By Radhika Parashar
New Delhi, July 25 (IANS) After establishing strong presence in the budget and mid-segment smartphone segment in India, Chinese technology player Xiaomi has now brought flagship Redmi K20 series with "lit" pop-up selfie mechanism to make a dent into the premium market.
Available in two models -- K20 and K20 Pro -- the smartphones replace Xiaomi's POCO series that was launched in August last year but failed to impress consumers in the hyper-competitive market with loads of choices.
In carbon black, flame red and glacier blue colours, Redmi K20 Pro comes in two memory variants -- 6GB RAM + 128GB storage and 8GB RAM + 256GB onboard memory, priced at Rs 27,999 and Rs 30,999, respectively.
We tested the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant in carbon black colour. Here's how it fared.
The overall look is stunning. The handset sports a matte glass body with diagonal zig-zag designs -- visible strongly towards the edges.
Just like OPPO's latest flagship Reno 10X Zoom, the device comes with 48MP+8MP+13MP triple rear camera placed in the centre at the back followed by the flash that sits flush with the phone.
While the left edge has no sensors and the right edge hosts both the volume rockers as well as the striking red-coloured power button.
Like Reno 10X Zoom, Redmi K20 Pro holds its dual SIM tray at the bottom edge, alongside the charging port, mic and audio speakers. The 20 MP pop-up selfie camera and earphone port are positioned on the top edge of the handset.
What stood out in the selfie camera was that every time it popped up, its edges lit up. After a long time, this device brings back the notification LED that is placed on top edge of the pop-up camera, indicating notifications and charging status.
Featuring a quick in-display fingerprint sensor with rounded edges, the smartphone houses a notch-less 6.39-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display that produced vibrant and punchy colours.
The brightness levels kept the device comfortable, even under direct sunlight.
The camera options included slow motion, short video, portrait, night, HDR, panorama and pro modes -- each with different adjustments to get the perfect picture. For selfies, the phone supported gesture-timer activator and shade filters.
The camera performance was quite up to the expectations. Even on complete zoom, the rear camera produced slightly grainy but decent pictures. The selfie camera distinctly captured minute facial as well as hair details.
Like OPPO Reno 10X Zoom and OnePlus 7 Pro, Redmi K20 Pro is powered by the top-tier Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset that ensured the performance was superfast even during multi-tasking and gaming.
Like OnePlus 7 Pro, Redmi K20 Pro is also powered by a 4,000mAh battery, supporting fast charging via C-type cable. The device got fully charged within an hour and the battery lasted almost an entire day on a single charge.
The device runs Xiaomi's own MIUI 10 operating system (OS) based on Android 9 Pie.
The company has not advertised the phone to be water and dust protected. The smartphone does not come bundled with earphones and includes no support for expandable memory.
The sound quality is decent. However, during calls on loudspeaker, the person on the other side experienced difficulties in hearing.
The handset is slippery, hence we recommend to use the cover that comes with the device.
Conclusion: Redmi K20 Pro costs much lesser than its competitors, looks beautiful and offers a fair deal. If you are looking to buy a premium smartphone in the Rs 40,000-Rs 49,000 segment (like OPPO Reno and OnePlus 7 Pro), go buy K20 Pro for Rs 30,999 which has similar features and Xiaomi trust behind it. Save the money for a dinner date with a selfie instead!
(Radhika Parashar can be contacted at radhika.p@ians.in)
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