In mid-February, Xiaomi presented its new Xiaomi Mi 10 and Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro smartphones in China. Both smartphones have many similarities, but there are also differences in rear camera settings, battery capacity, and fast charge technology.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 has a 6.7 ″ 90 Hz Super AMOLED FullHD + screen, Snapdragon 865 processor, 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM, 128/256 GB of UFS 3.0 storage, rear cameras are wide-angle (108MP) + ultra-wide-angle (13MP) + macro (2MP) + depth (2MP), front camera (20MP) and 4,780 mAh battery with 30W fast charge both wired and wireless.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 is on sale for € 799 (128GB) and € 899 (256GB), which represents a significant leap compared to last year’s Xiaomi Mi 9, which arrived for € 449 (64 GB) and € 499 (128 GB). The question that many users ask themselves is whether this price jump is justified by the increase in benefits.
Xiaomi Mi 10 Review
The Xiaomi Mi 10 has a modern design, with a large screen surrounded by very narrow frames (although asymmetrical since the lower one is somewhat thicker than the upper one). The front camera is located in a hole in the upper left corner, helping you not to interfere with the interface by holding it horizontally.
The display offers a fairly steep curvature to the sides, making the ends look somewhat darker and reflections occur. On the back, we find a glass finish that also curves to the sides and is available in two finishes: coral green and twilight gray.
The backglass does not have any pattern or texture but is completely uniform and it turns out to be a magnet for fingerprints. The vertical camera module is located in the corner and protrudes from the surface of the phone, so the phone dances slightly when tapping on the screen while it is supported.
Xiaomi Mi 10 has a fairly high thickness of 9 mm. and a considerable weight of 208 grams, although in its favor we must say that it incorporates a fairly generous battery.
Xiaomi uses Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back but unfortunately, it has left the device without protection against water – an omission difficult to understand in a smartphone in this price range.
Xiaomi has integrated a fingerprint reader under the screen that unlocks the phone quickly and reliably. The reading area is quite wide, so you don’t need to get your finger right on the tread pattern. It also incorporates 2D facial recognition that works well although it is not as secure.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 has a 6.7 ″ AMOLED panel with Full HD + resolution, which translates to a high pixel density of 402 dpi. You may miss Quad HD + resolution, but in my opinion, the screen is sharp enough.
The screen has a maximum brightness of around 762 nits if it is in automatic mode in bright sunlight. This is an impressive value, which beats most of the high-end smartphones I’ve tested.
The color gamut is wide as it covers 100% of the wide DCI-P3 range, which only high-end smartphones cover. It supports HDR10 + and, in tests, I have been able to play HDR content from Netflix and YouTube.
Of the three color modes it offers, the original mode offers excellent color fidelity, but most people will prefer the automatic mode that is selected by default as it displays more vivid (although less realistic) colors.
Xiaomi has included the Always Active Screen functionality, so we can permanently see the time/date, battery level, and notifications. In addition, the screen momentarily turns on or shows an animation when a notification arrives, and, at any time, we can double-tap to activate it manually.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 has a Snapdragon 865 processor that, today, is the most powerful you can find on a smartphone. Accompanying this chip, we find 8 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128/256 GB of UFS 3.0 storage with no option to expand via micro-SD. If you think that 128GB will not be enough, I recommend you get hold of the 256GB variant.
In tests, the performance of the smartphone has been excellent, as expected given the hardware it incorporates.
Leaving the benchmarks aside, in the day-to-day, the Xiaomi Mi 10 moves very smoothly, and at no time have I suffered stoppages. 3D games run smoothly on the Mi 10 and stable rates of 30 FPS in titles like Asphalt 9, hitting an average rate of 60 FPS in Dead Effect 2, and Call Of Duty are measured.
The phone features 30W fast charge and fully charges in just an hour, which is a surprisingly short time. Xiaomi Mi 10 comes with a generous impressive 4,780 mAh battery that, on a day-to-day basis, offers excellent autonomy, above practically all the high-end smartphones that I have used.
In terms of connectivity, it offers WiFi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac / ax in the 2.4 / 5 GHz, Bluetooth 5.1, infrared, and NFC bands but does not have an FM radio.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 is compatible with 5G networks and supports the band below 6 GHz (Sub-6) but not the mmWave band. Unfortunately, it does not offer a space for a second SIM card nor is it compatible with eSIM, so you cannot enjoy Dual SIM.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 comes with four rear cameras that allow you to take pictures with wide-angle (main camera), ultra-wide-angle and macro, in addition to a depth camera. A telephoto camera is missing, which is not present in the Mi 10 but is present in the Mi 10 Pro.
The main camera features a 108 MP sensor and an f / 1.7 aperture lens with optical stabilization. This camera combines 4 pixels in 1 to generate 27 MP images with less noise, but it is also possible to take shots with 108 MP super-resolution (although the increase in size and loss of HDR does not compensate for the supposed improvement in sharpness).
In good light conditions, the image quality of the main camera is excellent but, when light is scarce, the result is not as good since it appears quite annoying color noise and the color tone looks artificial as it tends to compensate ambient lighting.
Xiaomi has included a Night mode that helps to get photos with a higher dynamic range at night, so it is quite an interesting function if you do not mind waiting a little longer for the capture to take place.
The 13MP ultra wide-angle camera brings a different perspective when photographing large objects such as buildings or monuments.
