Redmi K40 Gaming Edition Review
When MediaTek brought the Dimensity 1200 processor at its launch earlier this year, Redmi, an old MediaTek buddy, was also in line to give a very early advertisement for its first Gaming Phone, a time that lasted until the end of April, when this Gaming phone from Redmi was finally officially released, and its name still retains the prefix: the “Redmi K40 Gaming Edition” is a new generation of the Redmi K40 series.
The design of the gaming phone is fundamentally different from that of an ordinary phone, so much so that you can tell which one is the gaming phone by looking at it together.
Big battery, heavyweight, light effect, fan, these are the features we see on all kinds of gaming phones, they are trying hard to tell you “we are different” with their appearance, but the K40 Gaming Edition does not do that, it is very smart to make itself less like a gaming phone, because the appearance of those gaming phones is conventional. There are still many gamers who just want a mediocre phone with strong performance and heat dissipation, and then go back to playing the game.
Specifications
| Model | Redmi K40 Gaming Edition |
|---|---|
| Display | 6.67-inch OLED screen, 2400X1080 resolution 120Hz refresh rate, 480Hz touch sampling rate |
| SoC | MediaTek Dimensity 1200 6nm |
| RAM | 6GB / 8GB / 12GB LPDDR4X |
| ROM | 128GB / 256GB UFS 3.1 |
| Camera | Rear: 64MP + 8MP + 2MP Front: 16MP |
| Security | Side fingerprint recognition |
| Battery | 5065mAh, 67W fast charge |
| OS | MIUI 12.5 based on Android 11 |
| Size | 162.58mm × 74.8mm × 8.3mm |
| Weight | 205g |
| Color | Shadow/Silver Wing/Light Blade |
| Price | Starting from 1999 yuan |
Appearance and Display
The outer box, because it comes with a media invitation, so the overall look will be relatively large, but this is not just the phone inside, there is a pair of nunchucks. Yellow + black plus nunchucks, see these elements in your mind will recall who? Yes, the light of Chinese Bruce Lee.
K40 Gaming Edition’s box is also very fighter armor style, silver + black is its color scheme on the main color, the side of the box is Hi-Res AUDIO and JBL tuning certification, in addition to Harman Kardon, the international first-line audio maker JBL also successfully for the Xiaomi phone sound quality added.
The internal packaging is the common configuration, charger, data cable, clear case, SIM ejector pin, and three package certificate, and the regular version is different, K40 Gaming Edition’s charger and data cable is also yellow + black color design, in addition to the data cable are also made into a right-angle design, this is the usual characteristics of the gaming phone, convenient for gamers to charge while on the game.
Redmi K40 Gaming Edition equipped with a 6.67-inch OLED flexible straight screen, the resolution of 2400 × 1080, support 120Hz refresh rate and 480Hz ultra-high touch sampling rate, and it also supports super-resolution touch technology, you can touch the screen partition from the original 2400 × 1080 for a super significant increase in the accuracy of the game operation improved 660%, so that the touch perception is more delicate, the screen slide when the track is smoother.
The WHYLAB measured in the lab, the manual maximum brightness of this screen at 526.22nits, and under strong light excitation, the brightness can reach 737.44nits, which is still a bit different from the Redmi K40 / K40+. As usual, Xiaomi has equipped the Redmi K40 Gaming Plus with three display modes, the default “Adaptive”, “Vivid” and “Standard” modes, which correspond to 7651K, 7579K, and 6651K respectively, with the “Standard” mode having a warmer color temperature.
In terms of color, the default “Adaptive” mode corresponds to P3 color gamut tuning, and the lab measured 98.4% of P3 color gamut coverage, with an average ΔE2000 value of 4.94, representing a fair color accuracy; while the “Vivid” mode measured 105.45% of NTSC color gamut coverage, with an average ΔE2000 value of 6.03. The “Standard” mode is more in pursuit of the original color style, and the lab measured 97.48% of sRGB color gamut coverage, with better color accuracy tuning and an average ΔE2000 value of 2.49. However, compared to the K40 / K40 Pro, there is still a certain distance, so I hope Xiaomi will continue to optimize the tuning after the official launch.
