Initially, MediaTek, which attracted a large number of low-end mobile phones and even counterfeit mobile phones because of its “turnkey solutions” in the feature phone era, needed an opportunity to enter the mainstream brand market. Redmi, which was still in the pipeline at that time, just happened. A low-cost and complete set of solutions is needed, so the eight-year story of Redmi (including the predecessor Redmi) and MediaTek unfolds.
During this period, MediaTek has experienced the “surprise” of the high-end Helio X10 being decentralized by Redmi with a hundred yuan machine and “counting bills with tears”. It has also experienced the misjudgment of Helio X20 and Helio X30 and has been in a state of failure, and even suspended the crisis of high-end product research and development. . By 2020, MediaTek is cooperating with Redmi and other terminal manufacturers tacitly, relying on the dislocation competition tactics of the Tianji series like “Tianji Horse Racing”, firmly defending the echelon from entry-level to the second flagship.
Of course, there are still many dreams on the MediaTek platform that have not been realized, not only the high-end dreams that are still striving for, but also the e-sports dream that has been blank for a long time.
As we all know, e-sports game phones were basically exclusive to the Qualcomm platform before. Although MediaTek has explored this, it has little effect-such as Helio G90T, which is finally used by Redmi because of the mid-range positioning and the performance that is far from extreme. The attributes of the so-called “e-sports” and “games” have long been left behind for the “true fragrance” thousand-yuan machine.
This time, with the launch of the enhanced version of the Redmi K40 Game Enhanced Version, this world finally has a gaming phone based on the MediaTek platform, and it is also Redmi’s first gaming phone. Moreover, this time the mission of realizing e-sports is given to MediaTek’s latest generation flagship U Dimensity 1200, which shows that it is no longer purely a game like the Helio G90T.
Next is our detailed evaluation experience of the enhanced version of the Redmi K40 game.
Design & Appearance
The enhanced version of the Redmi K40 game uses a 6.67-inch hole-digging full screen with a resolution of 2400*1080, a refresh rate of 120Hz, and a touch sampling rate of 480Hz. From the “pearl row” observed under the microscope, it can be confirmed that the enhanced version of the Redmi K40 game in our hands uses an OLED screen from Huaxing Optoelectronics. The straight screen protects it from the annoyance of edge picture distortion.
The aperture of the digging hole is maintained within the height of the notification bar. The “chin” is a rare flagship frame control among gaming phones. The lower frame of the machine is only 2.7mm wide.
As a gaming phone, the Redmi K40 gaming enhanced version controls the weight of the whole machine to 205g, and the body thickness is as thin as 8.3mm. This is a rare thin and light model among gaming phones.
Prior to this, the side-mounted capacitive fingerprint module was usually designed in a groove, which would damage the visual perception. The Redmi K40 game enhanced version truly integrates the side-mounted capacitive fingerprint module with the power button, and there is even no color difference, and the integration is stronger. design of organic relief embossed collision lines on the back shell.
Compared to mainstream gaming phones with full RGB elements, the Redmi K40 gaming enhanced version has a relatively low-key and restrained back, while appropriately retaining the RGB ring lighting effect and some gaming details.
The new ring breathing light design in the camera part not only adds atmosphere to the game scene, but also flashes reminders for daily notifications and incoming calls, and can also display the battery status by color when charging, less than 20% is red, 20% to 90 % Is yellow, and more than 90% is green.
The Redmi K40 gaming enhanced version is equipped with stereo dual speakers and a closed metal sound cavity. The speaker opening is on the right side of the frame as a whole, mainly to avoid being blocked by the palm of the hand during horizontal screen games.
67W charger
The data line interface is designed in the form of a vertical 90 degrees. Such a bent plug makes it difficult for the user to block various operations in the hand when holding the position of the charging port, especially the position of the index finger. It can be seen that the in-depth customization of games and e-sports has been refined to the level of accessories.
Hardware & Performance
Run score test
Since the Redmi K40 game enhancement version in our hands still uses early firmware, it may be different from the subsequent models that are actually on the market, so the next running score may not accurately reflect the ultimate performance level of the machine.
Compared with Dimensity 1000+, Dimensity 1200 has undergone two major changes. One is the use of the latest TSMC 6nm process, and the other is returning to the three-cluster architecture, with one A78 core with the main frequency of 3GHz + three 2.6GHz A78 middle nuclei + 4 2Ghz A55 small nuclei.
Judging from the paper parameters, the improvement in CPU of the Dimensity 1200 compared to the previous Dimensity 1000+ should be immediate, but the Redmi K40 game enhanced version in our hands may be because the early firmware was not optimized for the running software. For this reason, the single-core running score is 4.8% higher than the Dimensity 1000+ model, and the multi-core is basically unchanged.
Geekbench
In the GPU part, the Dimensity 1200 is still equipped with the Mali G77 MC9 GPU, which has not changed much compared to the previous generation.
