Redmi K90 Ultra Puts a Fan on Last-Gen Silicon

Redmi put the K90 Ultra on sale in China on June 30, 2026, at 2,799 yuan ($420) for 12GB + 256GB, with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite, an 18.1mm cooling fan, and an 8,550mAh cell. The opening sale also sold 16GB + 256GB at the same 2,799 yuan ticket. That is the wager: last year’s flagship chip, the same fan as the K90 Max, and a 3,000-yuan door price.

List prices sat 200 yuan higher. Xiaomi later moved those lists up again. The hardware did not change.

Redmi Priced the Fan Phone at 2,799 Yuan

The phone, sold in China as REDMI K90 至尊版, is a near clone of the K90 Max that arrived on April 21, 2026. Same 6.83-inch 165Hz flat AMOLED, same 8,550mAh Xiaomi Jinshajiang cell, same 18.1mm fan, same 227g body. The Ultra swaps MediaTek’s Dimensity 9500 for Snapdragon 8 Elite, drops the 1TB option, and opened 700 yuan under the Max’s 3,499 yuan 12GB + 256GB list.

First-sale tags were 2,799 yuan for 12GB + 256GB and 16GB + 256GB, 3,299 yuan for 12GB + 512GB, and 3,499 yuan for 16GB + 512GB. Xiaomi’s list at launch was 2,999, 3,199, 3,499, and 3,699 yuan for those four setups. The 16GB + 256GB model got an extra 200 yuan off so it matched the base sale price. Colors are Shadow Black, Space Silver, and Sky Blue.

K90 ULTRA VERSUS K90 MAX

Redmi had already locked the 165Hz panel and built-in fan in the week before the event, so June 30 was a price-and-chip reveal more than a spec dump. The Ultra is still a China-only SKU. Xiaomi has not announced a global Redmi badge for it.

Last-Gen Silicon, Same Fan as the Max

The Ultra uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile platform, the SM8750-AB part on TSMC’s second-generation 3nm node, not Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Two Oryon V2 Phoenix L cores run at 4.32 GHz, six Phoenix M cores at 3.53 GHz, and the GPU is an Adreno 830 at 1,200 MHz. Memory is LPDDR5X with UFS 4.1, in 12GB or 16GB RAM and 256GB or 512GB storage.

Redmi’s own line already showed why the fan is here. The rest of the K90 family had been taking heat for thermals in long sessions, and some Bloodstrike creators sold those phones for a OnePlus 15. The Ultra answers that with the Max’s air cooler on cheaper, older Qualcomm silicon.

NanoReview’s Geekbench 6 figures sit almost on top of each other: 3,261 single-core and 10,224 multi-core for the Ultra, against 3,289 and 9,958 for the Max. GPU compute slightly favors the Dimensity phone, 25,045 to 24,370. Redmi said the fan-cooled Elite can hold peak frame rates for 60 minutes at max settings without throttling, and claims some Elite Gen 5 phones start to fall off after 20 minutes in the same kind of test.

Qualcomm lets brands ship up to eight consecutive years of Android updates on this chip. Xiaomi still sets the actual window. The Ultra launched on HyperOS 3 and Android 16, and it later showed up on Xiaomi’s HyperOS 4 global beta program device list.

What the 165Hz Panel Changes in Games

The 6.83-inch flat AMOLED is a 1.5K panel at 2772 × 1280, using M10 material, with a 90.3% screen-to-body ratio. Xiaomi rates multi-scene peak brightness at 3,500 nits and the floor at 1 nit. It is a 12-bit panel with DCI-P3, full-brightness DC dimming, HDR10+, HDR Vivid, and Dolby Vision. Xiaomi Qingshan 3.0 eye care is on board, plus wet-hand touch 2.0 and a 3D ultrasonic fingerprint reader.

GAME PANEL TRAITS

• Native 165fps: Redmi said more than 40 games run at a native 165fps on this screen, including titles such as Peace Elite and League of Legends.
• Touch sample: Multi-finger reporting hits 480Hz, and instant sampling reaches 3,500Hz in games.
• D2 assist: A separate 12nm D2 display chip handles upscaling, frame generation, and extra HDR together at 1.5K.
• Play extras: Landscape network switching, motherboard bypass charging, and a dedicated game audio path sit next to Bose-tuned symmetrical stereo speakers and an 0815 X-axis motor.

The D2 chip is the software half of the bet. Older Adreno silicon can still look like a 165Hz 1.5K game if the extra die is inventing frames and pixels. That only holds if the fan keeps clocks up long enough for the extra chip to matter.

