Qualcomm’s 2021’s flagship processor, Snapdragon 888, is the company’s top-of-the-line chip, but it is yet to power more devices. And the few devices running the chip don’t come cheap. Take, for example, Samsung’s Galaxy S21 series or even Xiaomi’s Mi 11 series. Samsung Galaxy S21 series starts at Ksh 100,000, slightly above Xiaomi’s latest flagship, MI 11.
But Xiaomi is a company known for its value for money proposition. And they couldn’t rest till they’ve included the same Snapdragon 888 chip in more models, but for less.
Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi has announced the Redmi K40 series powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8-series chipsets. The series, launched in China, has three variants, a standard Redmi K40, Redmi K40 Pro, and Redmi K40 Pro+.
The three share lots of features, except for a few that result in the price differences. All three have a 6.67-inch 120Hz Samsung E4 AMOLED display with 2400×1080 resolution and a hole punch, home to a 20MP selfie camera.
We have a 4,520mAh battery, too, with support for 33W fast wired charging. And there’s no wireless charging on all three.
There are some subtle differences in the optics despite sharing the same 8MP ultra-wide and 5MP telemacro cameras. The main camera is where the difference lies.
Xiaomi Redmi K40 Pro+, the series leader, has Samsung’s 108MP ISOCELL sensor stacked on the flagship Galaxy S21 Ultra. The Redmi K40 Pro has a 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor, while the standard K40 is equipped with a 48MP Sony IMX582 main sensor.
Xiaomi opted for Qualcomm’s high-end Snapdragon 888 chipset, available on the MI 11 and Galaxy S21 series(in select regions), on both the Pro models, Redmi K40 and K40 Pro +. The non-Pro K40 is equipped with the Snapdragon 870, successor to last year’s 865. Despite the difference between the phones under the hood, undeniably, few will pinpoint their disparities in real-world performance.
Pricing is what makes Redmi phones stand out. And the latest K-series trio doesn’t deviate from the company’s norm.
Redmi K40 starts at RMB 1,999(~Ksh 34,000) which gets you the 6GB+128GB variant. There’s also 8GB+128GB, 8GB+256GB and 12GB+256GB going for a little bit more.
The Redmi K40 Pro (6GB+128GB) sets you back by RMB 2,799(~Ksh 45,700) while the Pro+ model by about Ksh 63,000 for 12GB RAM and 256GB ROM.
The company also announced TWS earbuds, Redmi AirDots 3, set to sell alongside the K40 series in China next month. The company is yet to announce when the new K40 series phones will be available globally.
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