Update 3 - 09/23/19 @ 6:05 AM ET: Xiaomi has announced that the Redmi 8A will come with a USB Type-C port, which will make it one of the cheapest phones with the new port.
Update 2 - 09/19/19 @ 4:30 AM ET: Xiaomi has announced that the Redmi 8A will be launched in India on September 25, 2019.
Update 09/12/19 @ 5:40 AM ET: Specifications of the Xiaomi Redmi 8A are now live on TENAA. Read the update on the bottom for more details. The article as published on September 11, 2019, is preserved as below.
Xiaomi makes a whole host of products, extending beyond smartphones into several other smart home areas. Even within their smartphone lineup, you can find a phone for a lot of different budget segments. However, for the Chinese company, its low-cost high-value series like the Redmi series, Redmi A-series, and the Redmi Note-series are some of the best performing product lineups in its history, easily eclipsing Xiaomi's flagship smartphones. After refreshing the Redmi Note series with the launch of the Redmi Note 8 and Redmi Note 8 Pro, Xiaomi's Redmi sub-brand is looking to refresh its Redmi and Redmi A-series with an imminent launch of the Redmi 8 and the Redmi 8A. After the devices went through NBTC certification, the Redmi 8A has now been spotted on TENAA, giving us a good look at the phone.
Curiously, the TENAA listing of what appears to be the Redmi 8A does not contain the specification sheet of the phone just yet, and only gives us the images of the upcoming budget smartphone. As we can see, the Redmi 8A appears to be a very typical low-cost smartphone with a presumed polycarbonate unibody. We can spot the single rear camera and the LED flash resting on the distinct branding design line. However, the lack of a fingerprint sensor on the rear indicates that the phone is unlikely to come with a fingerprint scanner, as Xiaomi does not appear to be pushing in-display sensors on its budget devices.
On the front, we can spot the Redmi branding make another appearance on the chin of the device. We can also spot the single front camera, which will likely be housed within a waterdrop notch. We can also spot the volume rocker and the power button, so no surprises there. What we cannot see are the ports, so we do not know if the series has finally made the jump over to USB Type-C. We also cannot spot the headphone jack in these images, but since the TENAA listing for the Redmi 8 mentioned that the 3.5mm headphone jack existed on the phone, we do not have reason to believe that they will be skipped out on this budget device either.
We will update this article when the TENAA listing for the Redmi 8A is updated with the specifications of the phone. Meanwhile, you can check out our Redmi 7A review to get a feel of the amazing value proposition that Xiaomi's Redmi A-series stands for, as Arol crowned it as the best smartphone under $100.
Source: TENAA
Update: Specifications of Redmi 8A appear on TENAA
The TENAA listing has been refreshed with specifications of this phone that we presume will be called the Redmi 8A, as per previous naming convention from Xiaomi. According to the listing, the Redmi 8A will come with a humble 6.2" HD+ LCD, housed within a body measuring 156.3 mm × 75.4 mm × 9.4 mm and weighing 188g, thanks to the plentiful 5,000 mAh battery. The phone will come with an octa-core CPU with a max clock speed of 2GHz, with RAM options ranging from 2GB, 3GB and 4GB and storage options ranging from 16GB, 32GB and 64GB, along with expandability up to 512GB through a microSD card. The rear camera is a 12MP shooter, while the front camera is 8MP. The listing does mention that the phone has a headphone jack.
Source: TENAA
Update 2: Launching in India on September 25, 2019
Xiaomi has announced that the Redmi 8A will be launching in India on September 25, 2019.
Source: Manu Kumar Jain
Update 3: Xiaomi Redmi 8A confirmed to come with a USB Type-C port
Our original coverage of the TENAA images left a question mark on the port used on the device. TENAA listings do not carry information on the port used, and the images also did not disclose the same. But now, Xiaomi India has directly announced that the Redmi 8A will be the first Redmi device in the budget Redmi A-series to come with a USB Type-C port. This is a big deal for the series, as many were expecting Xiaomi to stick with a microUSB port for yet another year, keeping in mind the expected affordable pricing of the phone. Switching over to USB Type-C also allows the Redmi 8A to come with support for fast charging, though Xiaomi did not specify the speed.
Source: Manu Kumar Jain