Introduction
In this post, we’ll tell you about all the details that matter and of course our opinion on this phone and whether it’s worth it or not.
Xiaomi has purely dominated the low-budget smartphone market in the past years and is still dominating it. While the budget phones are great but all the action lies is in mid-tier smartphones where you get to experience new technologies much earlier. Xiaomi is now trying to claw its way up into the mid-tier smartphone by offering new technology and great specs at a very strong price point like the Poco F1 phone.
Xiaomi has a fantastic product this time and there is a lot to like about this phone. So let’s not waste any more time and dive into the in-depth review and talk about this awesome device in detail.
Price in India, Variant, Availability
Xiaomi offers two variants Redmi K20. The base variant has a configuration of 6GB RAM/64GB storage while the other variant has a 6GB RAM/128GB storage configuration.
As of color options, the phone is available in three color Carbon Black, Flame Red, and Glacier Blue. Carbon Black variant looks very neat and materialistic while the Flame Red and Glacier Blue are totally opposite and they are flashy and have fluid patterns on the back which is beautiful in its own way.
As of now, the phone can be grabbed only from the Flipkart, Online Mi store, and Offline Mi home stores. The price for the base variant is INR 21,999 whereas the 128GB storage variant costs INR 23,999.
Box Contents
The Redmi K20 comes in a very simple yet attractive package. The phone comes with a hard protective case,18W charger, USB Type-C cable, Sim eject tool, and documentation. There are no earphones included though. I wish it came with a screen protector applied out of the box like One plus devices and Vivo devices then it would have been better.
Here is a quick overview of what you’ll be getting inside the box:
– Redmi K20
– A USB cable (Type-C)
– 18W Wall charger
– Sim ejector tool
– Hard plastic case(not transparent)
– Documentation
Specs at a glance
Before we share our thoughts on the Redmi K20, let’s have a look at the specifications.
– Display: 6.39 inch, AMOLED (2340 x 1080 pixels,404 PPI)
– Screen Protection: Corning Gorilla Glass 5
– Processor : Snapdragon™ 730, octa-core 2.2GHz
– RAM & ROM: 6GB RAM, 64/128GB storage (non expandable storage)
– Rear camera:48MP + 8MP + 13MP
– Selfie camera: 20MP pop-up camera
– Battery: 4000mAh (18 W Fast Charging)
– Software:MIUI 10 based on Android 9.0
– Price: starts from INR 21,999
With specs being cleared, let’s jump right into our detailed review.
Design and Build Quality
Xiaomi is known for its affordable yet powerful phones and this is not any different. The Redmi K20 is a beautifully built powerful device that is capable of many things. The front and rear panel are both made of glass which makes it look more attractive and premium.
The flame inspired gradient design of our glacier blue review unit looks very eye-catching Xiaomi is calling this design Aura Prime Design and says it has been achieved using a 6-layer stacking process. Xiaomi also heard the voice of users and made some design changes since the Poco F1 user criticized it for its very basic design.
As far as comfort goes the curved glass panels make this device easy to hold and ensures a good grip. If you still feel like the device doesn’t have enough grip for you then, in that case, use the hard case cover that is delivered with the box.
The frame of this device is made of Aluminium and it matches the color scheme of glass panel so it all blends in perfectly and you won’t even notice where the aluminum ends and glass starts. Also, this phone is protected by corning Gorilla Glass 5 on both front and rear.
The screen is 6.39 inch AMOLED, notchless and bezel-less display which looks as attractive as it sounds. The colors look superb on screen the contrast is great. The front of Redmi K20 looks very neat as everything else is either embedded in the screen or hidden away.
At the back of this phone, we have a vertical triple camera setup aligned in the middle which tackles the problem of phones wobbling when cameras are placed on the side. The back panel is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, The rear design looks more like earlier Nokia phones which came with vertical camera setups. The primary camera stands on top of the other two secondary cameras and it has a distinct colored boundary to it depending upon the color variant of the device.
On the right side, we get the power button and volume rocker buttons. The power button has a distinct red accent color to it that makes it stand out from the rest of the body. Buttons are positioned okay and they are easy to reach. The left side is empty with no accessories there.
On the top, we have a 3.5mm headphone jack, receiver speaker for calls, Pop-Up selfie camera and a secondary microphone for noise cancellation. The headphone jacks are a great deal for me personally because I don’t own a USB-C type earphone/headphones and they cost a lot of money too. I’m sure many people still prefer a 3.5mm headphone jack instead of a USB-C type headphone jack.
At the bottom, we get the speaker, microphone, USB-C port, and SIM card slot. This is the first phone in which I have seen the SIM slot placed at the bottom and it seems like a smart design choice to me. It clears the left side of the phone entirely making more room for new stuff. I feel like this design will become very common in upcoming years.
Have we talked about the Pop-Up camera yet? No?. Okay, so the popup camera is Fantastic and fast. The camera has 2 color LEDs which lights up when the camera is coming up or going down which looks very cool. The popup camera has some built-in protection features too which makes it secure to accidental damage like accidental drops and Force Press. The camera is durable, according to Mi’s official statement this popup camera has gone through 300,000 pop up tests.
