Xiaomi brings in a nice budget contender with some extras.
The Redmi Note series is the most popular smartphone series from Xiaomi that brings the best balance in hardware with good software. The Redmi Note 9 series was quite a big hit and the same is the path being followed by the Redmi Note 10 series. Last year, Xiaomi came up with three models in the Redmi Note series.
Similarly, this year we have the Redmi Note 10, Note 10 Pro, and the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max. The Redmi Note 10 Pro Max is a stellar mid-range smartphone as it packs some heavy specifications like a 120Hz display, 108MP camera, and more which makes it unique when compared to other smartphones. The Redmi Note 10 seems to be the right pick for decent hardware and user experience.
The Redmi Note 10 brings in some very good features like a larger 6.43 inches Full HD+ AMOLED display, a refreshing design, stereo speakers, a Snapdragon 678 chipset, and a larger 5000mAh battery with support for faster charging. So is this the best budget offering and has Xiaomi made an effort to bring the best in the budget segment?
Let's find out in the full review.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Design:
In terms of design, like the Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max (Review), this smartphone also bears the same EVOL design which looks striking compared to last year's Aura Design on the Redmi Note 9. Unlike the Redmi Note 9 Pro which has a glass back, the Redmi Note 10 has a polycarbonate back with a good-looking matte finish that looks striking.
The Redmi Note 10 is available in three color options that include Aqua Green, Frost White, and Shadow Black. The smartphone is slightly curved at the back and the matte finish does not attract fingerprints a lot. The back of the smartphone is easier to hold as the weight is 179 grams though having a larger 5000mAh battery.
The camera module is striking to look at as there is a rectangular module that houses the quad cameras where the main camera is at the top and just below it are the other three cameras and to the side sits a LED flashlight. The camera module is slightly raised and the smartphone does wobble when kept flat on the table. However, the camera bump is not so raised as the Pro models.
On the front, there is a punch-hole display at the center on the top and just above the punch-hole, there is an earpiece. To the sides, Xiaomi has given a metallic finish where on the right side, there are the volume buttons and a power button which also doubles up as a fingerprint scanner. On the left side, there is a triple card slot that takes two SIM cards and a microSD card for storage expansion.
At the bottom, there is a USB Type-C port, a loudspeaker grille, a primary microphone, and a 3.5mm headphone jack whereas on the top, there is a secondary microphone and an IR Blaster. However, though you have a polycarbonate back, Xiaomi has provided an IP53 rating which is never seen on a smartphone in the budget segment.
Overall, the build may not appeal but the design and some additions like an IR Blaster and IP53 rating make it a better option.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Display:
The Redmi Note 10 has a larger 6.43 inches Full HD+ (1080x2400 pixels) Super AMOLED display with a screen-to-body ratio of 19.5:9. This display is smaller compared to the 6.67 inches display on the Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max. It is also the very few smartphones to have a Full HD+ resolution that also includes the POCO M3 (Review) which is a great budget offering also.
However, the inclusion of an AMOLED display in a smartphone in the budget segment makes a whole new deal as it it is much better compared to many LCD displays. Since you are getting an AMOLED display, the color reproduction is excellent and the viewing angles are also good.
There is no high refresh rate which is found on the Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Note 10 Pro Max which may not be a deal in budget smartphones. However, Xiaomi has put in a brighter panel on the Redmi Note 10 and like all other AMOLED displays, it also covers 84 percent of the DCI-P3 gamut and has anti-flickering ensuring the display does not flicker in the dark.
The brightness is very good as the display can go as bright as 1100nits which makes provides it good legibility under direct sunlight and also the brightness can go very lower which will not affect the eyes in the dark. The auto-brightness calibration has been done very well on the smartphone though. The color tone of the display can be set from settings - Auto, Saturated, and Standard.
However, it is recommended to keep the display on Auto mode or you can change to Saturated if you want more vibrant colors. All texts and images on the display look crisper on the smartphone but you do miss out on HDR playback which we found on the Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Note 10 Pro Max. The display has support for Widevine L1 so streaming HD contents from OTT platforms will be easier.
For protection, Xiaomi has gone for Gorilla Glass 3 on the Redmi Note 10 which is good as most budget smartphones do not have Gorilla Glass for protection. The fingerprint scanner is embedded on the power button which is very fast and responsive and also the face unlock works faster. In terms of display, the Redmi Note 10 makes for an excellent smartphone for consuming media.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Performance:
The Redmi Note 10 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 678 chipset which is a newer mid-range chipset that sits somewhere between the Snapdragon 662 and the Snapdragon 720G. Like the Snapdragon 675, this chipset has an octa-core configuration that has 2x2.2 GHz Kryo 460 Gold cores (ARM Cortex-A76) and another 6x1.8 GHz Kryo 460 Silver cores (ARM Cortex-A55).
