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Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Review

Written By AJ Viray
Published • March 18th, 2021
Gadget ReviewsMobile
3 Comments

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 series recently launched in the Philippines, and representing the base model is the Redmi Note 10. It packs solid features which will matter the most for any budget segment buyer. But how does it perform for everyday use? Here’s our review of the Redmi Note 10.

Table of Contents

Design and Construction

The Redmi Note 10, despite its huge battery, is slim and narrow. The materials are mostly plastic, but it is IP53 rated so that it can survive water splashes. The frame is metallic, while the rear panel has a glass-like finish. Please note that it is prone to fingerprints and smudges, so better take advantage of the case included in the package.

The Redmi Note 10 comes in Onyx Gray, Pebble White, and Lake Green colors. The unit we have on hand sports the Onyx Gray colorway, the same as the Redmi Note 10 Pro. We also have a protruding camera module housing quad-rear cameras that are identical to Redmi Note 10 Pro.

On the right are the volume keys and the power/lock button, which doubles as the fingerprint scanner.

We have the triple card tray for two nano-sized SIM cards and a microSD card on the left.

Up top, there’s a loudspeaker, IR blaster, and secondary microphone.

Underneath, we’ll find here the 3.5mm audio jack, main microphone, USB-C port, and loudspeaker.

The device is slippery but light, weighing 178.8 g, and measures 8.29mm thick. It’s compact enough for one-handed use.

Display and Multimedia

The Note 10 features a 6.43-inch FHD+ AMOLED DotDisplay screen with thin bezels. Looking at it side by side with the Note 10 Pro, its punch-hole is slightly bigger. Above that, you can find an earpiece. As for protection, it’s covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It doesn’t come with a pre-installed screen protector, so you’ll have to purchase that separately if you want additional protection.

The display settings allow you to choose between Auto mode, Saturated, and Standard. You also have the option to adjust the color temperature and white balance. Display quality is pretty good, has great contrast, vibrant colors, deep blacks, and bright enough for outdoor use. Scrolling through social media, browsing photos, and even just swiping around the home screen provides a pleasing experience.

As for audio quality, the Redmi Note 10 features dual-speakers, but the speaker above the earpiece has a lower volume than that of the bottom speaker. The sound is noticeably louder than the Pro variant and has a more balanced mix of mid and high frequencies but lacks bass as expected of phones in this price segment.

Camera

The Redmi Note 10 comes with a quad-camera consisting of a 48MP F1.79 main, 8MP F2.2 ultra-wide, 2MP F2.4 macro, and 2MP F2.4 depth sensors. The 13MP F2.45 camera handles selfies.

The cameras provided us with awesome daylight photos, with images capturing a lot of detail and quite sharp. When it comes to color reproduction, reds and greens are more vibrant. While the ultra-wide has an okay quality, it is still useful since edge distortion is not too jarring.

In portrait shots, the subject-background separation is not that good, and there’s a tendency to get noisy when taken in situations without plenty of light. On the other hand, macro shots are not as good as we expected, but it’s still usable. For low-light photos, the device won’t require you to stay still to capture a photo, but when it comes to quality, it’s hazy in some situations; you’ll need some patience on this if you want to get the best shot.

When it comes to selfies, the natural skin tone is retained, and it doesn’t go overboard with the beauty mode on. The portrait mode also has an excellent background subject separation, and you could also adjust the aperture and blur style depending on what you prefer.

For videos, you can shoot up to 4K at 30 fps. The quality is sharp with good colors, but it doesn’t have any optical stabilization, so better to use a tripod if you want to have a steady video.

OS, UI, and Apps

For its operating system, the Redmi Note 10 runs on MIUI 12.0.2, based on Android 11. Pre-installed apps include Amazon Shopping. Booking.com, iQYI, LinkedIn, Mi Remote, and the usual apps from Google such as YouTube, Gmail, Drive, Photos, and the like. It also has a dedicated dark mode that can be toggled on in the settings.

Storage-wise, we’re getting 128GB of total storage space with 107GB usable.

Performance and Benchmarks

When it comes to internals, powering the Redmi Note 10 is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 678 with Adreno 612 GPU. The Note 10 has two RAM and storage options, 4GB and 6GB RAM, and 64GB and 128GB of internal storage. Performance is excellent, multitasking, switching through apps while having multiple ones open in the background. There’s minimal warmth around the phone when it comes to gaming, and as for the gameplay itself, we played Call of Duty Mobile and Asphalt 9. We’ve noticed some occasional frame drops at its highest settings available, but we recommend lowering down the graphics settings if you want the smoothest performance possible.

Here are the benchmark scores:

AnTuTu – 239,944
Geekbench – 542 (Single-core), 1,677 (Multi-core), 419 (OpenCL)
3D Mark – 1,476 (SSE – OpenGL ES 3.1), 1,382 (SSE – Vulkan), 481 (Wild Life)
PCMark – 7,253 (Work 2.0)
AndroBench – 508.17 MB/s (Sequential Read), 267.82 MB/s (Sequential Write)

Connectivity and Battery Life

The Redmi Note 10 comes with the usual connectivity features such as Dual-SIM, WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, SatNav systems, USB-C, IR blaster, fingerprint scanners, and 3.5mm audio jack.

Keeping the Note 10 running is a large 5,000mAh battery, which is great for an affordable daily driver. The PCMark battery test rates it at 19 hours and 11 minutes, while the video loop test gave us a total of 17 hours and 10 minutes of playback. If you’re a light user, then the Note 10’s battery life should be more than enough for your daily needs. For charging, the Note 10 supports 33W fast charging and takes an hour to reach 100%.

Conclusion

Overall, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 is a pretty impressive device for something priced under PHP 10K. It delivers reliable performance, comes with a punchy AMOLED display, has good battery life, and is also IP53 rated. The lack of 5G may be a downer for some, a feature that is reserved for the Redmi Note 10 5G model. But this could be a great device for users who are on a budget and do not see 5G as a necessity for a year or so. The low price still makes it an attractive option.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 and its variants are priced as follows:

4GB RAM + 64GB – PHP 8,490USD 145INR 12,265EUR 138CNY 1,054
6GB RAM + 128GB – PHP 9,990USD 170INR 14,432EUR 162CNY 1,240

Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 (Global) specs:
6.43-inch FHD+ (2400 x 1080) AMOLED DotDisplay
Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Qualcomm Snapdragon 678 octa-core CPU
Adreno 612 GPU
4GB, 6GB LPDDR4X RAM
64GB, 128GB UFS 2.2 storage
microSD card (dedicated slot)
Quad-rear cameras:
• 48MP F1.79 main
• 8MP F2.2 ultra-wide
• 2MP F2.4 macro
• 2MP F2.4 depth
13MP F2.45 front camera
Dual-SIM
4G LTE
WiFi 5
Bluetooth 5.1
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS
USB-C
IR blaster
Fingerprint scanner (side)
Face Unlock
Dual-speakers
3.5mm audio jack
IP53 splash-proof
MIUI 12 (Android 11)
5,000mAh battery w/ 33W fast charging
160.46 × 74.5 × 8.29 mm
178.8 g
Onyx Gray, Pebble White, Lake Green