The Xiaomi 12S Ultra, the company's flagship product for 2022, offered ultra-premium features at an ultra-premium cost of 5,999 yuan (about $890). Not everyone wants to spend $900 on a smartphone, though. The Redmi K50 Ultra, a new model from Xiaomi's independent brand Redmi, is available for those seeking an affordable flagship. The phone offers flagship-level features at a mid-range starting price of just 2999 yuan ($445), just like its predecessors.
Given that the K50 series now includes a new model, let's quickly compare the new Redmi K50 Ultra to the Redmi K50 Pro model that was unveiled a few months ago.
Design
Although the Redmi K50 Ultra was announced a few months after the K50 Pro, the basic form factor of the two devices remain the same. They measure around 8.55mm in thickness and weigh around 201 grams. Both the phones feature rounded corners with a subtle curve at the back for better grip. The texture is also similar, which is smooth and matte-like. Even the fingerprint sensor is side mounted on the two models.
However, they differ in terms of the color options available, along with subtle changes.
The Ultra model comes in black, grey, light blue colours. There’s also a special AMG edition in dark grey with green accents. On the other hand, the K50 Pro comes in green, grey, blue colours, along with a special black edition.
There are also other subtle differences between the two devices. For example, the new K50 Ultra has a narrower camera module, with the camera sensors aligned vertically. The Pro model uses a circular camera module to house all of its three sensors.
Although the two phones have similar designs, the subtle changes make the Redmi K50 Ultra feel more modern and premium, giving it a slight edge in this department. If you are a fan of Mercedes AMG Racing, then the AMG edition would be an obvious choice to buy, despite its marked up price tag.\
Display
The two models have near identical displays featuring a 6.67-inch panel with 120Hz refresh rate, 480Hz touch sampling rate, Dolby Vision, and HDR10+ support. However, if you noticed, we didn’t mention the resolution in the common features. That’s because the Redmi K50 Ultra comes with a 1.5K resolution 2712 x 1220 display instead of the 2K 1440 x 3200 (WQHD+) resolution on the K50 Pro.
The drop in resolution on the higher-end Ultra model is definitely surprising but the difference shouldn’t be significant in real life. So, you can’t go wrong with either of these devices when it comes to the display department.
Features & Software
The Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 SoC, which will be the fastest chipset available from Qualcomm in 2022, is found in the K50 Ultra. When it comes to raw power, the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 housed inside the K50 Pro obviously loses out to the Ultra. The Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 has impressed us with its overall performance, including persistent gaming, across a variety of phones that we have tested it in.
Both models' maximum memory capacities are 12GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage. Performance on either of these models, especially the K50 Ultra, shouldn't be a huge concern, even for high-end gaming.
Both of these models operate on MIUI OS, which is based on Android 12, as they are both from the same K series family.
than the Pro model. However, only a real life camera comparison would reveal the true performance of their cameras.
Camera
The Redmi K50 Pro and K50 Ultra variants share the same camera configuration. A 108MP high-resolution primary camera with OIS, an additional 8MP ultra-wide angle camera with a 119-degree field of view, and a basic 2MP f/2.4 macro camera are all present in both devices.
Check out our review of the Redmi K50 Pro to learn how these three cameras function in actual use.
Although the cameras on the two phones are similar, the chipsets inside will have an impact on how the images and movies turn out. We anticipate the K50 Ultra to produce better camera samples than MediaTek chips, as has historically been the case with Snapdragon CPUs. Consequently, the Ultra model may produce superior pictures.
Battery
Both phones include 5000mAh batteries and 120W fast charging technology. You don't need to be concerned about battery life because of their quick charging times and reasonably huge batteries. Both devices support the QC3+, PD2.0, and PD3.0 fast charging standards.
Unfortunately, neither of the Redmi devices supports wireless charging because to their low price.
