Xiaomi hasn’t been very consistent with launching its powerful Redmi K-series smartphones in India. The Redmi K20 and K20 Pro were popular among power users in 2019, and both remained relevant for a while. Now, the company has launched its new Redmi K50i, which promises to give gamers exactly what they’re looking for. Let’s unbox this phone and run through its specs so you can decide if it offers the balance you’re looking for.
The Redmi K50i has just been announced with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for a price of Rs. 25,999 in India, or with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for Rs. 28,999. It comes in a pretty plain box, with not even an image on it. The phone’s big selling points – the MediaTek Dimensity 8100 SoC and Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support – get big shoutouts on one side. A few other specs also get highlighted on the back, which we’ll talk about shortly. The ‘Made in India’ logo really stands out here.
It only takes a few moments to peel off the tape and slide off the lid. Inside, you’ll find a fairly standard set of accessories. There’s a SIM eject tool and a transparent plastic cover wrapped in a paper wallet. The Redmi K50i itself sits underneath, wrapped in plastic for protection. The body is plastic, but there’s Gorilla Glass 5 on the front for protection. We have the Quick Silver color here, and Xiaomi is calling the finish “crystalline.” There’s a slight color shift, and this phone looks icy blue under indoor lighting, but metallic silver outdoors. There’s also a Phantom Blue color option with the same texture, or a matte Stealth Black.
The K50i feels well-built, but it’s certainly not as slick as others in this price range that are made of metal and glass. It’s 8.87mm thick and weighs 200g, which is relatively thick by today’s standards. You get a fairly beefy 67W charger with a USB Type-A port, and you’ll also find a Type-A to Type-C cable. Both are required for fast charging.
You can see the striking triple camera setup on the back. The cameras on the back stick out quite a bit and this phone won’t sit flat on a hard surface. There is a scratch guard on the front but unfortunately it gets dirty easily.
The Redmi K50i has a fairly simple design and everything is where you would expect it to be
The power button on the right has an integrated fingerprint sensor, while the volume rockers sit directly above it. The dual Nano SIM tray, USB Type-C port, and main speaker sit at the bottom. The left side is empty, but it’s nice to see a 3.5mm audio jack at the top, along with a speaker grille and IR emitter.
When you first boot up the Redmi K50i, you’ll be guided through the setup process, which includes an option for Glance lockscreen ads. You can choose between a flat UI and one with an app drawer. This unit came with MIUI 13, which is based on Android 12, out of the box. There’s a bit of bloatware pre-installed, and we’ll see how well MIUI and its many customizations work when we do a full review of this phone.
Speaking of hardware, there’s of course the MediaTek Dimensity 8100 SoC, which is 5G-compatible and is said to deliver flagship-level performance. We’ll of course be putting that to the test in our full review. Xiaomi has designed a graphite and vapor chamber cooling system, given that this phone will likely be used for gaming. The Redmi K50i will be available with either 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, or 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, like this device. Battery capacity is 5,080mAh and 67W charging is supported with the bundled brick, or you can use any USB-PD charger up to 27W.
The body and back panel are made of plastic and you can choose from three colours
The K50i’s screen is 6.6 inches and has a full-HD+ resolution plus a 144Hz refresh rate. Dolby Vision and HDR10 support are notable features, and we’ll be trying out a variety of streaming apps and content types in our full review. Brightness goes up to 650nits.
The 16MP front-facing camera is centered at the top of the display. On the back, you get a 64MP main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP macro camera. Photo and video quality are part of our review process.
The Redmi K50i should appeal to a niche audience. If you care about raw power and gaming performance, stay tuned for our full review. We’ll also see how well this phone performs in terms of battery life, software, usability, and of course, cameras, compared to others costing around the same.