GFXBench
In the evaluation system of Master Lu, the overall performance of the Redmi K40 game enhanced version is basically the same as that of the Snapdragon 865 model.
Master Lu
UFS 3.1
Game Test
1. Glory of the King
Redmi K40 game enhanced version has the highest image quality with anti-aliasing enabled to play “Honor of Kings”, with an average frame rate of 93.1FPS and stable full-frame operation. This performance is slightly better than many previous gaming e-sports phones.
2. The Peaceful Elite
“Peace Elite” has opened a 90-frame mode option for the enhanced version of the Redmi K40 game. The average frame rate of the whole game is 89.2FPS, which basically keeps running at full frame.
3. The original god
In order to “squeeze dry” the performance release and heat dissipation capacity of the enhanced version of the Redmi K40 game, we chose an open-world game “Yuan Shen” that connects Android, iOS, and PC to test the machine. As for how much this game really is” You can look at Hengping on our previous four flagship platforms of “The Original God” on mobile phones.
In the following test, we adjusted the brightness of the Redmi K40 game enhanced version to 50%, silent use, the picture quality is “extremely high quality”, the motion blur is turned off, and the room temperature is about 25°C during the test.
Original God” frame rate monitoring
Phone temperature
In a 10-minute game, the average frame rate of “Original God” can reach about 49.3 frames, and the highest body temperature can reach 44.7°C.
4. Game phones with shoulder buttons are worthy of being called game phones
Most of the game phones are evolving wildly towards professional consoles, and the operating experience is also pursuing professionalism as much as possible. Therefore, we can see that many mainstream game phones on the market are designed with “game shoulder buttons”, which are inconsistent with conventional ones. Of smartphones form a distinction. Today, a gaming phone without a gaming shoulder button is not even worthy of being called a gaming phone.
This may be the reason why the Redmi K40 game enhanced version has designed the game shoulder button to the phone.
However, the design plan for the mobile phone shoulder key has mainly formed two major factions. One is the touch shoulder key camp represented by iQOO, ROG game phones, the Red Devils, and the savior; the other is the physical shoulder key represented by the black shark. camp. The camp Redmi joined is obviously the latter, and the K40 game enhanced version also designed two mechanical physical buttons.
The advantage of this control is also the place that impresses the author the most, and its specific plan is to adopt the physical button of the magnetic powerlifting scheme with better dial power, lifting speed, and service life.
This allows the Redmi K40 game enhanced version to integrate the shoulder buttons with the phone frame when the keycap is folded, which does not affect daily use. It can be set aside during the game, just like a “hidden master” or a “suit mob”. Slide the slider, you can hide or raise the shoulder button, the feel is very crisp
Compared with the external physical shoulder button, this embedded physical button can also release the screen field more effectively, and at the same time improve the control feel; compared to the ultrasonic and capacitive shoulder buttons, the physical-mechanical buttons used in the K40 game enhanced version With better button feel and real feedback, it can also effectively avoid accidental touches.
In “Peace Elite”, the author personally prefers the left button to fire and the right button to open the mirror. After getting used to it, you can use a four-finger operation to achieve a more flexible operation than the previous two-finger operation, eliminating the trouble of rubbing the screen with hands and feet. Annihilate the enemy quickly.
In addition, the shock feel of the game brought by the shoulder button is unmatched by other conventional mobile phones, and it really allows users to find a game console-like control feel on the mobile phone.
However, due to the relatively thin body of the enhanced version of the Redmi K40 game, the lack of support in the palm position can be clearly felt in the game, and the holding position is a bit easy to slip in the fast-paced battle. Wearing a protective shell will “fatify” Will improve.
Cameras
The user group who chooses a gaming phone usually puts the gaming experience in the first place for consideration. Because most gaming phones don’t put too much effort into the image when designing, just meet the requirements of scanning codes.
The Redmi K40 Game Enhanced Edition, as a gaming phone that pursues both daily use and e-sports mobile games, has some pursuits in imaging, but there are still some differences from the previous Redmi K40 models.
In terms of hardware lineup, the Redmi K40 game enhanced version is equipped with a 64-megapixel main camera + 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle + 2 Megapixel macro three-camera combination. After bug report analysis, it can be found that its main camera sensor is OV64B, and the ultra-wide-angle lens sensor is IMX355, the macro lens sensor is the gc02m1 of Gekewei. The bug report of the Redmi K40 game enhanced version shows the camera module model.
From this point of view, the Redmi K40 game enhanced version compares Redmi K40 and Redmi K40 Pro in terms of images. The biggest change is actually the change in the model of the main camera sensor and the lack of telephoto macro that can be used as a microscope.
The OV64B, which acts as the main camera this time, is an image sensor with a resolution of 64MP using 0.7 micron small pixels, a four-in-one color filter array, and an on-chip hardware pixel recombination algorithm. Its bottom is only 1/2″.
