Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T review

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. 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.