It is a useful camera during the day but the absence of optical stabilization and its limited aperture make it offer a fairly low image quality in night shots that is not up to its rivals.
Finally, the macro camera allows us to get close to objects up to 1.5 cm. Its 2MP resolution is somewhat poor, so the level of detail of the resulting image is not too good.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 allows capturing photos in Portrait mode aided by the 2MP depth sensor and we can adjust the degree of a blur both during capture and afterward – something not all smartphones can do.
The rear camera is capable of recording video in 8K resolution (7680 × 4320) at 30 fps, a novelty more thought for the future than for today. It is also possible to record in UHD / 4K (3840 × 2160) at 30 / 60fps, Full HD / 1080p (1920 × 1080) at 30 / 60fps, and HD / 720p (1280 × 720), while the front camera can record videos in Full HD formats at 30fps and HD at 30 / 120fps.
Xiaomi offers a Pro mode that allows you to adjust a large number of parameters for taking photos and videos, making it very useful for advanced users.
As for the front camera, its 20MP resolution is high and generally offers good image quality. It is possible to take selfies in Portrait mode, with a fairly successful result.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 offers excellent sound through two identical stereo speakers located in the upper and lower area, which offer a totally symmetrical sound – something that is not usual since the lower speaker is usually more powerful and of better quality. Now Xiaomi has not included the 3.5mm connector on this device.
Xiaomi incorporates in this phone the MIUI 11 personalization layer based on Android 10, which incorporates some interesting functionalities to control battery consumption, clone applications that do not support multi-accounts, create a second private space, protect access to apps through passwords, etc.
In addition, it incorporates some functionalities that we do not usually find in other smartphones such as Quick Responses to notifications without leaving the app, the Game Turbo tool to improve the gaming experience, the functionality of sending files wirelessly, etc.
That said, the MIUI Settings section is too complex since it sometimes calls the same thing in different ways depending on where you are and sometimes it uses strange names for certain functionalities (like Play full screen for gestures navigation).
As a curiosity, from time to time you also come across some Chinese words (such as in the Tags section of Smart Albums in the Gallery).
What I have not found is advertising, which is appreciated since in other Xiaomi smartphones it was common to see ads in certain own apps.
Finally, the Xiaomi Mi 10 is on sale for € 799 (128GB) and € 899 (256GB). It is an important leap from previous models but it seems that all high-end smartphones with Snapdragon 865 are reaching above € 800.
Xiaomi Mi 10 Full Specifications
| Platform | Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 865 flagship platform |
| Storage and RAM | 8GB + 256GB |
| Rear Camera | 108MP | AI rear quad camera 108MP ultra-clear primary sensor 13MP ultra wide-angle 2MP depth sensor 2MP macro lens |
| Front Camera | 20MP Ultra-clear Front Camera |
| Display | 6.67″ AMOLED Display Resolution: 2340 x 1080 FHD+ 90Hz refresh rate |
| Charging and battery | 4780mAh(typ) / 4680mAh(min) Triple Fast Charging |
| Network & Connectivity | Single SIM Single Nano-SIM slot Supports 5G / 4G+ / 4G / 3G/ 2G Supports VoLTE HD calling |
| Dimensions & Weight | Height: 162.5mm Width: 74.8mm Thickness: 8.96mm Weight: 208 g |
| Sensors | Proximity sensor In-screen ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Electronic compass Hall effect sensor Linear motor IR blaster Barometer Flicker sensor |
| Operating system | MIUI 11 |
All images credits and The specifications reference is the official website of Mi.com “Mi 10“
The Best and Worst about Xiaomi Mi 10
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The Worst:
Xiaomi Mi 10 Price and Competitors
The Xiaomi Mi 10 is on sale for € 799 (128GB) and € 899 (256GB), which is a quite significant leap over previous models.
If you buy the Mi 10 through a channel authorized by Xiaomi and use it between April 15 and May 13, you will benefit from a replacement warranty service instead of a possible repair, as long as there is a hardware quality failure within the warranty period. In addition, you will also benefit from a free screen repair service when the screen is damaged within the warranty period, from the date of product activation.
There is a Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro model with 8 GB and 256 GB of storage that costs € 999. The Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro are very similar in that they share the same design, display, and processor. However, the Mi 10 Pro has a more advanced set of rear cameras and offers a somewhat smaller battery (4,500 mAh) but with a charge fast at 50W.
In the same price range is the Samsung Galaxy S20 ( € 813 on Amazon) which has a 6.2 ″ AMOLED screen, Exynos 990 processor, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of UFS 3.0 storage, triple rear camera 12MP (wide angle) + 64MP (telephoto) + 12MP (ultra wide-angle), 10MP front camera, and 4,000 mAh battery.
Another interesting option is the OnePlus 8 ( € 709 on Amazon) which has a 6.55 ″ Fluid AMOLED screen at 90 Hz, Snapdragon 865, 8 / 12GB of RAM, 128 / 256GB of storage, 48MP rear camera (wide angle) + 16MP (ultra wide angle) + 2MP (macro), 16MP front camera, and 4,300 battery with 30W fast charge
If you are interested in a smartphone with great camera versatility, for a lower price is the Huawei P30 Pro arrives with a 6.47 ″ Full HD + OLED screen, Kirin 980 processor, 8GB of RAM, 128/256 / 512GB of storage, 40MP + 20MP + 8MP + ToF quad rear camera, 32MP front camera and 4,200 mAh battery with direct and reverse wireless charging.
