Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi has been pushing really impressive devices ever since becoming sort of its own company. They started the year with the very impressive Redmi Note 7, and later launched a couple of other devices including their first laptop.

Their latest announcement is the Redmi 8A which is a successor to the very impressive Redmi 7A which in a launch post I asked if it was the best budget phone out there. When I reviewed the Redmi 6A now close to a year ago, I had the same question. The brand is keeping up with tradition with the Redmi 8A that’s going to cost less than $100 yet pack amazing specs.

What’s funny is that Xiaomi Kenya is yet to officially stock the Redmi 7A. Their official Jumia Shop lists the Redmi 7A as a Global Shipping item – meaning you’ll have to wait weeks for its arrival. We’ve already discussed Xiaomi Kenya’s delay with bringing in their devices. Hopefully, as they continue to cement their brand presence locally, we’ll have new devices coming in much faster than ever before. Because, let’s face it, if the company were to be a little serious locally, they would beat any competition from Transsion with TECNO, Infinix and itel, and from Samsung and Huawei.

The Redmi 8A features a much larger 6.22 inch HD IPS display. This is a big jump from the 5.45 inches on the 7A and the 6A. There’s now a notch which houses the 8MP selfie camera. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass 5. Which is just crazy for its price point!

At the back we have a single Sony IMX363 camera with dual autofocus. And like with all phones in this series, there’s still no fingerprint scanner. You’ll have to use the face unlock feature.

The phone is powered by a Snapdragon 439 chipset with 2/3GB RAM and 32GB storage. You can expand this using a Micro-SD card. Everything is powered by a huge 5000mAh battery that can be charged using the type-C connector. Out of the box you get a 10W charger, but the phone supports 18W fast charging, so you can use a fast charger if you have one, or buy one if you need to fast charge. This is not something you can complain about at the less than $100 pricing.

The Redmi 8A now comes with an IR blaster, something we’ve not seen on this line.

In India, sales will start on September 30th where customers will be getting the 2/32GB model for $91, and the 3/32GB model for $98.

It may take a while before the device becomes available in Kenya.

Xiaomi Redmi 8A Specifications and Price in Kenya: