Redmi K50 Gaming Edition is a novelty from its subsidiary Xiaomi, which has only recently seen the light of day. We didn't hesitate for a moment and we ordered a smartphone from our favorite e-shop TradingShenzhen in a special edition, which was created in cooperation with the leading Formula 1 team - Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team.
In our exclusive review you will find out everything you need about this news. We will test not only its performance and comfort when playing, but also endurance, charging and we will also look at the cameras.
International sales through the best e-shop
The best Chinese and already well-known e-shop TradingShenzhen brings the recently introduced new Redmi K50 Gaming Edition for international customers. All memory versions are in stock, including the special Mercedes AMG edition. IN this article on Xiaomi Planet we write about our experience when ordering, where you can find out all the information about the smartphone system.
Redmi K50 Gaming Edition (Chinese version without B20)
The advantage is that this seller can deliver the packages from China duty-free, ie without any additional fees. The Global Priority transport will take care of this magic, which is € 16 at an additional cost. The package is delivered by a courier within our country.
Technical specifications
| Model | 21121210C |
|---|---|
| dimensions | 162.5 x 76.7 x 8.5 mm |
| Weight | 210 g |
| processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 / maximum frequency 3.0 GHz |
| RAM | 12 GB LPDDR5 |
| ROM | 256 GB UFS 3.1 |
| Display | 6.67 "OLED with 2400 x 1080 px resolution (FHD +) |
| Refresh rate 120 Hz | |
| Sampling frequency 480 Hz | |
| Contrast 5: 000 | |
| Cameras | Main 64 MPx Sony IMX686 with sensor size 1 / 1.73 " |
| Ultra-wide 8 MPx with a viewing angle of 120 ° | |
| Macro 2 MPx | |
| Selfie 20 MPx | |
| Drums | 4700 mAh / 120 W charging |
| Connectivity | 5G / 4G without B20 LTE / WiFi 6 Plus / Bluetooth 5.2 / NFC |
| software | Android 12 / MIUI 13 |
Special packaging
As this is a special, limited edition, created in collaboration with the Mercedes factory team in the prestigious F1, the packaging is also adapted to this. The box is slightly larger and is carried in the colors of the Mercedes monopost formula monopost, including the silhouette of the formula on the sides of the box.
The box opens upwards by pulling a small paper strip, which flips the top. Immediately after opening, a smartphone is placed on top in a black, foam reinforcement. Traditional paper box with sleeve and needle to open the slot SIM card is placed in the top lid of the box from the inside. It's a shame that with such a limited edition, we can only find an ordinary, transparent case.
The charging adapter together with the USB-C cable are hidden in the lower part of the box in a small pull-out drawer. These are also stored in a foam reinforcement, which adds exclusivity to the whole package. This is exactly how we imagine the limited edition packaging of smartphones.
Design and quality of workmanship
The special edition also brings a special design. As we mentioned above, in addition to being a player version of the Redmi K50, its design is in the colors of the F1 formula team. So, especially for Mercedes fans, they will enjoy their smartphone design.
Of course, this is mainly due to the appearance of the rear cover, which in this case is worn in various shades of gray along with the specific green, which is typical of the Mercedes AMG team in F1. In addition to the Mercedes AMG logo, there are also various cover surface structures. While most of it is matte gray, the triangular sides and a pair of strips running across the cover are mirror-polished.
The rear module of the cameras, the LED light in the shape of a flash, as well as the adapted design of the speaker grilles also fit very well into the overall design. In addition to the special edition, the smartphone is also available in other colors, namely black, blue or gray. Of course, classic color versions also have more affordable prices.
Different button layout
Gaming editions of smartphones usually differ slightly from regular models and it's not just about the back cover and hardware. The manufacturer has also placed a pair of pop-up game buttons here, which are located on the right side. We'll talk more about their use later.
Since the buttons occupy a substantial part of the right edge of the smartphone, only the unlock button, which has an integrated fingerprint reader, has fit. The volume slider has moved to the opposite, left side.
Compared to the standard position, this slider is placed a little lower than usual, so we had to get used to its position for a while. Right next to it is the microphone, and a little higher there is a slot for SIM cards. It is a double-sided slot in which you can place 2 SIM cards, without the option to expand the storage using a microSD card.
