro mode works with the normal camera, the ultra-wide, and the macro. Manual 48MP pictures are also an option.
Image quality
Now, let's talk about image quality. The 48MP camera naturally saves by default 12MP images, and the ones we shot with the Redmi Note 8T turned out very good. The resolved detail is plenty, the noise levels are quite low, and the colors stayed mostly true to life. The dynamic range is wide, and even though it's not the best we've encountered - we never used the HDR option.
For the nitpickers out there, there are some moire fringes are noticeable in some busy scenes, and the foliage (where available) may have an oil-painting look outside the center of the image.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T 12MP photos
There is a dedicated 48MP mode if you want to shoot in 48MP, but what you'd get is not a real 48MP image. Instead of the usual 48MP photo created by debayering process, the Redmi Note 8 saves a simple upscaled image, and you can tell. There are no benefits whatsoever when shooting in 48MP, and we don't recommend it.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T 48MP photos
Even though there isn't a telephoto camera, the Redmi Note 8T still shoots some good 2x zoomed photos thanks to its large sensor. They are digitally zoomed, alright, but they still look better than any zoom done on a standard 12MP camera.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T 12MP 2x zoomed photos
The 8MP ultrawide cam snaps okay photos with good enough level of detail for the segment. The contrast is good but the dynamic range is rather limited. The per-pixel quality is no match to the main snapper, and the images are noisier, and they are definitelty at the bottom end of what is offered by competing smartphones.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T 8MP ultrawide photos
You can opt-out of the automatic lens correction, and you will get more distorted edges of the frame but with sharper output.
Distortion correction off • Distortion correction on
The 2MP macro camera shoots rather mediocre images. The detail isn't that great, the corners are soft, and the center isn't that sharp either.
Redmi Note 8T 2MP macro photos
The Redmi Note 8T saves surpassingly good images at night, in fact, those are excellent for this class - the noise reduction is not that aggressive, and while it leaves some noise visible on the photos, it also keeps the fine detail intact.
Redmi Note 8T 12MP low-light images
The Night Mode is just as conservative as on previous Xiaomi cameras. It acts more like HDR rather than full-on Night mode, and shooting takes about 2 seconds. It cancels some of the noise and restores most clipped highlights, but you will rarely get a brighter image.
Redmi Note 8T 12MP Night mode photos
The night pictures from the ultrawide-angle camera are quite usable and better than a whole lot we've seen lately from such snappers. The photos came out detailed, probably due to the gentle noise reduction. The exposure turned out not as dark as on other ultrawide snappers, and while still uninspiring, those are some entirely usable photos.
Redmi Note 8T 8MP ultrawide photos
There is no Night Mode for the ultrawide camera.
Here's how the primary camera on the Redmi Note 8T stacks against the rest of the competition in a more controlled environment.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T against the Mi A3 and the Realme 5 Pro in our Photo compare tool
Portraits
The quality of the portraits taken with the rear camera of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T depends on the available light as the resolved detail would drastically drop when the light is not good. So, when the right conditions are met - you will be rewarded with some very nice portrait shots - detailed, with good enough subject separation and convincing faux blur.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T 12MP portraits
Selfies
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T has a 13MP f/2.0 selfie camera, and the focus is fixed as usual. On the software side, there three beatification enhancement options - skin smoothing, eye enlargement, and face slimming.
The selfies we shot are excellent - there is abundant detail, the colors and contrast are excellent, and the dynamic range is good even without HDR mode. Overall, we are quite happy with the samples we shot.
Redmi Note 8T 13MP selfies
You can use portrait mode for selfies, too, and those turned out quite good. The phone does a nice job with subject separation, and we didn't get (many) clipped ears or the like.
Redmi Note 8T 13MP portrait selfies
Video recording
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T captures videos up to 4K @ 30fps, 1080@60fps and 1080@30fps is available as well.
It seems at first that you can capture in these resolutions with all cameras, but you can't really. The ultrawide-angle snapper records only 1080p clips at 30fps, while the macro cam is limited to 720p@30fps no matter what resolution you've picked up from the selector.
