Buying a mobile phone is often a tough decision-making process for many users. On one side there’s the budget and the amount of money we’re willing to spend. On the other side, there are dozens of different smartphones that look far too similar.
How do you choose the right one so you get the most for your money? Check out our next comparison.
TOP Xiaomi models for 250 € / 6 500 CZK
In today’s article, we looked at two representatives of the upper mid-range. We compared Xiaomi Mi 9T and Redmi Note 8 Pro. Both phones fall roughly into the same mid-range category.
What makes the compared models attractive is precisely their price. Although it is hard to believe, both phones can be bought for less than 250 €, roughly 6 500 CZK. For that amount, you get flagship-worthy quality (not features). But which one should you choose?
Comparison of basic specs in the table:
| Xiaomi Mi 9T | Redmi Note 8 Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 156.7 x 74.3 x 8.8 mm | 161.3 x 76.4 x 8.8 mm |
| Weight | 191 g | 199 g |
| Used material | Glass-Aluminum | Glass-Plastic |
| Display | Super AMOLED / 6.39 inches | LTPS LCD / 6.53 inches |
| 1080 x 2340 px without a cutout | 1080 x 2340 px | |
| 403 ppi density | 395 ppi density | |
| Gorilla Glass 5 | Gorilla Glass 5 | |
| In-display fingerprint sensor 7. gen. | Fingerprint sensor on the back | |
| LED notifications | Yes | Yes |
| Processor | Snapdragon 730 | MediaTek Helio G90T |
| 64-bit / 8 cores | 64-bit / 8 cores | |
| 2×2.2 GHz Kryo 470 + 6×1.8 GHz Kryo 470 | 2×2.05 GHz ARM Cortex A76 + 6×1.95 GHz ARM Cortex A55 | |
| Clock frequency 2.2 GHz | Clock frequency 2.05 GHz | |
| Graphics | Adreno 618 | Mali-G76MC4 |
| RAM | 6 GB LPDDR4X | 6 GB LPDDR4X |
| Measured performance in AnTuTu | 218 000 | 282 000 |
| 4G LTE band support B20 | Yes | Yes |
| Primary camera | 48 MPx Sony IMX582 Exmor RS | 64 MPx Samsung Bright GW1 |
| typ CMOS BSI | typ ISOCELL | |
| aperture f/1.75 | sensor size 1/2″ | 0.8 µm | Aperture f/1.9 | Sensor size 1/1.7″ | 0.8 µm | |
| Laser/PDAF autofocus | Laser/PDAF autofocus | |
| Secondary cameras | 8 MPx telephoto lens | f/ 2.4 aperture | 1.12 µm | 2x optical zoom | 8 MPx ultra-wide | f/2.2 aperture | 1.12 µm | |
| 13 MPx ultra-wide | f/2.4 aperture | 1.12 µm | 2 MPx macro | f/2.4 aperture | 1.75 µm | |
| - | 2 MPx depth sensor | f/2.4 aperture | 1.75 µm | |
| Video recording | 2160p/30fps | 2160p/30fps |
| 1080p/30/120/240fps | 1080p/30/60/120fps | |
| 1080p/960fps | 720p/960fps | |
| Front camera | 20 MPx – pop-up | 20 MPx in-display cutout |
| Aperture f/2.2 | 0.8 µm | Aperture f/2.0 | 0.9 µm | |
| video 1080p/30fps | video 1080p/30fps | |
| 3.5 mm jack | Yes | Yes |
| Infraport | No | Yes |
| Radio | Yes | Yes |
| Battery | Li-Pol 4000 mAh | Li-Pol 4500 mAh |
| Fast charging 18 W | Fast charging 18 W | |
| Wireless charging – NO | Wireless charging – NO |
The specs are clear to us already—however, let’s break down some parameters in more detail.
Dimensions and design
In this category, you’ll have to rely on your own preferences. The two phones are almost identical in size and weight. The Note 8 Pro is, after all, a bit bigger and heavier. The difference in phone and display size is most noticeable when you place both devices side by side. The Note 8 Pro subjectively feels lighter given its larger dimensions.
The coatings resembling holographic flames on the Mi 9T have no real competition, but we have to admit that the jade green on the Note 8 Pro is also quite attractive. In a beautiful mother-of-pearl white, you can even find both models. The frame is made of metal on the Mi 9T, while on the Note 8 Pro it’s plastic. The back is glass on both.
In this category, we’ll also include the durability of both smartphones. In both cases, the display protection is Gorilla Glass 5. What’s interesting is that the Note 8 Pro has a protective coating called P2i Nano, and its durability is certified to the IP52 standard.
That means resistance only to splashing water or rain. Mi 9T doesn’t have such a certification, but in a recent video, elements of certain water protection were discovered inside the Redmi K20 Pro.
Here, we’ll dare to not declare a qualified winner and we’ll leave the decision to your personal taste.
Display
The compared phones have completely different displays. As you learned from the table, on the Mi 9T it’s a 6,39-inch Super AMOLED with Full HD+ resolution. It has an integrated 7th-generation in-display fingerprint reader and no notch for the front camera. Plus, AMOLED technology enables an always-on display mode that shows different information on the screen while the device is “sleeping”.
