I recently bought a Redmi K80 Ultra and noticed a distinct lack of reviews for this precious gem, so I wanted to share my thoughts to help others out. Just to give you a bit of background on where I'm coming from, I have been using relatively high-end phones for the past ten years. I went from the Redmi Note 3 Pro to the Poco F1 and Realme X2 Pro, and then moved to more premium devices like the iPhone 14, Xiaomi 14, and Google Pixel 7 Pro. Now, I have landed on the Redmi K80 Ultra, and here are my impressions.
Design and Build
For the price, I think this phone punches way above its weight. I bought it from TradingShenzhen for about 333€ including shipping for the base 12GB/256GB variant, and I have to say, it is built like a tank. There is a certain heft to the device that makes it feel solid, and the buttons do not rattle or shake, which is an improvement over my Xiaomi 14 where they felt kind of loose. I wasn't totally sold on the design at first, but it has started to grow on me, especially this Moonstone White color with its standout camera cutout. The back material does feel a bit cheap to the touch compared to other glass phones I have owned, but since I will be using it with a case most of the time, I can look past it. The bezels are relatively slim for the size, and having an aluminum frame with water and dust protection at this price point is a great plus. Overall, I would give the design and build a solid 4.5 out of 5.
Display
I actually tried to find the specific manufacturer for the display because I heard it is sourced from two different manufacturers, namely TCL CSOT's M9 luminous panel and Tianma panels. I heard Tianma is inferior in quality so I wanted to verify, but my initial impressions left me really happy. Currently, I have the Pixel 7 Pro beside me and this panel is way brighter in peak brightness. HDR videos also pop out a lot more compared to the Pixel. The Xiaomi 14 and iPhone 14 were actually a letdown for me in terms of display brightness, especially because I moved from a Realme X2 Pro to both of them. When I tested those three side by side, the Realme was miles ahead in terms of HDR brightness. This phone seems quite similar or even better, though I cannot verify that perfectly as I don't have those other devices with me at the moment. The resolution seems perfect to me. After using the Quad HD mode on the Pixel, I feel the 1.5K resolution here is more than adequate for this screen size. 1080p looks a bit pixelated to me now, and 2K doesn't seem to offer enough of a visual gain to justify the performance trade-off. In the lowest brightness settings, I could not see any purple or green fringing on grey backgrounds, nor could I spot any unequally distributed brightness. This panel is much better than what I remember on the Xiaomi 14. I was really disappointed with that phone because, even with DC dimming on, it had unequal greys in low brightness. I tried to check inside the bug report to confirm the panel manufacturer but couldn't find the parameter, possibly because it was removed in HyperOS 3, but I suspect this is the TCL panel. Overall, this is another solid 4.5 for the display as it punches way above its class.
Software
I don't know if this is the standard opinion here, but the Chinese HyperOS 3 is way better than the global HyperOS 2 that I last used on my Xiaomi 14. Almost everything can be uninstalled right on the phone, including system apps and other Chinese bloatware. It also has all the premium features included, so nothing is soft-locked artificially like Xiaomi does with Global ROMs. You get the super wallpapers, advanced textures, dynamic wallpapers, and parallel animations. So far, I felt no lag from the initial setup which is actually surprising since even the Xiaomi 14 lagged a bit and heated a lot when setting up. Maybe it could be due to the performance headroom of the SoC. After setting up everything on this Chinese ROM, it feels much better than the global one, trust me. I am pleasantly surprised even coming from the Android 16 QPR 2 beta on the Pixel 7 Pro. This is a 5 out of 5 for me.