The Adreno 612 GPU does the duty which is the same as found on the Snapdragon 675. Both the chipsets are built on an 11nm process and the only difference is that the Snapdragon 678 has a slightly higher 200MHz clock speed compared to the Snapdragon 675. Overall, the daily tasks like scrolling through web pages, playing games, and also multi-tasking felt smoother.
All heavy games like Call Of Duty Mobile, Asphalt 9 Extreme, etc ran smoothly on the smartphone at the medium graphics settings and the max frame rate. At a high frame rate, there were some stutters and frame drops noticed but still, the gameplay was pretty good. However, after long hours of gaming, the back of the Redmi Note 10 felt quite warmer though Xiaomi has provided a liquid cooling mechanism.
In terms of benchmarks, the Redmi Note 10 scores 544 and 1710 in single and multi-core tests in Geekbench 5.1 which is quite good, and in a graphics-intensive benchmark like Antutuv8, the smartphone scored 240849. These scores are slightly lower compared to Snapdragon 720G and Mediatek Helio G95 chipset. But still, you do get good daily performance and decent gaming also.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Software:
Like all Redmi smartphones, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 ships with MIUI 12 on top of Android 11 out of the box. As usual, you get all the Android 11 features and have the regular system-wide dark mode, navigation gestures, and Digital Wellbeing seen on all Android 10 smartphones. MIUI is not so good when it comes to memory management as it kills most of the background apps to save battery.
There are the Google stock applications like dialler, messaging, calendar, and contacts and also while swiping from the left of the home screen, there is Google Discover showing all the news. As the smartphone has an AMOLED display, there is an Always-On display that is customizable in terms of looks and appearance on the lock screen.
However, the one issue that we saw with it that it remains for 10 seconds which Xiaomi could fix in a future software update. Other noticeable features of MIUI include the new Control Center which is seen when you swipe from the right at the top. There are many Xiaomi-specific applications pre-installed that do throw in a lot of notifications.
The presence of ads was noticed in the user interface but not that much but many apps like GetApps throw in a lot of notifications and since there is a lot of bloatware present, they cannot be uninstalled. Xiaomi will fix this issue with the MIUI 12.5 update where you can uninstall many of these applications. So software experience clearly is not as good as Stock Android or RealmeUI.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Cameras:
The Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Note 10 Pro Max houses larger 64/108MP sensors but here this is not the case with the Redmi Note 10. The Redmi Note 10 houses a quad-camera setup that includes a 48MP f/1.8 Sony IMX582 sensor for the main camera, an 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera, a 2MP f/2.4 macro camera, and a 2MP depth camera. On the front, there is a 13MP f/2.5 camera for the selfies.
The images from the main camera have a good amount of details and the dynamic range is also above average. The colors look oversaturated and there is quite some amount of noise present. The contrast is good and it is not as sharp as the Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Note 10 Pro Max. The 48MP images have good details but have an average dynamic range and more amount of noise.
48MP shot
At night, the images from the main camera do a good job in terms of color reproduction though but have above average dynamic range. There is plenty of noise present and the details in shadows are crushed. When you zoom into the images, they look softer though.
Turning on the Night Mode restores blown highlights in shadows and areas with low lighting, The dynamic range improves, and noise is reduced to a larger margin. The exposure improves but the color still looks oversaturated. For images shot during the night, it is recommended better to use the Night Mode always.
The 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera has been seen on many budgets as well as mid-range smartphones. The ultrawide camera has an average dynamic range and the colors look saturated like on the main camera. The colors are not as vibrant as the main camera but the exposure and white balance are good. However, there is some amount of noise present.
At night, the images from the ultrawide camera come out with good details but there is a lot of noise present. There is some oversharpening noticed and when you zoom into the images, there is a lot of softness noticed around the corners. The dedicated Night Mode on the ultrawide camera brings much better details and reduces noise to some extent.
Unlike the Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Note 10 Pro Max which do get a 5MP macro camera that can double up as a telephoto camera with 2x zoom, the Redmi Note 10 gets only a 2MP macro camera which has been common with many smartphones nowadays.