The Redmi Note 8 Pro is a bit “worse” when it comes to the display. Even though the display diagonal is longer by 0,14 inches (0,35 cm) and the resolution is the same, it uses only the LTPS LCD technology. Color rendering isn’t as contrasting as on AMOLED.
Also, there’s a notch for the front camera at the top, which takes away space from the notification panel. In this case, always-on display isn’t possible.
Redmi Note 8 Pro has a fingerprint reader located on the back panel and not under the display. However, we do not count that as a minus, because many users prefer this placement.
Still, Mi 9T is the clear winner. A Super AMOLED panel without a notch simply has no competition.
Power
After several failures with Mediatek, Redmi once again bet on a processor from this brand. With the new Helio G90T, they took a risk, because this chip had not been used in any device yet. Redmi Note 8 Pro is the very first smartphone with this chip.
The Helio G90T is described as a gaming chip, and the integrated liquid cooling points to that as well. This will help especially during more demanding data operations, when it should reduce the temperature by 4 to 6 degrees Celsius.
When comparing the performance of both phones in the AnTuTu benchmark, Redmi Note 8 Pro clearly comes out better. It reached a score of up to 282 000 points, which is a clear difference compared with Mi 9T and its 218 000 points.
However, it has been confirmed many times that such score testing does not necessarily reflect reality, for example when gaming. Both phones use the Game Turbo 2.0 software optimization for gaming. Both run on Android 9 Pie with MIUI 10, and an update to MIUI 11 as well as Android 10 is planned.
In normal smartphone use, you should not feel any performance differences. However, it seems that even when playing more demanding games, Redmi Note 8 Pro does not have a clear upper hand. Their real-world performance is at a very similar level.
Photo and video capture
Here we got a bit confused. Redmi Note 8 Pro has the latest 64 MPx Samsung GW1 sensor, but we have already seen several times that high resolution is not everything and does not automatically mean better photos.
It also has one extra macro camera compared to the Note 8 Pro, but its use in everyday situations is questionable. After all, when we look at the specifications of the individual sensors and the overall camera setup, it seems that Mi 9T is a bit better off.
The primary sensor on the Note 8 Pro has a much higher resolution, allowing it to capture even finer details. The secondary telephoto lens on the Mi 9T with 2x optical zoom, however, isn’t found on the Note 8 Pro at all.
When comparing the ultra-wide-angle lenses, Mi 9T is also better off. On this phone, the sensor has a resolution of 13 MPx and a viewing angle of 124°. The Note 8 Pro has 8 megapixels with a viewing angle of 120°.
Differences in video capture also favor the Mi 9T. It has better image stabilization and can handle 960 fps slow-motion video in 1080p resolution. Redmi Note 8 Pro is a bit worse in video stabilization and records slow-motion video in 720p/960fps format.
The front cameras are almost the same. The difference is in their placement, and we have to confirm that the pop-up module in Mi 9T has no flaw.
From our point of view, the winner is Mi 9T, mainly because of the Sony IMX582 Exmor RS sensor, the overall camera combination, and the pop-up front camera.
Battery and runtime
Right from the start, we should say that even in this category, Redmi Note 8 Pro is better on paper. Its battery has a capacity of 4500 mAh. The Mi 9T has a battery capacity of 4000 mAh, but in direct testing they achieved almost the same values.
It is hard to say whether this was caused by the larger LTPS LCD display or the Mediatek processor. However, we must state that Redmi Note 8 Pro has almost the same battery life on a single charge as Xiaomi Mi 9T.
Both phones support 18 W fast charging and cannot be charged wirelessly. In this category, we can confidently call it a draw.
Current prices
Since we mentioned at the beginning that these are phones in the category up to 250 € / 6 500 kč, their prices will not be a surprise. Through our sister shopping site DealPlanet, you can get both global versions of the compared smartphones.
Redmi Note 8 Pro with 6 GB RAM and 64 GB of storage is currently on offer for 238 € / 6 170 CZK. Xiaomi Mi 9T with the same memory can be bought at exactly the same price.
Prices last updated on 13.10.2019 at 11:15.
Xiaomi Mi 9T
Price from: 237,96 € / 6114 CZK
Redmi Note 8 Pro
Price from: 219.66 € / 5675 Kč
Our decision at the end
As usual, we won’t make the decision for you at the end, but we’ll tell you what decided it for us. Even though we only compared the Xiaomi Mi 9T model, we have to say that these two twins win by a narrow margin. Xiaomi (Redmi) has managed to make the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro and Xiaomi Mi 9T so good that it’s hard to find phones that could beat them. The ratio of the offered specs, design, and price simply didn’t find a competitor in 2019 year.
The competitor, the Redmi Note 8 Pro, didn’t give us any reason why we should pick it out of these two. And it’s not even the price tag that often matters. Both phones have a lot in common, and if one of them excels in something, it’s the Mi 9T—so it’s our winner.
If you don’t mind Russian, here’s an excellent comparison video:
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