Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Review: Very Close To Perfection

The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 isn’t exactly something you will call revolutionary buy it is what draws the world’s attention to Chinese budget smartphone brand Xiaomi.

Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Price And Availability

The model with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage will set you back £459 while the 8GB/256GB variant comes at the price of £549.

Xiaomi Mi Note 10 price in India is expected to be Rs. 43,290 for the base model.

Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Design

With a dimension of 157.8x74.2x9.7mm and a weight of 208g, the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 is on the thicker side. The aluminum frame of the phone is sandwiched between two layers of Gorilla Glass 5 so the phone feels pretty sturdy.

At the bottom of the phone sit a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB-C port. While on the right you will find the volume rocker and the power button.

The only complaint we have with how the phone looks is the camera module on the back which protrudes too much, ruining the otherwise sleek appearance. It’s also odd that there are two cameras that sit below the bump.

Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Display

With the 6.47-inch AMOLED display paired with a resolution of 1080x2340, the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 isn’t exactly a one-handed device for people with small hands. AMOLED panel has the edge in contrast, brightness, and colors, but it’s rare to see one on a mid-range phone.

The phone has pronounced curved edges so it’s more comfortable to hold it than Huawei P30 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S10. However, the issue of ghost touch that pervades phones with curved screens still appears here.

At the top of the phone sits the teardrop notch from which the selfie camera pokes.

Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Camera

The highlight of the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 is its cameras, with one of them boasts 108MP. The rest of the setup consists of 12MP with 2x telephoto camera, a 5MP telephoto snapper with 5x zoom, a 20MP ultra-wide, and a 2MP macro camera.

The 108MP isn’t just a gimmick though, blowing Huawei P30 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro out of the water.

Photos taken by the min camera sports rich colors and high brightness. By default, you have 27MP shots but you can always switch to full-blown 108MP. Those who like to edit their photos will love the fact that after cropping, picture quality still holds up.

The 108MP camera does have its drawbacks though. It takes the phone a few seconds to up to a whole minute to process the shots. The high-res pictures fill up your storage quickly too.

This delay in processing stems from the phone’s deadliest weakness – its chipset. However, this doesn’t affect photo quality though.

Now let’s take a look at the 12MP portrait camera on the Xiaomi Mi Note 10. It is able to detect the subject and apply proper background blur. The problem here is the snapper is paired with a 2x telephoto lens and you can’t disable the zoom.

Pictures taken by the 5MP telephoto snapper with 5x zoom look a bit dull and grainy. If you need zoomed shots, you had better take 108MP shots and crop them. The macro lens is another redundant camera, taking low-res and grainy images.

The 20MP ultra-wide camera can be described as fine. Shots look good with not too much distortion.

The 32MP selfie camera is housed in the aforementioned teardrop notch has lots of fun features and filters for users to play around with. Selfies are of high quality and look vibrant enough.

Video-wise, you can record up to 4K. While the 108MP touts the 6K ability, it’s curious as to why the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 doesn’t have this ability.

Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Specs And Performance

Under the hood, the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 runs on a Snapdragon 730G chipset which is optimized for gaming. However, the processor isn’t up to par to power this phone. As a result, the camera app sometimes crashes unexpectedly. It also explains the slow processing time.

The fact that this phone has a gaming chipset means stutters are non-existent even with demanding titles like Call of Duty Mobile. Another highlight of the handset is its mono speaker which has sufficient volume and good audio.

The phone is powered by MIUI based on Android 9. And much like other Xiaomi and Chinese phones, this one is plagued with bloatware. Overall, the software is snappy to navigate and apps open promptly.

Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Battery Life

The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 draws power from a 5,260mAh battery, bigger than those of many of its competitors.

The phone can last a day between charges despite the huge power cell. The culprit here might be the high-quality display and the chipset.

Whatever you think about the battery life, the 30W fast charge can definitely make up for any drawbacks.

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