This technology can further enhance the gaming experience for games like “King’s Glory” and “Peace Elite” that require precise touch control, making dragging more accurate and stable. For gamers, the phone must be a straight screen, otherwise, not only the feel of the difference but visual may also have “defective”, after all, the curved bezel side may have what appears, who can not say.
The K40 Gaming Edition is even more impressive in that even with a straight screen, the bezels around it are nearly as wide as the bottom, with the bottom bezel only 2.7mm, and the other three sides are even more extreme at 1.8mm, giving the phone a visual effect of equal width when viewed from a distance.
The Redmi K40 Gaming Edition uses a combination of three cameras, three lenses are 64 megapixels main camera + 8 megapixels ultra-wide-angle lens + 2 megapixels macro lens, and the game phone well, the location of the lens is also very impressive design, K40 Gaming Edition this time in the flash using a very characteristic design, that is, the appearance of the lightning shape, small details It is very comfortable to look at, and the pulsating ambient light around the lens also brings out the small anger of the gaming phone.
Regular impression, the lens of the game phone is to take pictures to sweep a code on the end, but the K40 Gaming Edition’s lens this time in the photo but gave me a surprise, this part we will talk about in detail below.
The K40 Gaming Edition has a large number of lines and textures on the rear shell, which looks like a kind of metal mech cutout, but it feels completely integrated, meaning it’s just “painted” on the metal rear shell. This means that it only “draws” these textures on the metal back case, not cutting the back case of the phone, which also ensures the maximum feel when playing the game.
Compared to ultrasonic and capacitive shoulder keys, the feel and 100% real feedback of the physical-mechanical keys are incomparable to any simulation, and the accuracy rate is also higher.
Officially, the K40 Gaming Edition of the shoulder keys can last up to 1.5 million times, and will not be used for a long time will not be loose and shaky, when the pop-up will also be lasting elasticity, whenever the two shoulder keys open angry, along with that metal mechanical unique sound, I will have a feeling to the bullet on the magazine, both middle-aged and hot.
Another point to mention is the sound quality, K40 game version is equipped with stereo dual speakers, closed metal sound cavity design, can effectively avoid the problem of shell shock when playing at high volume, the top of the 1014 earpiece two-in-one speakers with the bottom of the 1216 speakers, can bring comparable to the general stereo playback effect of small speakers.
And the machine also supports Dolby Atmos and JBL audio certification and Hi-res wired wireless dual gold standard certification, for gamers on any occasion can bring an immersive sound experience.
System
As early as the pre-release stage, the official gave very heavy news about the system, that is, the K40 Gaming Edition will be factory pre-installed MIUI 12.5, you know this is Xiaomi 11 Pro and 11 Ultra these two top big brothers have not enjoyed the treatment, so in the end, Xiaomi which phone is the real king, you can imagine it.
The system is naturally the top experience in the current MIUI, and the silky smooth experience brought by various dynamic effects and rendering is certainly one of the best in the current mobile UI.
Redmi is very smart not to add any game UI in this phone which is located in the Gaming Phone, really, not all gamers like all kinds of highly saturated black + red or even blue interface, not only look eye-catching but also looks like the overall layout of the system is very messy, quietly use the good-looking and useful MIUI 12.5 is completely enough.
Camera
The Redmi K40 Gaming Edition’s lens in the three-camera combination is not strong, can only say that for gamers is enough, sweeping the code can certainly be accurate and fast, originally I also thought so, know to see the phone screen in addition to the actual picture, only to know that I still underestimate the K40 Gaming Edition’s photographic strength.
The Redmi K40 Gaming Plus has a triple camera configuration, with a wide-angle main camera of 64 megapixels with a single-pixel size of 0.7μm and the first ED ultra-low dispersion optical glass lens, which is a 6P lens set with a single glass lens + 5 plastic lenses, and an 8-megapixel super-wide-angle end and a 2-megapixel macro lens.
The sample photos show the clarity of the back texture of the leaves and the bees in the flowers in the close up first, and then the style adjustment on the sample photos without any post-processing is also very pleasing, and you can feel the warm sunshine of the weather at the time of the shooting; in another sample photo of a large group of buildings, there is no distortion in the lines of the corner parts, and the colors are all very realistic, which is very friendly for users who need post-processing.