The 2MP macro camera as we all know is a gimmick and as a result, the images have washed out colors and the dynamic range is not so good. The camera can focus closer to 4cm but as it lacks autofocus, the images come out average. However, if you want a better macro image, the main camera applies zoom but does crop in a lot.
The 2MP depth camera does a good job in terms of portraits. The dynamic range is good and the colors look well saturated. The edge detection is good and the skin tones look natural also. When you zoom into the portraits, there is some amount of noise present and but here there is no softness as we have seen many budget smartphones in terms of portraits.
On the front, there is a 13MP f/2.5 camera that does a decent in terms of selfies as the dynamic range is good and the skin tones look natural here. There is some noise present in the selfies though. The selfie portraits come out good with proper background blur and the dynamic range is good here.
In terms of videos, the Redmi Note 10 can record 4K videos at 30fps. The videos have a good dynamic range but there is some oversaturation in the background. There is a lot of jitteriness and the resulting videos have more noise. Switching to 1080p at 60fps or 30fps results in stable footage with punchier colors and less noise.
The EIS kicks at 1080p resolution and handles the exposure much better. The video from the ultrawide camera can only record at 1080p only and the resulting footage has an average dynamic range with more noise. The videos from the main camera come out on average during the night and with the dedicated Night Mode it does mask out noise and also improves the dynamic range.
The ultrawide camera videos come out just average during night as the footage has a lot of noise and the subjects in the videos look softer. Xiaomi has provided Ultra Stable mode for the main camera but that is only restricted to 1080p and not 4K. The front camera does a good job in terms of videos but there is a large amount of noise and the dynamic range is just good.
Other options in the camera include Night, 48MP, Short Video, Panorama, Slow-Motion, Timelapse but it does miss out on Clone Mode and Dual Video mode as seen on the Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max.
Overall, the cameras are good considering this is a budget smartphone but a better main camera could have hit a sweet spot.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Battery Life:
The Redmi Note 10 has a larger 5000mAh battery which is just 200mAh lower in capacity compared to the Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Note 10 Pro Max but they have larger 6.67 inches display with a 120Hz refresh rate. However, the Redmi Note 10 has a smaller 6.43 inches display with a standard 60Hz refresh rate. So we expect good battery life.
With normal usage, the Redmi Note 10 can easily last for two continuous days without charging as the efficient 11nm process Snapdragon 678 with MIUI 12 provides good optimizations to the battery. The standard screen-on time was around 6-7 hours which is good but smartphones with HD display provide slightly better battery life compared to the Redmi Note 10.
With heavy usage that includes playing Call Of Duty for 3-4 hours continuously, streaming social media like Facebook, Twitter, etc, and also scrolling through webpages throughout the day, the smartphone easily lasted a single day and also had some charge left.
To charge a larger battery, we need a fast charger as well and this is where Xiaomi has provided a 33W fast charger inside the box that charges the Redmi Note 10 from 0 to 100 percent in around 70 minutes which is really good as most smartphones in the budget segment skip on fast chargers.
Overall, the battery life remains good and the inclusion of a fast charger inside the box is a good addition.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Audio Quality:
The Redmi Note 10 is one of those very few smartphones in the budget segment that has stereo speakers where the primary speaker at the bottom and the another speaker vent on the top together produce very good sound. The loudness levels are good and the sound does not feel distorted.
However, it is not as good as the stereo speakers on the Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max but there is also Dolby Atmos which provides enhanced sound effect while watching a video or playing games. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack and the sound output through it is very good.
Verdict:
Overall, the Redmi Note 10 is a very capable budget smartphone when you see all its aspects as it brings some segment first features in the budget smartphone segment that includes a Full HD AMOLED display, a set of stereo speakers, faster charging with good battery life,etc. It has decent overall gaming and daily performance and the software experience is decent.
However, Xiaomi could have used the Snapdragon 720G which would have been a stellar deal but still all games played smoothly on the smartphone and there was no lag noticed while scrolling throughout or switching between applications. The cameras are good but still needs improvement in terms of color saturation and other than that everything is perfect.
This is also a very good smartphone for streaming social media especially with the combination of stereo speakers and a high quality AMOLED display. So considering everything , the Redmi Note 10 provides a new and refreshing design, an excellent display, good performance, excellent audio quality, a very good set of cameras with decent software experience.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 lifts the reputation of the brand Xiaomi by carving out another winner.
0 Comments
Please do not enter any spam link in the comment box