Redmi’s newest flagship gaming smartphone is finally here. The Xiaomi sub-brand formally announced the Redmi K50 Gaming at an event in China.

It is the successor to last year’s Redmi K40 Game Enhanced Edition, which was rebadged as the POCO F3 GT for international markets. It remains to be seen if a rebranded Redmi K50 Gaming will also make its way to the global market soon, likely as the POCO F4 GT, but it certainly feels that way.

In China, the device is priced as follows:

• 8GB/128GB: ¥3,299 (around $520 or P26,698)
• 12GB/128GB: ¥3,599 ($568 or P29,126)
• 12GB/256GB: ¥3,899 ($615 or P31,554)
• 12GB/256GB Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team Edition: ¥4,199 ($662 or P33,982)

The limited-edition model features a unique colorway designed to pay homage to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team, and Redmi says it will be making only 10,000 units. The Redmi K50 Gaming will be available beginning tomorrow, February 18.

As expected, the handset lands with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 5G chipset under the hood and super-fast 120-watt charging, which Redmi claims can fully charge the 4,700mAh battery in just 17 minutes. As presented in a demo during the event, it can top up the phone in 37 minutes while being used to play a MOBA game. The K50 Gaming will also ship with Android 12-based MIUI 13 out of the box.

Similar to the previous release, the Redmi K50 Gaming incorporates a pair of physical shoulder triggers on the right side that can be custom-tuned for games. Its other gaming-centric features include dual JBL-tuned speakers, an X-axis linear motor for haptics, and a new dual vapor-chamber cooling system to ensure optimal performance. The company says the phone has an impressive 4,860mm² cooling area.

The FHD+ AMOLED screen measures 6.67 inches across and comes with a 120Hz refresh rate as well as 480Hz touch sampling. It supports 10-bit colors, boasts an A+ DisplayMate rating, and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.

You’d think the biggest concession here is the main camera system — and you may be right. The rear-facing setup features a 64-megapixel main sensor alongside dedicated lenses for ultra-wide and macro shots, while the front-facing camera is 20 megapixels.

Redmi K50 Gaming Edition specs

• 6.67-inch AMOLED display, FHD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 480Hz touch sampling
• 4nm octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor with 5G
• Adreno 730 GPU
• 8GB/12GB LPDDR5 RAM
• 128GB/256GB UFS 3.1 storage
• Triple 64-megapixel main, 8-megapixel ultra-wide, 2-megapixel macro rear cameras
• 20-megapixel front camera
• Side fingerprint reader
• 4,700mAh battery with 120-watt USB-C charging
• MIUI 13 based on Android 12
• Color options: silver, blue, black, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team Edition

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