Display
Redmi K20 comes with a 6.39-inch FHD+, Horizon AMOLED Display with a screen resolution of 1080×2340 pixels and a pixel density of 404 PPI and for the protection, it is armored with Corning Gorilla Glass 5. Since being an AMOLED display the colors and contrast are great and it’s perfect for watching movies, shows, and playing games. I felt like the default color profile is already very accurate but you can change color profiles in the display settings as per your preferences. The display is notchless and with thin bezels so you’ll be getting the maximum amount of screen you can possibly get. The fingerprint scanner is embedded into the display itself and its pretty secure, accurate and fast, second attempts are rarely needed to unlock the phone.
The maximum brightness on this device can go up to 600nits which is already brighter than the majority of smartphones. The screen is clearly visible in well-lit environments and outdoors. The display is very impressive and this device has one of the best screens in this price range.
Performance
The Redmi K20 is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 730 processor clocked at 2.2GHz and for Graphics processing it is equipped with Adreno 618 GPU these two combined together has blurred the line between flagship phones and mid-range phones. During our testing period, we never noticed any lag or freezing. The Redmi K20 has no problem handling High-end games and multitasking. The phone can handle 10-15 open apps and switch between them seamlessly.
The main difference between K20 and K20 Pro is the processor. The K20 is equipped with Snapdragon 730 while the K20 Pro is equipped with Snapdragon 845. The power of K20 Pro has no comparison with K20 my only point here is that upgrading to K20 Pro for a few extra bucks is a reasonable choice and one should consider it.
Also, the Snapdragon 730 can’t encode 4K videos at 60fps anyway so you’ll be missing out the 4K 60fps recording in Redmi K20 while the K20 Pro’s Snapdragon is capable of encoding 4K videos at 60fps.
Software
I don’t need to say it as it’s obvious but I’ll still say it. This phone runs on MIUI 10.3.3 which is based on Android 9.0. MIUI is already a very optimized OS which gives a great performance but in the past MIUI started blasting users with ads even when they were not using any apps and many users expressed their anger on many forums. Xiaomi finally listened to them and promised that fewer ads will be shown in the future which is a relief. As for the OS, the MIUI comes with lots of handy features and apps preinstalled like the compass, Flashlight, MIUI Store and many more.
I am not a big fan of these Chinese custom OS but out of all I only find MIUI usable and easy to navigate MIUI is well optimized and has a lot of customization options.
There are lots of pre-installed 3rd party apps like Amazon, Facebook, WPS Office, Dailyhunt, and Paytm, to name a few. All these apps can be uninstalled except the Xiaomi’s own apps. The ambient display feature is a neat touch, and we quite liked the minimalist dynamic wallpaper in which the sun changes its position on a circular path depending on the time of day.
Cameras
Redmi K20 has a total of four cameras. The triple camera setup on the rear and a popup font selfie camera. The rear camera configurations are 48-megapixel primary Sony IMX582 sensor with an f/1.75 aperture, an 8-megapixel secondary camera with a telephoto lens and an f/2.4 aperture, and a 13-megapixel camera with an ultra-wide-angle lens and 124.8-degree field of view.
And the front camera is a pop-up 20MP camera with an f/2.2 aperture. The pop-up selfie camera lens is protected by sapphire glass and the popup module has some security features inbuilt that retracts the camera when it detects falling or force on top.
The Redmi K20 supports slow-mo video capture at up to 960fps & 4K video capture at 30fps.4K at 60fps is not possible on Redmi K20 because its processor is not capable of encoding 4K video at 60fps although you can get 4K recording at 60fps if you’re willing to spend a bit more and upgrade to Redmi K20 Pro.
There is a dedicated night mode, a 48-megapixel mode, lighting effects, and tonnes of beauty filters to play within the camera app.
The rear camera takes 12MP photos by default but you can switch to 48MP mode if you need full-resolution 48MP photos. The 12MP mode captured vibrant photos whereas the 48MP mode enhanced the details and by trading off with colors. The images captured by the main camera contained lots of details and the picture was crisp. In close-up macro shots, the surface details and colors were very impressive.
The dedicated Night mode helps with noise reduction, but details and colors are missing somewhere. Night mode simply just enhances the ISO and does very little to sharpen objects in the frame. Still, compared to the regular mode, the Night mode does a decent job with subject exposure.
The front camera does a great job, it’s fast and the pictures are detailed and the colors are vibrant. The bokeh mode does a great job in detecting edges and it feels flawless. I really liked the cameras.
Battery And Connectivity
This device is powered by a 4000mAh battery and it can last a day without any sweat. The screen on time averages at 6-7 hours. The 4000mAh battery paired with 18W fast charging makes this phone perfect for prolonged usage. In addition to the great battery life, the MIUI’s battery saver feature can help save a lot of battery juice too.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
– Stunning Full-screen AMOLED display
– Sleek and stylish
– Great battery
– Lag-free performance
– Impressive camera hardware
Cons:
– No expandable storage
– Underwhelming low light performance
Although many people criticized Xiaomi by saying that this phone is overpriced. We think the phone is reasonably priced as this device is heavily specced. The camera hardware is impressive. The phone has a great battery. The display is best in class and I would definitely recommend this device to anyone if it’s under their budget.
If you are still not impressed by Redmi K20 then Redmi K20 Pro, Poco F1, and Asus ZenFone 5Z are worth checking out.
If you are not willing to spend this much but still want something similar then do check out Realme X, Samsung Galaxy M40, Realme 3 Pro, Vivo Z1 Pro, and the Redmi Note 7 Pro
