The ‘new’ Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021 is a lot like the old one

Except for a newer chipset, the phone is nearly identical to the two-year-old Redmi Note 8.

What you need to know

• Xiaomi has revealed the Redmi Note 8 2021.
• The phone is an upgraded version of the original Redmi Note 8 with a MediaTek Helio G85 chipset.
• The original Redmi Note 8 recently crossed the 25 million sales milestone.

Last week, Xiaomi teased the launch of an upgraded Redmi Note 8 variant for 2021. Although the company is yet to reveal a release date for the Redmi Note 8 2021, the phone’s product page is now live on its official website.

Unsurprisingly, the Redmi Note 8 2021 is no different from its predecessor in terms of design. It has a 6.3-inch display with FHD+ resolution and a waterdrop notch for the 13MP selfie camera. While a previous leak had suggested the phone would offer the same 120Hz refresh rate as the best Android phones, it actually uses a 60Hz panel. On the back of the phone is a quad-camera array with a 48MP main sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, a 2MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth sensor.

The Redmi Note 2021 is powered by MediaTek’s gaming-focused Helio G85 chipset, paired with 4GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB of eMMC 5.1 storage. Aside from the chip upgrade, however, the Redmi Note 8 2021 is identical to the original.

The phone packs a 4,000mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging, a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, an IR blaster, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. On the software side of things, the Redmi Note 8 runs Android 11 with Xiaomi’s latest MIUI 12.5 on top.

Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 8 (2021) is expected to launch as soon as this week as the company celebrates 25 million sales of the original model.