Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T review

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