IP69 on a Phone With a Spinning Fan

The 18.1mm fan sits in the camera bar and works with a 6,000mm² vapor chamber. Redmi said it can cut temperatures by up to 10°C in 100 seconds, with noise around 32dB. The body still carries IP66, IP68, and IP69. The fan module itself is rated IPX8 and IPX9, which is the part most fan phones skip.

REDMI’S FAN CLAIMS

• Drop: Up to 10°C in 100 seconds, per Redmi.
• Noise: About 32dB at full speed.
• Seal: Phone IP66, IP68, and IP69; fan IPX8 and IPX9.
• Hands-on split: One extended gaming test recorded a 42.8°C back with the fan on and 50.6°C with it off.

The camera-bar fan is the design tax. It reads as a second grille on the island, and owners have already joked that the phone looks like it has a drain on the front and a shower on the back. The trade is a 8.18mm, 227g slab that you can still rinse, which is the point against the usual open-vent gaming brick.

The 8,550mAh Cell Ships With a 100W Brick

Redmi’s spec sheet lists 8,550mAh typical and 8,380mAh rated for the single-cell Jinshajiang pack, with 16% silicon from the pre-launch briefings. Charging is 100W wired, 22.5W wired reverse, and motherboard bypass while a game is running, through Xiaomi’s P3 charge chip and G2 fuel gauge. A 100W GaN adapter is in the box, and the USB-C port speaks PD2.0 and PD3.0.

There is no wireless charging on the official sheet. That is one of the few hardware cuts against the Max. Bypass charging is the gaming one that matters, because it keeps the pack out of the heat loop while the fan is already spinning.

Dual Cameras and a 512GB Ceiling

The rear module is a 50MP Light Hunter 800 main camera, f/1.68, 1/1.55-inch sensor, 13.2EV, 2.0μm binning, six-element lens, and three-axis closed-loop OIS, plus an 8MP ultrawide on a 1/4-inch sensor at f/2.2. The front camera is 20MP. Video goes to 8K at 30fps and 4K at 60fps. There is no telephoto.

Storage stops at 512GB. The 1TB storage on the K90 Max is the cleaner Max extra, along with that phone’s newer Dimensity 9500. IR blaster, NFC, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, dual nano-SIM, and an aluminum CNC frame with an anodized finish round out the Ultra. Model number is 2604FRK1EC. Size is 162.91 × 77.93 × 8.18 mm.

Xiaomi Lifted the List Price in August

The 2,799 yuan door price was the bet working. By early August 2026, Xiaomi’s China store had moved the Ultra’s starting list from 2,999 yuan to 3,299 yuan, a 300 yuan hike that also hit other Redmi and Xiaomi 17 models. The fan, the 8,550mAh cell, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip stayed put.

THE K90 FAN PHONES IN 2026

1. April 21, 2026: Redmi launches the K90 Max with Dimensity 9500 and Xiaomi’s first in-phone fan, at 3,499 yuan for 12GB + 256GB.
2. June 30, 2026: The K90 Ultra goes on sale at 19:00 China time, first-sale from 2,799 yuan, Snapdragon 8 Elite, same fan stack.
3. Early August 2026: Xiaomi’s store listings show the Ultra starting list at 3,299 yuan, 300 yuan above the June list.

Even after that move, the Ultra is still the 3,000-yuan gaming phone people name when they want a fan without a specialist brand tax. Xiaomi raised the sticker. It did not take the cooler out.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Rated Capacity of the Redmi K90 Ultra Battery?

Xiaomi’s sheet prints 8,380mAh as the minimum, or rated, figure next to the 8,550mAh typical number. Packs this large often ship with that two-line label, and the lower figure is the one that matters if you compare against phones that only quote typical capacity.

Does the Redmi K90 Ultra Have Wireless Charging?

No. The official spec page lists 100W wired in and 22.5W wired reverse, with no wireless coil. Buyers who want a pad will have to stay on the K90 Max or another model.

What Accessories Ship With the Redmi K90 Ultra?

The box includes the phone, a 100W GaN adapter, a USB-C cable, a SIM tool, a case, a manual with the warranty card, a screen film already on the panel, and a small brush for cleaning the fan. The brush is the tell that Redmi expects dust in the intake.

What Does the D2 Chip Do in the Redmi K90 Ultra?

D2 is a 12nm helper die, not part of the 3nm Snapdragon. It can run super-resolution, frame generation, and extra HDR at the same time at 1.5K, which is how Redmi sells 165fps on games the Adreno 830 would not hold natively at that resolution.