Xiaomi Redmi K50 Pro Review: A true flagship killer

Xiaomi Redmi K50 Pro Review: The starting price of the Redmi K50 Pro is $599 making it one of the most affordable powerful smartphones to buy in 2022. Redmi K50 Pro features a MediaTek chipset that is built on a 4nm process and this phone have a similar performance as Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 phones which are more expensive.

And aside from performance, Xiaomi also made sure the Redmi K50 Pro saw a massive upgrade over its predecessor the Redmi K40 Pro when it comes to performance, camera, and battery. In some cases, the Redmi K50 Pro even offers better value for money when compared to the Redmi K50 Gaming Editions. There are good reasons why I’m praising this one and maybe after going through this Xiaomi Redmi K50 Pro Review, you will share a similar sentiment.

Xiaomi Redmi K50 Pro Review

Display, Design and Build

The Xiaomi Redmi K50 Pro comes with a 6.67-inch display, 2K display resolution, AMOLED panel, support for a 120Hz refresh rate, and HDR10 feature with a peak brightness of 1200 nits. It has a flat display and a punch hole at the top center of the screen that houses a selfie camera. The real camera module is home to triple camera sensors and it’s placed vertically on the topside of the back cover.

The build materials of the Redmi K50 Pro are Glass front, glass back, and plastic frame. The phone is also rated to be IP53 dust and splash-resistant. The display is protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus and two models of the phone have a Matte finish while the other two models have a glossy finish. To keep the temperature in check, Redmi K50 Pro features an all-new stainless steel VC with a total area of 3950mm².

Aside from the plastic frame of the build material, other features of the display and the build of the Redmi K50 Pro are on point. And note that the phone is splash and water-resistant, so don’t go swimming with the Redmi K50P Pro (it will end in tears if you do).

Camera

The Xiaomi Redmi K50 Pro comes with a triple rear camera setup and a single selfie camera. It has a 108MP Samsung S5KHM2 sensor as the main camera with PDAF and OIS features, an 8MP ultra-wide lens, a 2MP macro lens, and a 20MP Sony IMX596 sensor for the front camera. The photo quality from the cameras of this phone is great. There is a digital zoom feature that can go as high as 10x.

The camera of the phone also comes with a night mode that improves the quality of night photography. You also get to enjoy using portrait mode and both the front/back cameras in portrait mode are pretty decent. For those into videography, the cameras of the Redmi K50 Pro are still pretty decent.

When it comes to videography, the 108MP camera of the phone can shoot videos in 4K resolution (pretty decent as not everyone even makes use of 4K resolution). It also comes with a stabilization feature that enables you to make stable videos. Other cameras of the phone (including the front camera) can only shoot videos in 1080p resolution. The overall performance and experience of the cameras inside the Redmi K50 Pro is pretty decent and for the price, it’s well worth it.

Chipset and Performance

The chipset inside the Xiaomi Redmi K50 Pro is the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 5G. Ths chipset is built on the 4nm process technology and its CPU features 1 Ultra-core, 3 super cores, and 4 efficiency cores. The CPU is paired with the Mali-G710 MC10 GPU and this combo is a pretty nice one.

To utilize this chipset, the Redmi K50 Pro comes with a very nice cooling system to help keep the temperature of the phone down. This way, the chipset can perform at a high level for a long time. The Dimensity 9000 chipset has higher Geekbench and AnTuTu scores than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip. But in real life, especially when playing games, it performs a little less.

However, the difference in real performance between the Redmi K50 Pro and the likes of the OnePlus 10 Pro and Xiaomi 12 Pro is very minimal. Even those who don’t pay attention to details won’t notice the slight drop in performance. Plus the phones mentioned above are at least $200 more expensive.

RAM and Storage

The Xiaomi Redmi K50 Pro comes in four storage configurations. It comes with 8 + 128GB, 8 + 256GB, 12 + 256GB, and 12 + 512GB of storage. It also has support for virtual RAM that helps extend the RAM of the device but has no space for storage expansion via a microSD card.

The RAM and storage options available in this device are just enough for everything you need. An 8GB of RAM + 3GB of virtual RAM is a total of 11GB of RAM available for multi-tasking. And a 128GB of storage is huge and will take some time before you start needing extra storage space.

Battery

The Redmi K50 Pro is powered by a 5,000mAh battery with support for a 120W fast charge. You can charge this device from 0 to 100% in about 19 minutes. And a single charge can give you up to 6 hours of use (for intensive users).

For those who are not constantly on their phone playing games and trying to kill the battery, you can get more than a day of battery life when rocking a 120Hz refresh rate. And if you switch to using just a 60Hz refresh rate, then you can get more than two days of battery life.

Software

The Xiaomi Redmi K50 Pro boots MIUI 13 based on Android 12 out of the box. Xiaomi is promising about two years of major software updates and three years of monthly security patches for this phone. You can download updates, apps, and games from the Google Play Store and you have access to use the Google Mobile Services (GMS).

Other sensor features such are Fingerprint (side-mounted), Google Assistant, GPS, proximity sensor, NFC, Infrared port, Bluetooth 5.3, and IR Blaster. Redmi K50 Pro comes in the following colors: Black, Gray, Blue, and Green. Both the Green and Gray have Matte back finish while the Black and Blue has glossy back finish.

Xiaomi Redmi K50 Pro Review: Conclusion

The Redmi K50 Pro is a very powerful smartphone and for its price, it’s arguably the best affordable flagship killer you can buy in 2022. In fact, some of my team members argue it’s one of the best most affordable flagship phones you can buy in 2022.

Why some won’t like to buy the Redmi K50 Pro

Refresh rate is not adaptive and might drain battery when on 120Hz
No microSD card and no 3.5mm jack port
The quality from the ultra-wide camera is not top notch
Has plastic frame for its build material

Why you should buy the Redmi K50 Pro

Offers really good value for money
Powerful chipset with fast CPU and GPU cores
Its certified to be IP53 dust and splash resistant
Has a very good 108MP main camera
Has a massive 5,000mAh battery with 120W fast charge
Long battery life
Premium design with colorful and bright display

Alternatives of the Xiaomi Redmi K50 Pro

From the review of the Xiaomi Redmi K50 Pro, there are very fewer phones I’ll recommend ahead of this device. But, if you’re interested in an alternative smartphone then you can consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE, the Apple iPhone 13 Mini, the Xiaomi 12, and if you can pay the extra cost, buy the Xiaomi Redmi K50 Gaming edition.

Xiaomi Redmi K50 Pro Review: Price

The starting price of the Xiaomi Redmi K50 Pro is $599 for the 8GB + 128GB storage. And the price of the Redmi K50 Pro goes as high as $899 for the version with 12GB + 512GB of storage. You can buy the device using any of the links in the table below.

Buy the Xiaomi Redmi K50 Pro

Redmi K50 Pro	Price
Buy on Giztop	$599

Images: Tech Nick