Redmi Note 8 vs Redmi Note 8 2021: Likely specs differences as Xiaomi celebrates 25 million units sold of the former and officially confirms the latter

Xiaomi has been celebrating news of 25 million global sales for the Redmi Note 8 smartphone, taking the opportunity to also unveil the Redmi Note 8 2021, in name at least. The refreshed variant of the popular Note 8 has been given the associated tag #ThePerformanceAllStar, although that hyperbolic title can certainly be put into question if you carry out a specs comparison between the Redmi Note 8 (2019) and the Redmi Note 8 2021.

No confirmed official specs have been offered for the Note 8 2021 just yet, so take this comparison with a pinch of salt for the time being. However, it is widely believed that the newer edition will sport a MediaTek Helio G85 processor, while the 2019 model came with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 chipset. The chips are reasonably evenly matched, but the SD 665 offers better energy efficiency (11 nm vs. 12 nm manufacturing node) and has a higher CPU core frequency: 2,200 MHz vs 2,000 MHz.

The Helio G85’s Mali-G52 MP2 iGPU counters with a higher clock rate than the SD 665’s Adreno 610 (1,000 MHz vs. 600 MHz), but the latter is much beefier in terms of shader unit count and FLOPS. The Helio G85 is a newer processor though and its presence should help keep the Redmi Note 8 2021’s price tag down. The 2019 Redmi Note 8 came with a 4,000-mAh battery and 18 W quick charge whereas this year’s variant apparently keeps the capacity size but bumps fast charging up to 22 W.

Other possible enhancements for the Redmi Note 8 2021 over the original Note 8 include a display with a 120 Hz refresh rate (60 Hz for the 2019 model) and the out-of-the-box inclusion of the MIUI 12.5 Android overlay. RAM amount appears to have stayed static at 4 GB, and it seems the quad-cam setup will still be headed by a 48 MP sensor, although Xiaomi may have upgraded the supporting lenses for the Note 8 2021.

Buy the original Redmi Note 8 on Amazon