Performance
This is actually my first MediaTek phone, and I am glad I made the jump to this ship. Ever since getting the Xiaomi 14, I had regretted not going with Dimensity. Back then I couldn't get stable FPS in PUBG Mobile compared to devices like the Vivo X100, which gave a stable average of 85 frames compared to about 70 to 80 on mine. This time I made sure to do proper research. Nano Review shows the raw GFLOPS of the Dimensity 9400+ is close to 5000, whereas the Snapdragon 8 Elite is still under 4000. It is even slightly ahead of the 8 Elite Gen 5, and I will take that as it should be a real future-proof investment for at least the next 3 years performance-wise. UFS benchmarks show 4.0 standard speeds and the RAM score is also very high. Combined with proper cooling, it is a beast. I have seen teardown videos and there is ample headroom for the vapor chamber and thermal paste due to the smaller camera sensors on this phone. Even a long 7-hour PUBG gaming session at 120FPS didn't make the device go beyond warm, and the heat was equally distributed through the screen rather than focused on one spot. I also tried 1 hour with bypass charging and temps were under control. The Pixel 7 Pro sucks in terms of performance and couldn't even provide stable 60FPS without drops, so I think this one takes the crown easily. My only gripe is the glitch with Game Turbo. Having it on limits the display to 60Hz no matter what I try. I updated and cleared data of Joyose, cleared battery and performance data, and forced 144Hz, but the display stayed limited. My solution is to completely disable the Game Turbo. It then provides constant 120FPS, though I lose the touch sampling boost and the frame monitor. Overall, I give it a 4 out of 5 for performance, with one star reduced solely due to the negligence regarding Game Turbo.
Haptics and Sounds
The haptics are by far the best I have used. I thought I was getting improved haptics with every new phone, but this one easily takes the crown. If I had to rank them, the K80 Ultra is at the top, followed by the Xiaomi 14, then the Pixel 7 Pro and iPhone 14 are tied, and finally the X2 Pro. The only downside is that PUBG Mobile doesn't support game haptics here even though it was supported on the Xiaomi 14. Sound quality was also a surprise. Even though the loudness isn't shocking, the quality and fullness were a pleasant upgrade. It beats the Xiaomi 14, Pixel 7 Pro, and the others comfortably. I give a 5 out of 5 for both haptics and sound.
Battery and Charging
Oh boy, this is one of the reasons why I actually switched from the Pixel 7 Pro. This phone just keeps lasting. I have only had it for 2 days and did an intense PUBG test, and I think it managed about 7 and a half to 8 hours of continuous 120FPS gaming with Bluetooth on. Charging is also blazing fast and tops up immediately. I am pretty sure it is going to last easily on regular day-to-day use. This is an easy 5 out of 5.
Connection and Cellular
I have only tested Bluetooth and Wi-Fi so far and both have been rock solid with no qualms. I am yet to test cellular calls, but I don't suspect any issues are going to arise there. 5 out of 5.
Camera
I saved the worst for last! Let's start with the positives. The main sensor is really good and punches above its class with its processing. Compared to the Xiaomi 14 from what I remember, the 2x crops are much more detailed, probably using a newer algorithm. Even when comparing it to the Pixel, the 2x crops are way better on the K80 Ultra despite the smaller sensor. Kudos to Xiaomi for that. The video from the main camera is also excellent at 4K60 or 8K30 with great stabilization, though do note that HDR is only available on 4K30 or below. I actually feel the main camera is an upgrade over the Pixel 7 Pro or even the Xiaomi 14. Another good thing is the smooth color science switching between the 0.6x, 1x, and 2x lenses. Coming to the ultrawide, it is meh. It is certainly a downgrade compared to the 50MP one on the Xiaomi 14, but at least it is consistent with the colors. Somehow this is still better than the 13MP sensor on the Pixel though. Video is capped to 1080p 60FPS on this sensor. The front camera is just okayish and could have been better. The specs on GSMArena are listed wrong; they say it is a 1/2.0 sensor so I was hyped, but it turned out to be a 1/4.0 one. Pictures come out okay but are heavily downgraded from the Xiaomi 14 and are on par with the Pixel. Video is capped at 1080p 60FPS but the stabilization is excellent. Also, there are live photos which were missing on my Xiaomi 14, and the implementation is excellent on the main sensor. Overall, I give the camera a 2.5 out of 5. The main sensor alone would score a 4, but the overall package is let down by the other incompetent sensors. But hey, you can't complain for the price.
Final Verdict
Excellent for the price. It punches way above its class. This is a must-buy if this is your budget ceiling, as it is the device to get in that retrospect. Full flagships have always disappointed me in terms of what they offer for their overpriced tags, but flagship killers like this one and the X2 Pro back in the day have left a lasting impression on me. I think I would only make my future purchases in this category. Flagship killers for the win!
Finally, 5/5 for TradingShenzhen. Thank you for fulfilling my first time order here without any issues. I'm so happy and would love to be a repeat customer in future. Keep up the great work!