The Redmi K40 Game Edition’s camera supports up to 10x zoom, and the actual imaging results are as follows:
5x zoom is actually the most obvious place to judge the good or bad of telephoto when taking pictures with many cell phones, the 5x sample of K40 Gaming Edition is completely OK in this level and product positioning, and can certainly meet the shooting needs of gamers; as for 10x, it is usually just to look at it.
The contrast sample in night mode is the most surprising to me, which has been very obvious in the comparison of the left and right of the two sets of samples, not only in the dark light plants and flowers can see more, and the brightness is also softer, can feel the kind of delicate night light; building part of the sample comparison is even more obvious, the surrounding plants a barely visible color, a not only see the color can also see some plant. This is really good for a gaming phone.
Redmi K40 gaming version camera night mode off and on state sample comparison (left picture off, the right picture on).
Opinion from WHYLAB
The main camera of Redmi K40 Gaming Edition is in the popular realistic style of Chinese phones today, the saturation is not too high, leaving the user more space for post-production, in scenes with plenty of light, the overall performance is quite good, the details are in place, although the contrast is not high, the details in the dark areas are not so dark that they become a paste, and the noise is not too obvious, but there are some scenes where the saturation is a little too low. A little too low saturation, but overall not bad.
The color tendency at night is close to the daytime, the same realistic style; as long as the light ratio is not too big, the performance in the light is not too extreme environment is still quite bright, not deliberately pulling up the brightness of the dark places, light and dark contrast more in line with what the human eye sees, the details are also more in place, once the light ratio is too large, the performance is a bit floating (as follows the penultimate sample of the bright lightbox).
As for the ultra-wide-angle end, the colors are basically the same as the wide-angle main camera, the exposure is more even in the daytime, the resolution is pretty good among phones with similar positioning, even in darker environments at night, except for the bright spots that are vague, the performance is pretty good everywhere else, and the atmosphere is well created.
It can be seen that even if the configuration of the lens is not so flagship, but the post and presented in the phone screen samples are completely OK, gamers can also feel some of the fun of taking pictures.
Performance
In terms of performance, the Redmi K40 Gaming Edition uses MediaTek’s 6nm flagship mobile platform Dimensity 1200 in hardware, and with the Dimensity 1200, Redmi has also gathered three high-end processors for Android this year, namely Snapdragon 888, Snapdragon 870, and this time Dimensity 1200.
The Dimensity 1200 uses TSMC’s 6nm process, and has a 1+3+4 flagship triple-cluster CPU design, including a Cortex-A78 mega-core at 3.0GHz, with a nine-core GPU and a six-core MediaTek APU 3.0, which is MediaTek’s most powerful 5G processor at the moment and supports Ray Tracing.
The K40 Gaming Edition is a gaming phone, so the performance configuration is naturally not bad. The 8GB+256GB Redmi K40 Gaming Edition in my hands has a score of over 700K.
According to the AnTuTu V9 runtime test, the K40 Gaming Edition has a runtime score of 717477 points, specifically in terms of sub-scores, the CPU score is 189178 points, the GPU score is 245333 points, and the storage test score is 69659 points, of which the read speed reaches 1945.7MB/s and the write speed reaches 1241.6MB/s, which is perfectly in line with the gaming phone and the word “enhanced” in its name is defined.
Currently on the market using the Dimensity 1200 cell phone counting the K40 Gaming is only two, as MediaTek’s flagship processor released at the beginning of this year, after a quarter before two cell phones are listed, which makes people feel a bit sorry, because the sales of 888 and Snapdragon 870 have been on the market in large quantities, and in the face of the current state of the industry chip shortage, MediaTek is expected to the future of these two processors will also experience a shortage of supply. The two processors will also have a shortage of supply, and buy and cherish it.
Games and Battery
Redmi K40 Gaming Edition is equipped with a 5065mAh battery, the conventional impression that when we talk about the gaming phone will appear in our minds the image of a large battery, thick body of the brick, but the Gaming Edition of K40 is a change of such a conventional concept, the thickness of the body + the weight is proof that even the gaming phone can be thin and light.