Therefore, if you need to use the 64 Megapixel model of OV64B, try to use the 16 Megapixel four-in-one mode under sufficient light conditions. A single pixel is equivalent to 1.4 microns, which is enough.
Next, let’s take a look directly at the proofs.
Ultra wide-angle shooting
The color of the ultra-wide-angle lens is closer to the actual ambient light. Although the edge image quality is not as sharp as the middle area, the whole picture is relatively balanced, and it can satisfy daily social platform sharing without going into details.
Main shot
2X digital zoom
Through the proofs, it can be felt that the OV64B main camera sensor of the Redmi K40 game enhanced version is still good, and there is no problem in meeting the needs of the small post-cutting composition.
Regular mode
Night scene mode
The night scene mode that appears in the enhanced version of the Redmi K40 game is quite mature, and it is found in the actual experience that it can indeed brighten and remove picture noise.
Battery
The Redmi K40 game enhanced version uses a combination of 67W flash charging and a 5065mAh battery. Both the fast charging specifications and the battery capacity are further compared to the previous Redmi K40 series of three mobile phones, which can be regarded as reaching the peak level of Redmi’s models.
Next, we will conduct a simple test of its battery life through online videos and mobile games.
I use the Bilibili client to play online barrage video with 30% volume and 75% brightness. According to the monitored current information, it can be estimated that the online video life of the Redmi K40 game enhanced version under test conditions can reach about 14 hours.
The author entered the “Peace Elite” training field at 30% sound volume and 75% brightness and turned on smooth + limit frame rate. According to the monitored current information, it can be estimated that the game life of the Redmi K40 game enhanced version under test conditions can reach 4.7 About hours.
The Redmi K40 game enhanced version comes with a 67W original charger, and it only takes 50 minutes to recover blood from 1% to 100%. Blood can be recovered to 33% in 10 minutes, and 79% can be recovered in half an hour. Considering that in daily use, the battery is generally not charged until the battery is exhausted, so there is no anxiety in daily use.
Read Also: Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite Review: Equipped With World First Snapdragon 780G
Verdict
Its appearance undoubtedly makes the previous “silly, big and clumsy” gaming e-sports phones look more like speculation or storytelling, and it makes people feel that gaming phones seem to have been bought early: if you say that the gamebook can also have high configuration, powerful graphics card, RGB “light pollution” cool burst lighting effect, and violent appearance, so where can game phones be differentiated?
To meet the high-quality full-frame operation requirements of mainstream mobile games such as “Glory of the King” and “Peace Elite”, high-end SoCs are almost no longer needed. The “Yuan Shen” that consumes mobile phone resources is a prerequisite for cooling measures. The battle of lowering the picture quality mid-range U, not to mention the SoC performance gap of each company is shrinking and narrowing.
In addition, traditional gaming phones that are “too thick, heavy, and too fancy” are also particularly eye-catching when taken out. Therefore, it is better to let the gaming phone return to become a normal phone first, and then selectively incorporate e-sports elements on this basis. This is the original intention of the Redmi K40 game enhanced version.
As a result, we saw that this gaming phone has a “duty” introverted appearance-instead of thickening the forehead like mainstream gaming phones, it uses the center-mounted hole digging solution of traditional mobile phones. Of course, many game enthusiasts are more sensitive to screen digging, and the central “beauty mole” may be at risk of being complained about by enthusiasts. There is no fancy color contrast on the back cover. When the RGB light is off, it is a daily mobile phone, without the publicity of gaming elements.
It is worth mentioning that the Redmi K40 game enhanced version is like a “hidden master”. When the user needs to play a game, he directly flips the game shoulder button, the RGB atmosphere light turns on, and the user can immediately enter the battle. In the actual experience, the physical shoulder button improves the game control significantly, especially the real button feel and feedback are irreplaceable, and it eliminates the trouble of rubbing the screen in a hurry and quickly wipes out the enemy.
The Redmi K40 game enhanced version is also the first real gaming phone on the MediaTek platform. Equipped with the Dimensity 1200 can also be regarded as an e-sports dream for “Fage”. In terms of paper parameters, Dimensity 1200 is significantly improved compared to Dimensity 1000+. In our previous tests of other models, we found that its silent frequency can be comparable to Snapdragon 865+. If the liberation overclocking is further optimized, the future room for improvement is not small, and it is found through actual measurement that it is completely sufficient to deal with the current mainstream mobile games with full frame rates.
In addition, 67W fast charge + large-capacity battery exceeding 5000 mAh, complete NFC, infrared remote control, linear motor, dual speakers, mainstream 64MP triple cameras, so that it can stay in the face of competition with conventional mobile phones.
On the whole, the Redmi K40 Game Enhanced Edition can handle the relationship between professional gaming phones and daily main mobile phones with ease. It is unmatched at the price of 1999 yuan. It is worthy of Redmi to bring “extreme cost-effectiveness” into the game. The pioneering work in the field of e-sports mobile phones.
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