Redmi Note 8 Camera Review

The Redmi Note 8 has a beautiful camera and can take pretty decent pictures. But it does have some issues when it comes to video recording, especially in low-light conditions.

The primary camera shoots excellent daylight shots with fantastic dynamic range and details. It also does well in HDR mode.

Dual Camera

Redmi Note 8 is an upgrade from the previous Redmi Note 7 series devices with a modern bezel-less dot-notch display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. Its compact design makes it easy to hold and handle.

The Redmi Note 8 offers a powerful 48MP primary sensor in the camera department. This is flanked by three additional sensors: a 2-MP depth sensor, an 8-MP ultra-wide shooter, and a 2MP macro lens.

This layout resembles other brands like Realme and Motorola, which offer quad cameras in their mid-range phones. It’s a trend that’s likely to become the de facto setup in this price segment, so it should be worth checking out if you’re in the market for an entry-level device with a reliable primary camera.

When using the manual exposure mode in good light, the rear camera takes detailed photos with good subject separation and convincing faux-blur, but it doesn’t perform as well in low-light conditions. There are also noticeable highlight clipping and instabilities in video footage.

Ultra-Wide Camera

The Redmi Note 8 is a solid mid-range smartphone that brings a lot of quality to the table. Its CAMERA IQ score is one of the best among entry-level smartphones.

The primary camera on the back can capture decent photos in bright light. However, it struggles with a lack of details and sharpness in edge areas.

Nevertheless, the camera has an impressive 48-MP sensor on both the primary and ultra-wide cameras. That’s a significant upgrade over the 16-MP resolution of the regular sensor, especially on the Pro model.

We captured some nice shots in the daylight using the 64MP mode on the Pro model. These images are a little more grainy and don’t display as much detail as pixel-binned ones, but they are more than sufficient for most tasks. The best thing about them is that they’re indistinguishable from normal photos taken with the standard 16-MP mode.

Macro Camera

The Redmi Note 8 has a 2MP dedicated macro lens that can focus on objects up to 4cm away. This isn’t an actual macro camera like on a DSLR, but it can be helpful in various subjects and situations.

The camera app has toggles for flash, HDR, and Macro mode from the bottom bar; a hamburger menu in the top right corner offers more options for specific methods.

For instance, an ultra-wide mode uses an 8MP camera to capture a wide-angle view. However, these images are noisy and tend to be underexposed in low light.

In comparison, the 64MP camera does a much better job of taking crisp and detailed shots in daylight. The pixel size is also much smaller, so low-light and night mode results are not as good.

Depth Camera

The Redmi Note 8 offers a quad-camera setup consisting of a 48MP primary camera, an 8MP ultra-wide sensor, a 2MP depth sensor, and a dedicated macro lens. These cameras are accompanied by a 13-megapixel selfie camera that supports AI beauty.

The primary camera on the Redmi Note 8 does an excellent job of capturing relatively true-to-life images, even in low-light conditions. The image quality is natural looking, and the colors are very vivid.

It can oversharpen shadows and highlights to add a bit of pop. Still, the details are not distorted, and capturing much detail without compromising resolution or clarity is straightforward.

The camera takes decent pictures of subjects in bright sunlight, although it’s not the best in class. It also suffers from loud snaps in low-light and night mode, but it’s still worth a look if you need a budget smartphone with a good photo and video capabilities.