Redmi Launches Its First Flagship Phone With Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 for $445

Xiaomi’s Redmi K50 Pro and K50 Gaming just had a love child and it is called the Redmi K50 Ultra. This is the first Redmi phone to feature the new Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC after Xiaomi 12S series and the new Mix Fold 2.

Design and Display

Design-wise, the phone looks like a combination of the Redmi K50 series and Xiaomi 12 series. It has a 6.67-inch AMOLED display just like its siblings and a rare 12-bit panel that supports 68.7 billion colors, something you only find in flagship phones these days. It is a 120Hz screen with a 1,220 x 2,712px resolution that looks almost as good as a QHD+, but uses less power, at least according to Xiaomi.

The fingerprint sensor underneath the display can also read your heart rate.

Internals and Storage

As mentioned earlier, this phone is powered by Qualcomm’s top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC and you get to choose between 128GB/256GB/512GB UFS 3.1 storage and 8GB/12GB LPDDR5 RAM. There is no memory card slot, but there should be no need for it with up to half a terabyte of built-in storage.

The software side is covered by Android 12 with Xiaomi’s MIUI 13 skin on top.

Cameras

The camera setup is quite similar to the Redmi K50 Pro. The main camera is a 108MP 1/1.67” HM6 sensor with support for OIS. It is capable of 9-in-1 pixel binning as well as 4K videos at 30 FPS and 1080p videos in slow motion. The 8MP ultrawide and 2MP macro camera, on the other hand, are quite basic.

The punch-hole selfie camera is a 20MP Sony IMX596 sensor.

Battery and Pricing

Battery specifications are no different from the Redmi K50 Pro. It is the same 5,000 mAh battery cell with support for 120W super fast charging. This tech can fill up a battery to 100% in only 20 minutes.

Redmi K50 Ultra has a starting price of $445. Xiaomi has also launched a special “Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team Summer Edition” which costs $622. There will only be 20,000 units of this model.

Redmi K50 Ultra Specifications

• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
• CPU: Octa-core (1×3.19 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.75 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A510)
• GPU: Adreno 730
• OS: Android 13, MIUI 13
• Supported Networks: 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, 5G
• Display:
  • 6.67″ AMOLED with 1220 x 2712 pixels resolution, 120Hz, 12-bit colors, HDR10+
• Memory:
  • RAM: 8GB, 12GB
  • Internal: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB
  • Card slot: No
• Camera:
  • Rear (Triple): 108 MP, f/1.6, (wide), 1/1.67″, PDAF, OIS
    8 MP, f/2.2, 120˚, (ultrawide)
    2 MP, f/2.4, (macro)
  • Front: 20MP
• Colors: Black, Gray, Blue, Mercedes AMG
• Fingerprint sensor: Under-display
• Battery: 5,000 mAh, 120W fast charging
• Price: $445