A USB-C charging port, microphone and speaker grille are located on the bottom at the bottom. At the top is the second speaker, the third microphone and one of the sensors. Both speaker grilles are positioned so that they do not cover them with their hands while playing. Overall, the design of the smartphone is adapted for the most comfortable playing in a horizontal position.
High performance is a matter of course
We expect top performance from the gaming smartphone, and no one will be disappointed in this regard. One of the newest and most powerful processors today, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which can be found in Xiaomi 12/12 Pro smartphones or other flagships from brands such as Samsung, Vivo or OnePlus, takes care of computing power.
It is an eight-core processor, which is manufactured using 4 nm technology. It consists of 1 x Cortex-X2 3.0 GHz cores, 3x Cortex-A710 2.5 GHz and 4x Cortex-A510 1.8 GHz. There is no support for 5G networks, but unfortunately, this is the Chinese version of the smartphone, which lacks support for the 800 MHz 4G LTE band, which we know as B20. But about that later, let's get back to performance.
The inflated processor complements the Adreno 730 graphics chip, which is integrated in the processor. It will also please LPDDR5 RAM as well as fast UFS 3.1 storage. Our test piece has 12 GB RAM and 256 GB ROM, but versions with 8 GB RAM or 128 GB ROM are also available.
There is really enough power and you can easily play any game on this smartphone. Cooling was also considered, which separates the two largest heat sources: the processor and the charging chip.
As usual, we also tested the Redmi K50 Gaming Edition in the AnTuT benchmark. We achieved a high score of up to 917 points, which puts it at the forefront.
6.67 ″ OLED display
The high-quality OLED display will delight not only players but all users. It has a diagonal of 6.67 ″, FHD + resolution and a high refresh rate of 120 Hz. The sampling frequency of 480 Hz is also excellent and the quality of the display is also confirmed by the A + rating from the well-known company DisplayMate.
There is a cutout at the top for the selfie camera, which is decent and definitely one of the smaller and less conspicuous ones. The refresh rate is preset to automatically adjust to current needs. An alternative is manual settings of 60 or 120 Hz.
The default is to automatically adjust the colors to the environment, but if you want to adjust the colors to your liking, you can do so in the display settings.
Cameras
Let's first look at the specifications of the three main cameras, which can be found in the design module on the back of the smartphone:
| Main camera | 64 MPx | Sony IMX686 Exmor RS | sensor size 1 / 1.7 with aperture f / 1.73 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Widescreen camera | 8 MPx | unknown sensor | angle of incidence 120 ° with aperture f / 2.2 |
| Makro | 2 MPx | unknown sensor | aperture f / 2.4 |
Photos from the main 64 MPx camera are decent, sharp with warm colors, but sometimes too warm with a strong yellow tint. DynamiThe range is not the best, especially in shady places or treetops. Overall, some photos appear slightly darker than we would expect. Even those taken on a sunny day.
In dim light during cloudy days you can see higher contrast and artificially increased color saturation, which does not look very natural. However, the photos are very good overall, but we would welcome a slightly lighter design.
We also observe more contrasting and more saturated colors in the interior, especially in artificial and low light. In dark places, noise appears in the interior, some details are lost and the sharpness is also slightly weaker.
Wide angle camera and macro
The wide-angle camera of the Redmi K50 Gaming Edition is 8 MPx, but the photos from it are also quite good. The color version is significantly cooler than the main camera, but more natural. You are also getting worsenamirange and more underexposed areas are created, whether we are shooting outdoors or indoors.
The macro sensor only has 2 MPx, so don't expect any miracles. If you manage a nice macro photo, this is more of an exception.
Night mode
In the case of the Redmi K50 Gaming Edition, night mode is activated automatically based on the current conditions. However, this preset function can be turned off and night mode can be turned on manually via the camera application menu.
Night mode brings more light to the photos, higher contrast, but slightly reduces the sharpness. When using a wide-angle sensor, the quality is significantly worse and the sharpness is weak even without the night mode switched on.
Video and selfie
The selfie camera has a resolution of 20 MPx and we can find the Sony IMX596 sensor here. It automatically applies a gentle, so-called Beautify filter for beautification, but almost invisible. The video can shoot at a maximum resolution of 1080p at 60 fps. However, the same resolution is set at a lower frame rate (30 fps).
The main camera supports a maximum video resolution of 4K at 60 fps with optical stabilization, which is automatically turned on. Resolutions of 4K / 30 fps, 1080p / 30 or 60 fps and 720p / 30 fps are also available. Video quality is not the best, and in many cases unwanted noise can be seen in the video.
