The Xiaomi brand renews itself and presents a cheaper “giant killer” mobile

Redmi today announced the most important change in its history. Although until now Redmi was known for simply being “Xiaomi’s cheap brand”, the new management believes that it can be much more, even if that means taking away customers from the parent company by offering mobile phones that as powerful, but less expensive.

Today, Redmi made several announcements that start this new era for the brand, starting with a new brand image. Redmi now has a new logo and joins the trend of putting all letters in capitals; So technically the brand is now called REDMI, although at the moment it seems that there will be a transition period to the new brand, as also shown in the promotional materials released so far.

The mobile phones that will launch this new logo and be the pioneers of this new era for the brand are the Redmi K80 and K80 Protwo high-end models that can make us forget the recently presented Xiaomi 15. Especially the Pro model, which is the most advanced and powerful mobile phone launched by the Redmi brand to date.

Not in vain, The Redmi K80 Pro uses the same Snapdragon 8 Elite processor than the Xiaomi 15 and most “premium” Android phones; Therefore, it should deliver the best performance so far in heavy tasks like complex apps and even gaming, something we can’t always say about Redmi phones. Part of the fault lies in the use of an independent processor, the D1, which facilitates video game-related processes. It is also striking that we have several memory options, starting from 12 GB, passing through 16 GB and reaching no less than 24 GB depending on the model. It is also possible to choose between 256 GB, 512 GB and 1 TB of storage.

This Redmi is not far behind in photography either, with a circular camera array that houses three sensors: the main 50 Mpx with f/1.6 aperture and OIS, a 32 Mpx wide angle, f/2.2 aperture and 120 degree viewing angle, and a 50 Mpx telephoto lens with 2.5x optical zoom which can also do 10 cm macro photography. On the front, a 20 Mpx sensor for the selfie camera.

The screen also stands out, based on AMOLED technology with a size of 6.67 inches and a resolution of 3,200 x 1,440 pixels; The refresh rate is 120Hz, with a peak brightness of 3,200 nits with Dolby Vision support. The battery of the Redmi K80 Pro has a capacity of 6,000 mAh, with 120W fast charging and 50W wireless charging.

The Redmi K80 Pro comes standard with HyperOS 2 and its AI-based features. It is available in China at a starting price of 3,699 yuan, 480 euros change, and will be available in a special edition in collaboration with sports car manufacturer Lamborghini.

The base K80 is similar to the Pro model, with the same 6.67-inch screen, similar design and most components. However, there are some important differences that bring it closer to what we’re used to in Redmi phones; For example, The processor is now a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3which was the best for Android last year but has already been surpassed. Still, this should be more than enough for most users, and it’s better than what the competition offers in this price range.

Other changes are found in photography. Although the main camera is the same 50 Mpx, it is only accompanied by an 8 Mpx wide angle and does not have a dedicated optical zoom camera. The battery is also different, although in this case it may be better depending on our preferences: it has greater capacity, of no less than 6,650 mAhbut fast charging only reaches 90 W. The Redmi K80 is available from 2,499 yuan, or around 325 euros.

We have already talked about the other device announced today by the brand, the new Redmi smart watch which, far from being a simple and cheap “wearable”, is as complete as the best and is based on the new system HyperOS 2 operating system.