Redmi K50i review: A solid performer but lacks the charm of its predecessor

• The Redmi K50i is the latest mid-range offering from the company in India.
• The device has been placed in the sub-₹30,000 segment.
• Here’s our review of the Redmi K50i that will help you decide whether you should buy the device or not.

Redmi announced the Redmi K50i, the company’s latest mid-range offering in the country. The K50i is the successor of the company’s very popular and successful Redmi K20 series, which was launched in 2019.

Despite the success of the Redmi K20 series in India, Xiaomi had not launched any other device in the K series. It is to be noted that some of the Redmi K series devices that were launched in China were rebranded and launched as part of Poco in India.

The Redmi K50i is a feature-packed device that comes with a lot of upgrades over its predecessor. At the same time, the company has made a few compromises to keep the cost down, such as using an LCD and opting for a plastic back instead of glass.

I have been using the Redmi K50i for a few days now, here is my review of the latest mid-range affordable offering from the Chinese smartphone maker.

Redmi K50i price and availability

The Redmi K50i has been priced at ₹25,999 for the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant and ₹28,999 for the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant. The device comes in Phantom Blue, Stealth Black and Quick Silver color options.

The device will be available from Amazon India, Mi online store, Mi Home store, Croma and the company’s authorized retailers across the country starting from July 23.

Redmi K50i specifications

Redmi K50i pros and cons

Pros

• 144Hz refresh rate
• Battery life and fast charging
• 5G support

Cons

• LCD display
• Design lack premium-ness
• Comparatively heavy

Design

The Redmi K50i comes with a minimalistic design, unlike its better-looking predecessor which boasted a unique dual-tone design with a cool pop up camera. As a former K20 Pro user, I found the design of the Redmi K50i to be quite boring. The K-series has gone from being unique to offering a boring design.

The device comes in three color options – Phantom Blue, Stealth Black, and Quick Silver. We received the Quick Silver variant with 8GB RAM and 256GB of internal storage.

The Redmi K50i comes with a plastic black with a glossy finish, which is a downgrade from the curved glass back offered on the Redmi K20 series. The phone still feels good to hold in hand but is quite heavy at 200 grams. The large battery may have been a contributing factor to the increased weight. The weight may be an issue for you if you are habituated to using a lighter phone.

There’s a large display on the front with a punch hole notch in the center. It has narrow bezels on the sides that allow a distraction-free viewing experience. It’s quite common on most phones in 2022, though. You get flat sides with the device, which has become quite popular after Apple introduced flat sides with its latest iPhones.

There’s not much going on at the back. The device features a triple camera setup in a rectangular module and an LED flash. The rest of the back is plain and only has the Redmi branding at the bottom left corner.

The volume rockers and the power button are integrated with a fingerprint sensor on the right side. The left side is left blank.

At the bottom, you get the SIM slot, a microphone, a USB Type-C port, and the speaker griller.

At the top, the device features a 3.5mm audio jack, an infrared sensor, and a speaker grille. It’s good to see the company continue to offer the 3.5mm audio jack. The infrared sensor is another good feature as it allows you to control several devices such as TVs, ACs, and more.

Overall, there’s nothing unique about the design, it looks just like any other phone - very unlike the head-turning design of the K20-series.

User Interface

The Redmi K50i runs on Android 12 out of the box with the company’s MIUI 13 on top. If you have used a Xiaomi device in the past, you would be familiar with the company’s highly customized skin MIUI.

MIUI has come a long way over the years and offers quite a smooth experience. The UI is snappy, and I did not notice any lags or delays during my use. However, if you are someone who likes a clean interface that is close to stock Android, you may not like the device as it comes with a highly customized version of Android.

You can control most aesthetics by changing the themes, font style, lock screen styles, and more.

Regarding bloatware, the device comes with pre-installed apps such as Netflix, Zilli, LinkedIn, Facebook, Spotify, and Amazon. The device also comes with Xiaomi’s suite of apps. Do note that you can easily uninstall third-party apps on the device. Like other Xiaomi devices, you get advertisements while using proprietary apps such as the file manager. You can turn them off by going to settings and turning off recommendations.

Display

The Redmi K50i features a 6.6-inch Full HD+ LCD screen with a 144Hz refresh rate. The company has opted for an LCD panel, another downgrade compared to the AMOLED panel used on the Redmi K20 Pro. An AMOLED panel is more energy efficient and has deeper blacks and vivid colors.

