After having a monumental success with Redmi Note 7 (re-released in India as Redmi Note 7S with upgraded camera module) and Note 7 Pro, Xiaomi decided to follow the biannual release schedule and unveiled Redmi Note 8 series. Guess OnePlus is their inspiration, but who knows!

redmi_note_6_pro_red_front_back
Redmi Note 6 Pro: The first example of half-yearly refresh of Redmi Note lineup

Currently you can buy the new Redmi Note phones only in China, although the India release is quite imminent. The prime attraction is obviously the Pro model, which is powered by Mediatek Helio G90T chipset. The gaming oriented SoC is a direct competitor to the Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 730G.

Matter of fact, Redmi Note 8 Pro is already getting regular software updates in China. The Chinese OEM also published the kernel source code for the device, which should be helpful for aftermarket developers to build custom ROMs and recovery like TWRP.

redmi_note_8_pro_front_back
Redmi Note 8 Pro

The regular Redmi Note 8, on the other hand, sports a familiar SoC from Qualcomm. Snapdragon 665 is a nice mid-range performer, especially when you pair it with a 4,000 mAh battery. The 18W fast charging support is present as well.

Regarding the exterior, it is pretty much same as the Pro model. You will get a nifty notch and similar quad rear camera setup, albeit the placements are different. Moreover, the 64 MP camera sensor is not present in Redmi Note 8; stay happy with the 48 MP shooter. ?

redmi_note_8_front_back
Redmi Note 8

Good news for tinkerers, as Xiaomi published the kernel source code for the regular Redmi Note 8 a few days ago. The codename of the device is ‘ginkgo’, and the corresponding source can be downloaded from here.

redmi_note_8_kernel_source_code

Thanks to our collaboration with developer yshalsager and the Xiaomi Firmware Updater project, we also grabbed the first software update for this phone. You can download the packages from the following section:

  • Device: Redmi Note 8
  • Codename: ginkgo
  • Channel: China Stable
  • Version: V10.3.2.0
  • Android: 9.0
    • Type: Recovery
      • Download: Link
      • MD5: 47241996dd6f141099bb9cc91b96d084
    • Type: Fastboot
      • Download: Link
      • MD5: 081d3898970e9cdc1f7d38b100b66f9f

Are you planning to buy this phone? Or rather prefer to wait for the upcoming Redmi Note 9 series? Let us known by commenting below.

PiunikaWeb started as purely an investigative tech journalism website with main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.

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Kingshuk De
896 Posts

I came from a mixed background of Statistics and Computer Science. My research domains included embedded computer systems, mobile computing and delay tolerant networks in post-disaster scenarios. Apart from tinkering with gadgets or building hackintosh, I like to hop on various subreddits and forums like MyDigitalLife and XDA.

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