Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro is a balanced flagship smartphone by Xiaomi
Xiaomi entered the premium flagship smartphone range with the Mi 10 that packs in all the flagship features like a 90Hz display, Snapdragon 865 chipset, 108MP camera, and wireless charging making it one of the best offerings in the flagship smartphone market.
This time Xiaomi is aiming to continue to deliver another flagship smartphone called the Mi 10T Pro which also packs in quite a lot to make you buy one. The Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro has almost all the specifications of the Mi 10 and there are subtle changes to it.
The Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro packs in a 6.67 inches IPS LCD panel with a 144Hz refresh rate, has the powerful Snapdragon 865, 108MP camera, a larger 5000mAh battery, and a newer design at the back, all at a lower price. This makes it much value for money compared to many of its competitors from Samsung, OnePlus, etc.
Do these specifications justify the position of this Xiaomi flagship in the market? Let's find out in the full review.
Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro Design:
The Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro has a simpler design compared to the Mi 10 (Review) which has a curved display. On the front, the display is flatter. On the back, you get a larger camera module that houses a 108MP camera as we saw on the Mi 10. Instead of the vertical alignment of cameras on the Mi 10, the three cameras are arranged in a large rectangular module with a LED flash.
The front, as well as the back, is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The huge camera module is slightly raised which creates a slight bump when the smartphone is kept flat on a table. The back is curved towards the sides with the aluminum frame running all around.
The Cosmic Black looks really good as the black color makes the back curve look good and is reflective with a shiny pattern when viewed from different angles. The four edges around the Mi 10T Pro are also curved which makes handling easy.
It is slightly glossy and catches some fingerprints. To protect the back, Xiaomi provides a case inside the box. The 218 grams is felt when holding in hand due to the massive 5000mAh battery inside.
Coming to the sides, there is a power button and volume buttons on the right, whereas the left of the smartphone is completely bare without any buttons. At the bottom, there is a USB Type-C port, a primary microphone, and a SIM card slot. There is no support for microSD card for storage expansion.
On the top, there is a secondary noise-canceling microphone with an IR Blaster on top of it and a small speaker. The Mi 10T Pro lacks an IP rating which is disappointing and this has been done to keep costs lower but you do get P2i coating at the back to taking out in rain or some splashes of water will not affect the back of the smartphone.
The Mi 10T Pro comes in three different colors - Cosmic Black, Aurora Blue, and Lunar Silver. When it comes to overall the design of the Mi 10T Pro looks good and refreshing and also feels solid while holding in hand, but the lack of an IP rating and a huge camera bump at the back does let it down a bit.
Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro Display:
This is one area where Xiaomi has left many in confusion. Instead of the AMOLED display on the Mi 10, the Mi 10T Pro packs in an IPS LCD display, but the display size remains the same. Like the Mi 10, the Mi 10T Pro gets a 6.67 inches Full HD+ (1080x2400 pixels) IPS LCD display with a screen to body ratio of 20:9.
This display supports a 144Hz refresh rate compared to the 90Hz refresh rate on the Mi 10. The 144Hz display makes everything easier and Xiaomi likes to call it AdaptiveSync technology wherein the display switches to different refresh rates depending on the load of the application.
For example, while playing games heavily, the Mi 10T Pro sticks to 144Hz where it refreshes 144 frames per second, and when you are watching videos, the display switches to 60Hz or 30Hz. There are three options that include a standard 60Hz, a 90Hz, and 144Hz.
This IPS LCD panel is quite brighter than many of the AMOLED panels. The color reproduction is good and the viewing angles are good. Taking the display under direct sunlight, the viewing angles were good but the brightness level was not as good as on the AMOLED display on Mi 10.
You can choose from different color temperatures that include an Auto, Saturated, Original Color, and an advanced setting where you can display the screen content in sRGB, P3, and Enhanced. The display on the Mi 10T Pro has support for HDR content and has Widevine L1.
With 650nits of brightness, this display is good but when compared to the 1090nits display on the OnePlus 8T, it is less bright. The 144Hz refresh rate comes into effect when scrolling through webpages, playing games, and also multi=tasking. The touch response feels good.
There is a side-mounted fingerprint scanner on the Mi 10T Pro embedded on the power button which is comparatively faster than the in-display one on the Mi 10. The face-unlock works fast and is accurate most of the time.
The display on the Mi 10T Pro feels great in day-to-day usage, though brightness levels need some improvements.
Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro Performance:
Like the Mi 10, the Mi 10T Pro is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset, not the Snapdragon 865 Plus. So when it comes to daily performance, playing games and all other everyday tasks felt smoother. This is the same flagship chipset that powers the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, OnePlus 8 Pro (Review), etc.
