Xiaomi launches the Redmi K30 Pro and Redmi K30 Pro Zoom Edition - The nigh-perfect flagship killers

Xiaomi launched the slightly disappointing Redmi K30 months ago but chose to delay the K30 Pro till after the launch of its main flagship, the Mi 10. Well, the Mi 10 was released weeks ago, and the company has now launched the Redmi K30 Pro in China, after weeks of exciting teasers.

The Redmi K30 Pro sports a 6.67-inch Samsung AMOLED panel. Unlike the K30, however, it's a 60 Hz panel, as the company makes no mention of a high-refresh-rate. However, it offers 180 Hz touch sampling for better gaming. The display does deliver HDR10+ support, as well as a 1200 nit peak brightness, and a 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio. 

The rear of the Redmi K30 Pro Zoom Edition plays host to a circular camera module housing a quad-lens setup comprised of a 64 MP main camera—likely a Sony IMX686—an 8 MP telephoto camera capable of 30x digital zoom (3x optical), a 50mm-range telephoto macro lens, and a 13 MP 123-degree ultra-wide-angle lens. Both the telephoto and main 64 MP lenses have OIS. 

The regular K30 Pro, however, only has a 64 MP main camera, the 13 MP ultra-wide-angle lens, a 50m macro lens, and a 2 MP portrait lens. No telephoto.

The K30 Pro features an almost completely bezel-less display, with the company quoting a 92.7% screen to body ratio. Like last year's K20 and K20 Pro, the phone features a pop-up selfie camera mechanism that Xiaomi claims to be able to pop up fully in just 0.58 seconds. That pop-camera is a 20 MP sensor with 120 fps video support. The rear 64 MP camera is capable of 8K video capture. 

Under the hood of the Redmi K30 Pro is a Snapdragon 865, LPDDR5 RAM, and UFS 3.1 storage. This makes the K30 Pro the first phone to feature UFS 3.1 storage. The phone is, of course, 5G capable, with Wi-Fi 6 support. It also uses a stainless steel plate vapor chamber cooling system to combat thermal throttling. 

The Redmi K30 Pro features a 4700 mAh battery, with 33 W fast-charging that charges the phone fully in just 63 minutes. It offers improved haptics with a linear vibration motor that delivers "three times the intensity". There's dual-frequency GPS, NFC, an IR blaster, and yes, a 3.5mm headphone jack. 

The Redmi K30 Pro also has an official IP rating, although it's just for IP53. That means it won't lose function due to dust, and is protected against pressure-less spraying water when tilted at 60-degrees. It's not much but it's honest work.

Pricing

• Redmi K30 Pro 6/128 GB - 2999 CNY (US$425)
• Redmi K30 Pro  8/128 GB - 3399 CNY (US$480)
• Redmi K30 Pro 8/256 GB - 3699 CNY (US$520)
• Redmi K30 Pro Zoom Edition 8/128 GB - 3799 CNY(US$535)
• Redmi K30 Pro Zoom Edition 8/256 GB - 3999 CNY (US$565)

It's important to note that the base Redmi K30 Pro with 6GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage only uses LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 3.0 storage.

All images are courtesy of Redmi.