Redmi K20 is the new POCO F1: Problems, Review, or Everything Worth It?

Redmi launched its Redmi K20 smartphone, the world’s first smartphone with a Snapdragon 730 processor. But the device stood toe-to-toe with the last-year POCO F1 with a Snapdragon 845 SoC. It looks like they are underrated and ignored by users because of the Redmi K20 Pro.

The Redmi K20 brings the same top-notch specs and improved premium design as the POCO F1.

Let me introduce you to this smartphone. It is one of the most exciting smartphones and deserves some light as well. If you are thinking that the device uses a mid-range chipset, comparing it with the POCO F1 flagship chip doesn’t make sense.

Snapdragon 730: A Good Snapdragon 845 Replacement?

Well, let me tell you that the chipset is competitive with the SD 845. People believe that the chipset belongs to the 800 Series and is more powerful. So, before going ahead, let’s compare some specs of the Snapdragon 730 and 845.

SD730 is an 8nm FiFET processor, while SD845 is 10nm, which means SD730 is more power efficient than SD845. Further, both chips are Octa-core processors. SD730 offers a Kryo 47, which is more powerful than SD845’s Kryo 38 GPU. It clearly shows that the SD730 has a more powerful CPU. SD730 features a 2x performance core and a 6x efficiency core.

While SD845 has 4x performance cores and 4x efficiency cores, SD845 also has a higher clock speed of up to 2.4GHz, whereas SD730 is clocked up to 2.2GHz. On the other hand, the SD845 also has a more powerful GPU, as does the Adreno 630, and the SD730 has an Adreno 618.

Further, SD730 has the latest Spectra 280 ISP and Hexagon 688 DSP, compared to SD845 with Spectra 280 ISP and Hexagon 605 DSP, but SD845 has the faster mode, considering it is an X20 LTE modem and SD730 X15 LTE modem.

Now, I think you have cleared that SD730 on the Redmi K20. Comparing the SD845 to the POCO F1 is worth it. Isn’t it? However, the SD730 has a faster CPU and the latest ISP, DSP, which means you have more camera features. We know the clock speed on the SD730 is slow, but the CPU is more powerful to handle tasks like playing PUBG at full settings.

Here are some of the benchmarks: You can see the hardware performance that the SD730 beats the SD845. Other benchmarks show the same. Also, AI capability is the same.

Redmi K20 Snapdragon 730 vs. Poco F1 Benchmarks and Performance Test by Geekbench

This shows that the SD730 is not just a mid-range processor; it is more than that. It is powerful enough to take on last year’s flagship chipset. All this shows that the Redmi K20 is quite close to the last-year flagship killer, the POCO F1. The POCO F1 also had decent camera performance at the time of launch.

The Snapdragon 730 is a better chipset than the last-year flagship Snapdragon 845 chipset.

The Redmi K20 has a rear triple camera setup of 48MP F/1.8 Sony IMX586 Primary + 13MP wide-angle F/2.4 + 8MP F/2.4 depth sensor. Which is capable of recording 4K video at 30 fps along with EIS support. The setup is pretty similar to the Poco F1 Pro, but the wide-angle lens is additional. Not to mention, the camera sample is pretty much the same because of the Xiaomi Camera Software Algorithm.

Apart from hardware specifications, the Redmi K20 takes the lead on several terms, like design. The design looks better than the plane design on the Poco F1. The Redmi K20 has a glossy dragon design, which looks premium. Meanwhile, the Redmi K20 doesn’t also have an old-style Notch design; instead, it has a pop-up selfie camera and a super-a-MOLED display compared to the IPS LCD on the Poco F1.

As for power, both devices have the same decent 4000mAh battery, but the Redmi K20 has faster charging. There are some factors where the Redmi K20 lags behind the Poco F1. The Redmi K20 doesn’t have IR Face Unlock because it has a super-slow pop-up camera and also doesn’t have a stereo speaker like the Poco F1. Above all, it is not triple-sim slow, which is disappointing for major Indian users.

We are hoping that the Snapdragon 710 could be a worthwhile upgrade over the Snapdragon 710. Let’s wait for the Vivo Z1 Pro to hit the market because it comes with a Snapdragon 710 SoC. We think that buying a Redmi K20 will be worth it. The device is expected to be launched at the same price as POCO F1s on sale. It could cost less than ₹20,000/-. That’s what we’re thinking about.