In terms of gaming, all heavy games like Call of Duty, Asphalt 9 ran smoothly without any frame drops and there is liquid cooling to sustain peak performance, so the back of the smartphone does not feel warm. The Snapdragon 865 has 1x2.84 GHz Kryo 585 Prime core + 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 585 Gold cores (both based on Cortex A77) and another lower 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 585 Silver core coupled with Adreno 650 GPU.
With the powerful chipset and 144Hz display, the Mi 10T Pro is an absolute powerhouse as many games like Call of Duty, Gensian Impact that runs on 90/120Hz refresh rate ran smoothly and the touch responses felt much smoother. Xiaomi's GameTurbo threw some more controls for enhanced gameplay.
The Mi 10T Pro ships in two variants - 8GB RAM and 128GB storage and another 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. Both variants have storage speeds of UFS 3.1 and have LPDDR5 RAM which is faster than the LPDDR4X RAM.
Moving to benchmarks, the Mi 10T Pro scored 586698 which is almost similar to the scores of most of the smartphones that are powered by the Snapdragon 865 chipset. It also brings in the 5G support and has Wi-Fi 6. So with gaming and performance, the Mi 10T Pro is an absolute beast.
Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro Software:
The Mi 10T Pro runs on the latest MIUI 12.0.6 built on top of Android 10. MIUI 12 is completely different from all the previous iterations of MIUI skin in the past. It brings some substantial changes as with settings application you get larger fonts and a dedicated app drawer.
You get all Android 10 features like a system-wide dark mode, navigation gestures, and Digital Wellbeing that shows the status of the smartphone where how much memory and battery any application is using. There is a new look to the Notes app where you can organize subtasks in a more easy manner.
There are some third-party applications installed which can be uninstalled but do consume some memory. With MIUI 12, Xiaomi has kept the ad situation far better where you can turn it off from the Recommendation option in the settings.
The GameTurbo shows the temperature of the smartphone, allows to record the gameplay, and also you can wipe off the message and all the messages come in a floating window. With MIUI 12, there are new wallpapers called Super Wallpapers.
There is a new Control Centre which looks almost similar to that of iOS and when swiping from the top right brings in the controls and from the left brings in the usual notifications. The RAM management has been done much better with the 144Hz display. So with MIUI12, Xiaomi has improved the software experience much better.
Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro Cameras:
Like the Mi 10, the Mi 10T Pro packs in a large 108MP camera sensor, and this the same sensor also found in the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra also. The Mi 10T Pro has another two cameras that include an ultrawide and a macro camera. There is no telephoto camera either.
The cameras are:
- 108MP f/1.7 Samsung Bright HMX1 sensor with OIS and EIS
- 13MP f/2.4 ultrawide camera with 123-degree field of view
- 5MP f/2.4 macro camera
- 20MP f/2.2 front camera
There is some softness in details when you zoom into the image and the colors do not look that good. When compared against a 48MP or 64MP camera, the details are good but it does crop more to retain it. The contrast is good though.
Coming to low-light or at night, the images have a good amount of details and this is where the 108MP camera shines. It brings out images with a much better dynamic range and the highlights in shadows are well retained.
The subjects look sharper and the noise is well kept under check. This camera does outperform the other 48MP/64MP cameras as it has that f/1.7 aperture that captures more light and with the help of OIS, the noise is kept low.
There is a dedicated Night Mode which further improves the dynamic range and also the contrast. The long exposure images come out with sharper details and the colors look natural without any sort of softness. The 108MP camera does make the Mi 10T Pro special when taken in low-lighting conditions.
The secondary camera is a 13MP ultrawide camera that takes images with good dynamic range and the details are just above average. It is not bad but compared to the main camera, the dynamic range is not so good and the details look much softer. There is a lot of noise present and when you zoom into the images, the colors do look a bit washed out.
The low-light images from the ultrawide camera come out with good dynamic range and have decent colors but there is a lot of amount of noise present. There is much softness in the subjects and the camera tends to darken the areas with some blur. Unfortunately, the ultrawide camera lacks a Night Mode.
The 5MP macro camera does a good job in bringing out images with good details and the dynamic range is pretty good. The colors look natural and the images have much better details compared to Mi 10's 2MP macro camera. The autofocus works really well and the edge detection works well in most images.
The Mi 10T Pro lacks a dedicated telephoto camera but using the main camera, you can achieve 3x optical zoom and 30x digital zoom. It results in 25MP images by default and at 2x or 3x zoom, the images have plenty of details with good dynamic range. After 10x zoom, the camera does produce some distorted images and at 30x zoom, there is plenty of noise and the colors do look washed out.