Coming back to the Redmi K50i, the device features minimal bezels around the display. The huge display size makes it a treat to watch your favorite movies and shows. The display comes with HDR10 and Dolby Vision support, which enhances the colors and offers crisp and vivid output.

It has a peak brightness of 650 nits, so you don’t have to worry about not being able to see the display even in bright sunlight. I had no issues with the display’s brightness during my usage, and the auto brightness works well to adjust to the ambient light.

While the device comes with a 144Hz refresh rate, you can choose Auto, 60Hz, 90Hz, and 144Hz. While Xiaomi recommends the auto mode, you can manually select one of the three modes.

I used the device with the 144Hz refresh rate, and the difference between other devices with a 120Hz display was quite visible, especially during gaming. If you are someone who plays games like Battlegrounds Mobile India or Call of Duty Mobile, you will really enjoy gaming with the Redmi K50i.

While an AMOLED is my preference, the LCD on the Redmi K50i works well and does a great job to suffice all needs.

Performance and battery life

The Redmi K50i is equipped with the MediaTek Dimensity 8100 chipset coupled with up to 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 internal storage. The chipset is built using the 5nm process and is quite powerful.

The powerful chipset of the Redmi K50i was evident in its performance. The device easily handles whatever you throw at it and can run heavy games with ease. We tried Battlegrounds Mobile India, and I could play the game at HDR settings with Ultra frame rate.

So far, I did not notice any frame drops or lags during gaming. The dual speakers have also performed well, and if you play the games on speaker, you will really like the sound experience.

If you are a serious gamer like me and tend to play for extended hours, do note that despite featuring the company’s Cooling 2.0 technology, the device starts to heat up after a couple of games. However, the temperatures remain under control and do not become unbearable.

Coming to battery life, the Redmi K50i is powered by a huge 5,080mAh battery with 67W fast charging support. The device easily lasts throughout the day. During my use, I got over a day’s charge despite playing a few rounds of BGMI, watching a few videos, and scrolling social media several times a day. The device can be charged from 0 to 50% in 15 minutes and 0 to 100% in 46 minutes. In my usage, I noticed that the device gets fully charged in less than 50 minutes, which is close to the company’s claimed duration.

Camera

The Redmi K50i features a triple camera setup at the back consisting of a 64MP primary camera, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera, and a 2MP macro sensor. On the front, the device comes with a 16MP selfie camera.

Xiaomi has offered a lot of features in the camera and comes with modes such as cloning, vlog, and more. While features such as cloning and vlog are fun, they are something you may not use daily. I tried the cloning feature and got it to work after a few tries, and it works well.

The camera is very snappy and captures images quickly.

The Redmi K50i captures decent images in daylight conditions as the images are detailed, and the color matches the real world quite closely. It also captures surprisingly good dynamic range in difficult conditions.

Regarding indoor photos, the Redmi K50i can capture good images; however, the color is not as accurate as daylight images. The images captured in low light conditions also turned out well, however, it took a few seconds for the device to capture the image, and it needs you to keep your hand perfectly stable to get the best shot.

If you like to capture tons of images during your outings, you will not have any issues with the Redmi K50i. However, the camera is not the device’s strongest suit, so do not expect to get DSLR-like images with it. But like most Xiaomi and Redmi cameras, it justifies the price with its results and the well-optimized, feature-loaded camera app.

Wrapping up

Overall, the Redmi K50i is a well-balanced mid-range device that offers solid performance, a big high-refresh rate display, excellent battery life, and decent cameras. However, it comes with a boring design, the weak spot that companies like Nothing are playing in with the Phone (1).

The Redmi 20-series has set very high benchmarks with the design and the price it retailed at. After almost three years in a completely different market, the expectations were high and haven’t been completely met. But if you ignore the history behind the series, it’s a solid phone in its segment.

In this price range, the device competes with the likes of the OnePlus Nord 2T and the Samsung Galaxy M53 5G, both of which are good alternatives for users looking for reliable phones.

One of the things that you will have to keep in mind is the UI. If you are someone who likes a stock Android experience, this is not the right device for you. However, if you are a fan of customized skins that offer many customization options, the Redmi K50i should be the perfect fit for you.
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