As a gaming phone, what we are most concerned about is definitely the game data, after I personally tested, after 30 minutes of gaming time in “Peace Elite”, the battery of the Redmi K40 Gaming Edition was reduced from 96% to 86%, with a power loss of 10%. The K40 Gaming Edition can be said to be the least power-hungry of the phones I have tested this year.
For this kind of shooting game, the two pop-up shoulder keys are extra important, and the key is that it is very easy to set up, after the game is opened, slide sideways to open Game Turbo, there will be the option of the game shoulder keys, click and drag the L and R buttons to the corresponding position, at this time, you can shoot instantly and jump with the physical handy buttons to support, which is more realistic than clicking the touch screen, but also any so-called linear motor is incomparable.
Another game “Original Gods”, the same 30 minutes of game time, the picture quality all open to the highest and limit and 60Hz refresh rate, Redmi K40 game version power consumption of 22%, for the “Original Gods” such a big power consumer, under normal circumstances 30 minutes of game battery consumption can be between 17%-20%, K40 Gaming Edition is slightly more than this figure, but it is also in this, but it is in this game that I felt it and Snapdragon 888/870 different experience, that is, heat.
K40 Gaming Edition in the “Original God” cell phone highest quality is even multi-character multi-scene battle, the phone’s temperature control is excellent, yes, it and Snapdragon this year’s two flagship processors compared to the heat, completely reached a level that can be described as excellent, the body is always kept in a warm state, the palm and fingers are not burdened.
It is believed that in addition to the Dimensity 1200 itself, there is also the built-in VC liquid cooling and a super large area of graphene, and Redmi also said at the launch that it had overcome the antenna area heat dissipation, and the K40 Gaming Edition is the first time a new material from the space shuttle: hexagonal boron nitride, also known as “white graphene “.
It is understood that hexagonal boron nitride is a low dielectric high thermal conductivity material, because its structure is very similar to graphite, with hexagonal layer structure, so commonly known as “white graphene”. The better material + lower power consumption processor, so even the “original god” will not cause stress to the phone.
Game Frame Rate
The same two games, “Glory of Kings” and “Peace Elite”, were tested with “Glory of Kings” first, with the “Ultra” frame rate and resolution turned on, and the image quality turned up to the highest “Extreme” mode.
As expected, the Redmi K40 ran “Glory of Kings” smoothly, basically running at full frame rate throughout the game, recording an average frame rate of 90.3fps, with normal CPU and GPU resource usage and overall stability.
As for the more demanding “Peace Elite”, WHYLAB used a tool to crack the 120fps mode with “HDR HD” screen quality and energy-consuming switches for anti-aliasing, shadows, etc., but the game limits the maximum frame rate and the real maximum frame rate (full-frame) can only reach 90fps. The Redmi K40 Gaming Edition is a great way to see the performance of the Redmi K40.
Overall, the Redmi K40 Gaming Edition also performs well, recording an average frame rate of 85.0fps, with most of the time at 90fps full frame rate, although there is a small instability, it does not affect the perception of normal games at all, and it is still smooth enough to play.
Charging
The Redmi K40 is equipped with a 67W game flash charger as standard, which is the same power as Xiaomi’s top flagship Xiaomi 11 Ultra, and the fastest in Redmi.
I tested the Redmi K40 Gaming Edition from the phone’s power remaining 2% began charging, a total of 36 minutes can be fully charged 5065mAh power, the first 10 minutes to 47%, nearly half of the battery, 20 minutes can be charged to 78%, the overall speed is very fast, and the key is that in the charging process, the phone’s rear shell is not to feel the heat This is also a performance of this phone in terms of heat dissipation. For a phone with a battery capacity of more than 5000mAh, such a speed is enough to meet the more extreme needs of gamers.
Summary
The Redmi K40 Gaming Edition is the first gaming phone launched by the Redmi brand, and the first thing it does is to abandon the traditional concept of “gaming phone” in terms of design. Some small design ideas can make users other than professional gamers buy, so the idea is more helpful to the company and the market popularity of the product.
If you look at the K40 Gaming Edition alone, you won’t feel like it’s a gaming phone, but more like a special edition launched in conjunction with a game/brand, which, in my opinion, is probably why Redmi didn’t launch it as a separate category.
Source: AnTuTu Benchmark and WHYLAB