Use hardware buttons to play
The mentioned hardware buttons on the right side of the smartphone are activated by pulling the magnetic fuses located next to them. When unlocked, the buttons pop up, but additional settings of their function are required to use them.
These are done using the Game Turbo feature panel which offers multiple options like screen recording, brightness adjustment, do not disturb mode and more. The game buttons here have their own menu, which is named "Shoulder buttons". Here you can set the function of the left and right buttons separately.
The setting principle is simple. Just move the circle representing the button to the part of the screen where the control you want to activate is located. For example, if you move the object of the right button to the location of the display that you normally use to control the throttle in a racing game, pressing it will add throttle.
Fast 120 W charging
The Redmi K50 Gaming Edition has a 4700 mAh battery and an extremely fast, up to 120 W charge, which supports more and more smartphones in various classes. After connecting the charger, the system charges only the first 30% the fastest, then slows down slightly. However, it offers the possibility to speed up the overall charge with a warning about the possible warming up of the smartphone. In reality, however, it does not overheat significantly.
You can actually recharge your smartphone in a few minutes, thanks to which it does not delay charging a person. We personally like this trend very much, as you just need to connect your smartphone to the charger for a few minutes. When no groundbreaking battery technology comes in, at least fast charging is a pleasure.
| battery capacity | duration of charging in the fastest mode |
|---|---|
| 20 - 50% | 3 minutes and 47 seconds |
| 75% | 7 minutes and 45 seconds |
| 90% | 10 minutes and 20 seconds |
| 100% | 13 minutes and 5 seconds |
As for endurance, it's standard. During testing and normal use, our smartphone lasted 1 to 1.5 days on a single charge.
MIUI 13 and Android 12
The Redmi K50 Gaming Edition runs on the latest Android 12 operating system with the MIUI 13 extension. This is already very well known to our loyal readers. The latest version has an interesting sidebar feature that allows quick access to selected applications and many enhancements that optimize the running of the system and applications.
As the European version of the Redmi K50 Gaming Edition has not yet been introduced, we are testing the Chinese version of the smartphone, in which we have installed an unofficial ROM from xiaomi.eu, also designed for the POCO F4 GT, which will be the European version of this gaming smartphone.
For this reason, you can see the name of our model as POCO F4 GT in some photos namithis is the Redmi K50 Gaming Edition. The system worked during our intensive testing without any problems, smoothly and quickly.
B20 LTE support is missing
As we mentioned in the introduction, the Chinese version of the Redmi K50 Gaming Edition does not support our 4G LTE band, referred to as the B20. This is a band that is used for 4G LTE signal propagation, especially outside the city, but it is used by all our operators.
We used the smartphone mainly in Košice, where we were still connected to the 2600 MHz 4G band. We noticed the H + sign, which symbolizes the 3G network, in shopping malls and small towns outside Košice.
We paid more attention to this issue during the review of the Chinese versions of the Xiaomi 12 series smartphones. So if you are interested in more information, you can find them in mentioned review. In short, we can say that even with a smartphone without B20 band support, we were able to work without problems and we did not realize at all that we were missing some band.
JBL speakers and connectivity
The first Xiaomi smartphone to receive JBL speakers is the Redmi Note 11 Pro + 5G. If you read our review then you know that we were pleasantly surprised with the sound output. The speakers in the Redmi K50 Gaming Edition also play well, and we also appreciate their placement, so they don't interfere with gaming.
Wireless connectivity includes Bluetooth 5.2, WiFi 6 Plus or NFC, which works without problems on the Chinese version of the smartphone with the global Xiaomi.eu ROM.
Redmi K50 Gaming Edition: Final Review
Redmi K50 Gaming Edition in a special edition, created in collaboration with the formula team of Mercesed AMG, will please not only motorsport fans. It offers great performance, a beautiful 6.67 ″ OLED display, JBL speakers and a pair of extra hardware buttons.
The smartphone works great, it doesn't overheat significantly even while playing games, and we don't even know what we would blame it for. The only downside is the absence of the B20 LTE band, the higher limited edition price and the camera, which is very decent, but is not one of the best on the market.
Redmi K50 Gaming Edition (Chinese version without B20)
So if you are interested in this beautiful gaming smartphone, order it from our favorite partner Shenzen, who offers duty-free and reliable transport.
