Redmi K30 5G Review: The Cheapest 5G Smartphone to Start 2020

So, the phone which has an insert token design back has finally been released after being rumored around the internet. This phone has two variant, the 4G and the 5G edition. Enter Redmi K30, Im not quite sure if I can call this as the successor of the Redmi K20, in terms of design and features, its totally different from each other.

Finally we have gotten our hands on the Redmi K30 5G after reviewing the 4G edition. This one we believe is the cheapest 5G phone as of the moment, but of course, it depends on your country if you have 5G or not to be able to maximize what you paid for this phone of course.

Tech Specs of Redmi K30 5G:

• ·      Qualcomm SDM765 Snapdragon 765G (7 nm) Octa-core (1×2.4 GHz Kryo 475 Prime & 1×2.2 GHz Kryo 475 Gold & 6×1.8 GHz Kryo 475 Silver)
• ·      Adreno 620 GPU
• ·      6GB/8GB of RAM LPDDR4x 1866Mhz
• ·      6.67-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display, (~84.8% screen-to-body ratio)
• ·      1080 x 2400 pixels FHD+ (~395 ppi pixel density), 120Hz Screen Refresh Rate
• ·      High color saturation, HDR10, Corning Gorilla 5
• ·      Glass Back Battery Cover Edge to Edge Round Edge, Drop Coin Camera Design
• ·      Red, Blue, Purple
• ·      64GB / 128GB of storage / 256GB of storage (No SD Card Expansion Slot)
• ·      64 MP, f/1.9, 26mm (wide), 1/1.7″, 0.8µm, PDAF, Sony IMX 686
•        8 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide), 1/4.0″, 1.12µm
•        5MP, 1.12μm, 1/5 .0 (dedicated macro camera)
• ·      2 MP, f/2.4, 1/5.0″, 1.75µm, depth sensor
• ·      20 MP, f/2.2, 27mm (wide), 1/3.4″, 0.8µm, 2 MP, f/2.4, 1/5″, 1.75µm, depth sensor (Dual Front Camera)
• ·      Side Mounted Finger Print Scanner
• ·      Dual SIM (nano sim size)
• ·      3G, LTE, 4G+ Carrier Aggregation, Dual Mode 5G VoLTE Calls
• ·      LTE FDD: B1/B3/B5/B7/B8 LTE TDD: B34/B38/B39/B40/B41
• ·      Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, Dual GPS Phone, A-GPS, NFC
• ·      4500mAh battery, Quick Charge 3.0 Supported, 30 Watts Fast Charging, Liquid Cooling Technology
• ·      2×2 MIMO Technology to support MU-MIMO
• ·      Sensors: Ultrasonic distance sensor, Ambient Light sensor, Gyro, Vibration Motor, Accelerometer, Barometer, Electronic
•        Compass, Camera Laser Sensor
• ·      3.5mm Audio Jack High-Res Audio
• ·      Android 10, MIUI 11
• ·      USB-C port, UFS 2.1
• ·      165.3 mm x 76.6 mm x 8.79 mm
• ·      208 Grams

Ok so much for the specs, you might be asking whats the main difference between the 4G and the 5G edition, you can check the specs sheet, all the bold words are the main upgrade and downgrade from the 4G edition.

Design
The Redmi K30 series has a new design, adopting the dual punch hole front selfie camera, then the back design is quite stylish with that drop coin camera placement design, which is pretty much unique on its own. It also has the finger print scanner placed on the side of the phone where the power button is placed, therefore eliminating the need to press the button just to turn on the screen. A single tap on the power button will unlock and turn on your screen simultaneously, reducing the wear and tear of the frequently overused powerbutton. The 5G edition will sport a 5G logo just below the rear camera.

Unboxing
The Redmi K30 5F sported a white box, pretty clean and very elegant looking with the engraved words with hologram effect. There are no fancy prints other than the K series mascot demon king at the back of the box. The box of the 4G and 5G are the same except there is a 5G logo on the 5G edition.

Check out the phone

Display and Audio

The display is definitely vibrant, you cant notice that its a IPS LCD with its color display. To be honest, I thought it was a AMOLED display at first before checking the official specs sheet. I was a bit skeptical about the dual punch hole display, it kind of feels so awkward seeing a punch hold thru the screen. Tho it got rid of the nasty notch which is quite 2019-ish. The sounds are great, the loudspeaker are downward firing and I have no problem enjoying the sounds of the games I was playing.

SoC Performance

The processor is the SD 765G, this is where it matters most, the performance. The speed of the 5G edition did improved over the 4G sibling. It definitely scored better on Antutu, garnering a 286k points, but what matters is the performance for gaming and of course daily multitasking. 

Bonus Original Accessories

Here are some original accessories for the Redmi K30 4G/5G

Connectivity
The Redmi K30 4G supports 9 different LTE bands! It’s pretty easy to switch to LTE network inside the settings, and it also supports 5G and Dual 4G mode as well. You can freely choose which sim you want to use your LTE data, since this is a Dual LTE, Dual standby smartphone. Wireless connectivity via Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac is also smooth and it also supports Wi-Fi Direct. Wireless screen mirroring is also available via the Miracast protocol, tethering data is also working perfectly. Bluetooth 5.0,GPS, and GLONASS are all present, NFC (Near Field Communication) is also present to support Mi Pay, Android Pay and it enables you to send data to a fellow NFC user with just tapping your phones together. Transfering data from older phones using Mi Mover was also a breeze as well. This phone a more powerful Dual GPS under its hood.

Network frequency band
Supported frequency bands

5G: Sub6G: n41/n78
4G: FDD-LTE: B1 / B3 / B5 / B8
        TDD-LTE: B34 / B38 / B39 / B40 / B41
        Note: LTE B41 (2555-2655 100 MHz)
3G: WCDMA: B1 / B5 / B8
        TDSCDMA: B34 / B39
        CDMA EVDO: BC0
2G: GSM: B2 / B3 / B5 / B8
        CDMA 1X: BC0

Camera

The best part is here, the camera review. The K30 5G has sported the 64MP quad camera which is quite a performer, taking awesome shots under good lighting was quite expected from this phone. Low light shots are not bad as well. The macro lens has improved from the 2MP on the 4G edition to the 5MP on this 5G edition. The video recording is also great under 4K 30FPS, which is aleady the best for the SD 7 Series. Check out the photos I took using this phone.

Sample Photos

Selfie

Sample Video

Additional Information from Antutu

Verdict

The Redmi K30 is here to succeed the Redmi K20, but one thing is on my mind, it has quite took a sidestep away from the almost bezeless pop up camera K20 series. This one was quite the downside for me as I am a big fan of no hole screens, be it punch hole, drop notch or whatever you call it. I like my screen to be full when it comes to viewing movies or playing games. This is probably the cheapest 5G phone I know as of the moment, probably this is the better choice over the 4G edition simply for its more firepower under the hood, should your country is not yet 5G capable at the moment.