Xiaomi is bringing the fight to the other smartphone makers.
With the Mi 10 and the Mi 10 Pro, they are taking phones to the next level. So can the Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 pro beat the competition?
Will they get the coveted title of the best smartphones for this year?
Let’s find out in this review of the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro.
Xiaomi over the past few years have been busy conquering the consumer market with other products and that kind of affected their position as a premium smartphone maker.
But now they are back.
The Mi 10 series is a premium series with two phones – The Mi 10 and the Mi 10 pro. Both are 5G enabled and both have big price tags on them.
Mi 10 Price and Mi 10 Pro Singapore Price
Mi 10 with 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage costs $1088. It comes with a free Mi True Wireless Earphones
Mi 10 Pro with a 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage costs $1399. It comes with a free Mi Smart Band 4.
Both the free items are part of the pre-order offer
Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro Specifications
| Mi 10 Series | Mi 10 Specifications | Mi 10 Pro Specifications |
| Display | 6.67-inch OLED with HDR 10+ and 90Hz refresh rate. 2340 X 1080pixels | 6.67-inch OLED with HDR 10+ and 90Hz refresh rate. 2340 X 1080pixels |
| Processor | Snapdragon 865 | Snapdragon 865 |
| Internal storage | 256GB | 512GB |
| Back Cameras | 108MP main camera, 13MP ultra-wide, 2MP macro, 2MP depth sensor | 108MP main camera, 8MP telephoto lens, 12MP portrait camera, 20MP ultra-wide |
| Front Camera | 20MP | 20MP |
| Battery | 4780 mAh | 4500 mAh |
| 5G | Yes | Yes |
Xiaomi Mi 10 Series Review
These phones are pretty new and we will do a full fledged review once it’s gone through rigorous testing.
The first thing you notice about these models is the addition of 5G and this is why it also costs a hefty bit.
Truth be told, for Xiaomi phones they are a tad expensive.
Both the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro come with 6.67-inch OLED displays that pack quite a punch. They are super bright with 1120 nits for the Mi 10 and 1200 nits for the Mi 10 Pro.
They both have an in-display fingerprint scanner.
When you are paying north of $1000, your phone better be good looking as well. So how does it fare there?
Both the phones have a 3D curved AMOLED screen that looks great. They look and feel premium and come in some solid colours.
The Mi 10 Pro has the Starry Blue and Pearl White colours, whereas the Mi 10 comes in Ice Blue, Titanium, Silver Black and Peach Gold.
Both the phones are power houses when it comes to the processor. They run on a Snapdragon 865 processor, which is smooth as butter and is one of the best processors in the market right now.
It runs on MIUI 11 which is the latest Xiaomi OS on top of Android 10.0. MIUI is one of the most hated OS’ out there in the market and that stops a lot of people from purchasing a Xiaomi. Although there are massive improvements, there are still a few failings.
Xiaomi Mi 10 / Mi 10 Pro Camera
We can’t talk about the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro without talking about the cameras.
If you’re having a sense of deja vu about having seen a 108MP camera from Xiaomi before, then you’re right because Xiaomi did release a 108MP camera with the Mi Note 10.
The good news is, there are improvements in the camera from Xiaomi for the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro.
The processing times have increased and the clarity has massively improved too. For most people the 108MP is a bit of an overkill because it does take a bit of time to process the photo and the size of these images are massive.
The standard 27MP photos are pretty great. They have the right sharpness, great detail.
The only downside is, you need to focus clearly and give the camera sometime to focus on the subject, otherwise it appears blurry in some cases.
The video quality is about 8K at 30FPS. That is very good, but it brings us to a major downside for these phones and that is their Micro SD card. There is no provision to expand the storage.
So for people who will use the large cameras, have to resort to transferring their images to an external drive and to keep clearing their files on the phone on a regular basis.
Xiaomi Mi 10 / Mi 10 Pro Battery
Coming to the battery, it’s interesting that the Mi 10 has a 4780 mAh and the Mi 10 Pro has a 4500 mAh. Although that isn’t a huge difference, it is still a noticeable difference.
These batteries are pretty excellent and will last you at least two days on a single charge. The charging time is blazing fast with a 65W charger that can charge the device in under 1 hour. That is pretty incredible.
The refresh rate can be changed from 90Hz to 60Hz to extend the battery life.
The other underrated strength of the Mi 10 series phones is their audio capabilities. They run on symmetrical dual audio speakers, which has been rated and ranked as one of the best audio systems. So playing music loudly? You get the best in the business.
The major downside I see about this phone is not the phone itself, but people’s perception about the Xiaomi phone. Would people spend quite a bit of money for a Xiaomi phone, when they can go for a Samsung or an iPhone even.
Final Verdict
To summarize, these phones pack a punch. They have great cameras, good display, super excellent battery life and quick charging, nice stereo. The processor is big.
The cons would be their poor water and dust protection. The 90Hz isn’t as good as the 120 Hz available in other models.
But most importantly Xiaomi’s perception stands in the way. When they release a flagship at the price of a mid-ranger like the Redmi Note 9S, people start to think, why can’t I get this phone for cheaper?
Xiaomi 10 Series Singapore Price
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