Slow-mo video is available in 1080p @120fps.
Let's talk about the main camera. The video bitrate is 40-42Mbps in 4K and about 20Mbps in 1080p at both 30fps and 60fps. Audio is recorded in stereo with a 96Kbps bitrate.
Despite the high bitrate, the 4K videos have mediocre level of detail and limited dynamic range. The noise is almost non-existent, and maybe an overly aggressive noise reduction is to blame for the loss in detail. The contrast and colors are pretty good, though.
The 1080p clips at 30fps are quite detailed and among the better ones you can get today.
The 60fps, on the other hand, have the same bitrate as the 30fps, and thus their detail is halved, which is then masked by excessive over-sharpening.
The videos from the ultrawide snapper have a bit cooler color rendition, and the detail quite poor.
EIS is available only when shooting in 1080p at 30fps, and you can turn it on or off from the settings. The digital stabilization does a great job smoothing the camera shake at the expense of minor loss of FoV.
Once you are done with the real-life scenarios, take a look at our video compare tool to see how it competes against other phones.
2160p: Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T against the Mi A3 and the Realme 5 Pro in our Video compare tool
Wrap-up
The Redmi Note 8T isn't the worthiest of upgrades, there is no denying that. It cannot one-up the Note 7 in performance, but it surely impresses with its camera setup and its beautiful and splash-resistant body.
The Redmi Note 8T brings NFC and a faster charger to cater to the European customers but loses the notification LED compared to the vanilla Note 8. It has also grown in size and weight. But even without that notification light, we'd say it is the better Redmi Note and it deserves some proper attention.
Not having a faster Snapdragon chip is a miss some will take wholeheartedly, but for everything else - it's the bargain offer we've used to expect from Xiaomi. And it has delivered once again.
The competition
Now that Realme has entered the EU market, Xiaomi has some proper competition and the users can only benefit from that. The 4GB+128GB Realme 5 Pro costs the same as the 4GB+64GB Redmi Note 8 (€200) and not only it has more storage, but the Realme also offers a faster Snapdragon 712 chipset that's better suited for gaming.
The Realme 5s, or Realme 5, depending on your local market, is a bit cheaper than the Note 8T and yet it not only matches its chipset and camera setup but also impresses with more storage and a larger battery. The Realme 5/5s is also a faster phone for gaming, as it packs a lower-res 720p+ screen that makes the job easier for the GPU.
Samsung Galaxy A30s costs about €200 and has a large Super AMOLED screen to show off. It is of a lower resolution though and yet it delivers the same performance as the Note 8T. Its camera setup is a good match to the Note 8T, but you should consider the A30s over the 8T only if the AMOLED or One UI is a must-have.
Back to Xiaomi, if your budget allows it - the €250 Redmi Note 8 Pro is an excellent all-rounder with a larger screen, much faster chipset, and a beefier battery. It has more RAM and more storage, too, and MIUI 11 is already available on the Pro.
Realme 5 Pro • Realme 5s • Samsung Galaxy A30s • Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro
The verdict
The Redmi Note 8T is one of the best smartphones €180 can buy you today. But we strongly recommend spending some extra €20 and getting the 4GB+64GB model as 3GB of RAM is often not enough and may lead to bottlenecks. Plus, the 32GB storage in the base model (22GB user-available) will be depleted in no time.
The competition from Realme offers a faster gaming-friendly smartphone at the same price, so we'd put the Note 8T as the second-best option in terms of bang-for-buck right now. Having said that, you should seriously consider putting it on your shopping/wish list - it will make for both a thoughtful present and a dependable daily driver.
Pros
- Good-looking body, dual Gorilla Glass 5, splash-resistant coating
- Large screen, bright and with excellent contrast
- Impressive battery life
- MIUI 10 is familiar, MIUI 11 is on the way
- Good all-round camera
- Dedicated microSD slot, 3.5mm jack, FM radio, IR blaster, NFC
Cons
- The performance is actually a downgrade since the Note 7
- No LED notification light in Note 8T while Note 8 has one
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