Similarly, at night, the 2x or 3x images come out with sharper details with natural color reproduction and a good dynamic range. There is some amount of noise in the background and at 10x zoom, the images have softer details and after 10x, the images are barely usable.
There is no dedicated depth sensor on the Mi 10T Pro whereas the Mi 10 gets an additional 2MP depth sensor. However, the 108MP camera does result in portraits with good background blur while keeping the details and has a good dynamic range. The edge detection works well too.
There is some sharpness and the colors do not look that natural but still gets the job done. When zoomed in, the highlights are well retained and the default portraits result in 12MP images.
There are some other camera modes that include Pro photo and video mode, long exposure, document mode, time-lapse, a dedicated VLOG mode, and a front and back mode also.
On the front, there is a 20MP camera which is found on the Mi 10 also. It does a good job in terms of color reproduction and dynamic range. The skin tones look natural and there is not much sharpness and the details look good. There is some skin smoothening noticed in most of the images and you can turn off the beauty mode also.
The front camera portraits come out above average as the edge detection is not so good and the dynamic range is just average. The details are good but the background blur takes a hit as the details are much softer and edge detection needs some improvement.
In terms of videos, the Mi 10T Pro supports 8K video recording at 30fps from the main 108MP camera. The video has an excellent dynamic range, good color reproduction, and the noise is lower also. the 4K videos at 60 or 30fps come out great with sharper details and have a good dynamic range.
The 1080p videos come out good and with OIS and EIS, the details look much better and the dynamic range is much wider also. The noise is lower also. The ultrawide camera can record only 1080p videos and there is an Ultra-Stable Mode for more stabilization.
But like the images, the videos from the ultrawide camera have decent details, the colors look a bit washed out at times and there is a lot of noise present in the background.
From the front, the Mi 10T Pro can only record 1080p videos at 30fps. The videos come out with good detail and the dynamic range is good too. Overall, the cameras are good on the Mi 10T Pro and will not disappoint either.
Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro Battery Life:
The Mi 10T Pro is powered by a larger 5000mAh which is slightly larger than the 4780mAh battery on the Mi 10. This battery can last for one and a half days with normal usage and the display is set to 144Hz. When the display is set at 60Hz, the Mi 10T Pro can easily run through two days with normal usage.
With heavy usage that includes playing Call Of Duty for 3-4 hours, scrolling through webpages, and also streaming social media for 5-6 hours, there was around 20-30 percent left in the tank this is due to the larger 5000mAh battery and MIUI optimizations to the battery. To save on the battery, there is an Ultra Power Saving Mode also.
The standard screen on time was recorded at 6-7 hours which is pretty good and in some tests with normal usage, the standard screen on time was 8 hours thanks to the AdaptiveSync display on the Mi 10T Pro.
There is a 33W fast charger bundled inside the box with Dual Split Charging technology. It charges the smartphone from 0 to 100 percent within 70 minutes which is quite fast but not as fast as 30W Warp Charge or other 65W chargers. Do also note that here the 33W fast charger is charging a 5000mAh battery.
Xiaomi has removed the support for wireless charging and reverse wireless charging feature on the Mi 10T Pro to keep costs low but still with the larger battery and a fast charger, it does get the work done easily.
Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro Audio Quality:
The Mi 10T Pro packs in a stereo speaker where the top speaker and the bottom speaker together act as stereo speakers to produce sound the level of loudness is also good. This channel separation is good as the sound is much better heard and the bass levels are good also.
There is no 3.5mm headphone jack on the Mi 10T Pro but Xiaomi provides a USB Type-C to headphone jack adapter inside the box so that you can use your earphones and also wireless earphones separately. The Sound effects are much better with an equalizer. Still, the audio may not be as good as on Samsung, Apple, but gets the job done.
The haptic motor works good as vibrations are felt when tapping and coming to call quality, the speaker on the top is having a louder and clearer sound.
Verdict:
The Mi 10T Pro strikes a perfect balance in terms of specifications and the price at which it is offered. It has some of the best features in a smartphone that would not make you go for an outright flagship smartphone till your requirement is not so huge.
The Mi 10 is still a great smartphone that has all the flagship specifications and continues to go strong, so with the Mi 10T Pro, Xiaomi wants to aim the smartphone segment by offering a massive 144Hz display, Snapdragon 865 chipset, 5000mAh battery, and also that massive 108MP camera.
However, there is an IPS LCD panel which is less bright than the AMOLED display on the Mi 10 and the lack of wireless charging is a miss which the Mi 10 has. The ultrawide camera performance needs some improvement and other than these, it ticks all the right boxes thus offering a flagship smartphone experience.
The prices start at Rs.39999 which makes it slightly cheaper than the Mi 10 which positions it at a perfect place and Xiaomi is on the right track by making such a good flagship by striking the right balance.
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