Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro review: low-cost high-end experience

It also has a bundled 33-watt charger.

Xiaomi's Redmi Note 10 Pro, unveiled in March, is one of the best budget Android phones so far this year, if not the best, as long as you can live without 5G. With a starting price of $229 (about £160 or AU$290), you get a mobile experience that is in many ways similar to the flagship, which costs three times as much. Some specs are also quite high.

The Redmi Note 10 Pro has a 6.7-inch AMOLED screen, a Snapdragon 732G chipset, stereo speakers, four rear cameras, a long-lasting battery and a fast charger. Plus, it has a snappy 120Hz display, the same refresh rate as top models like the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

but it's is a cheap phone, so Xiaomi made some smart sacrifices.

The biggest thing the Redmi Note 10 Pro lacks is 5G, and if you're going to keep it for a few years, you'll want your next phone to have it. If 5G is important to you, you might consider the pricier 5G version in the Redmi Note 10 series. The Redmi Note 10 Pro also doesn't have a telephoto lens. But in my opinion, considering the price, it's a fair omission. Even with these compromises, the other features of the Redmi Note 10 Pro make up for it.

There are three models, starting at $229 for the 6GB + 64GB model, $249 for the 6GB + 128GB model, and $279 for the 8GB + 128GB model. (These are recommended prices provided by Xiaomi, and actual prices may vary by market.) Xiaomi says it has no current plans to bring the Mi 11 stateside, which is unlikely given its ongoing legal battles Change quickly. US Government .You should eventually be able to buy the phone in the US through online retailers like Amazon and Apple eBay, though.

The importance of the Redmi Note series to Xiaomi cannot be overstated, because this phone puts Xiaomi on the map. The Chinese company's budget-friendly champion sometimes outsells Apple and Samsung globally.

The Redmi Note 10 Pro offers three color options. This is called onyx grey.

Xiaomi's changes in the Redmi Note 10 Pro

Unlike Xiaomi's flagship Mi series, the Redmi Note is known for packing fancy features into affordable packages. Last year's Redmi Note 9 Pro also had a large screen and a huge battery, but Redmi has finally changed that with the Note 10 Pro.

• Display upgrade: The Redmi Note 10 Pro uses an AMOLED panel with a refresh rate of 120Hz, which is upgraded from the LCD panel with a 60Hz display.
• More pixels: The Redmi Note 10 Pro has a 108-megapixel wide-angle camera, while the Note 9 Pro has a 64-megapixel wide-angle lens.
• Incremental processor upgrade.

The Redmi Note 10 Pro has an display generator

In addition to the camera, Xiaomi has also focused on upgrading the display, which plays an important role in the marketing of the series. The 6.7-inch Redmi Note 10 Pro features a crisp AMOLED panel with a peak brightness of 1,200 nits , making the screen easy to read even in the sunniest lighting conditions.

One of the great features of the Redmi Note 10 Pro is the fast 120Hz refresh rate. That's the same speed as Samsung's latest Galaxy S21 lineup, including the $1,200 (£1,149, AU$1,849) Galaxy S21 Ultra, as well as Xiaomi's own flagship smartphone, the Mi 11.Most phones have a 60Hz refresh rate, which means the screen refreshes 60 times per second. The 120Hz display looks smoother when scrolling through apps, photos, and web pages.

Classic design with plenty of ports

The Redmi Note 10 Pro falls squarely into the budget phone category, but it manages to create a premium look and feel, thanks in part to its Gorilla Glass back (though plastic sides surround the device) and a redesigned Camera bump. The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition, which costs hundreds of dollars more, has a plastic back.

Xiaomi also repositioned the camera bump, moving it from the center of the phone to the top left of the device. It houses four cameras, a flashlight and an infrared transmitter.

There's also a fingerprint reader on the right side of the phone, and at the top you'll find an headphone jack - a rarity on phones these days. Flip the phone over and there's a display notch in the top center of the display that houses the selfie camera.

Like the international version of the Xiaomi 11, the Redmi Note 10 Pro comes with a range of accessories, including a 33-watt wired charger, an USB-C adapter, and a plastic case.

The Redmi Note 10 Pro has a 3.5mm headphone bag on the top left.

The 4 rear cameras of the Redmi Note 10 Pro

Xiaomi drew attention to the device's camera in its media tools for the Redmi Note 10 series. For the 10 Pro at least, the primary shooter's resolution has been bumped to a 108-megapixel wide-angle lens, accompanied by three more: 8-megapixel ultra-wide, 5-megapixel telephoto, 2-megapixel depth. Xiaomi says its "telephoto" lens lets you get 2x closer than a normal macro camera at the same distance.

During my hands-on time, the camera was able to take clear and vibrant photos, especially in well-lit environments. Images taken in dimly lit environments are also impressive considering this is a budget phone. These images are enhanced by using nine-in-one pixel binning, which means that information from nine pixels in the 108-megapixel sensor is used to make one pixel in the final photo. Samsung's top-of-the-line Galaxy S21 Ultra relies on the same technology to enhance its photos.

But keep in mind that it doesn't have a telephoto camera, which means all zooms are digital and not optical. So you can't expect this phone to capture detailed images of distant objects. In fact, pictures taken beyond 2.5x zoom have started to appear grainy. Let's take a look at the camera in action.

The ultra-wide-angle lens of the Redmi Note 10 Pro has a 118-degree field of view.

with default settings on a cloudy morning.

5x zoom example.

10x zoom example.

Shot in SuperMacro mode in a well-lit room.

Low-light image example.

Battery and processor

The Redmi Note 10 Pro is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G processor, which is better than the 730G chipset in Google's Pixel 4A. While it's not the latest or cutting-edge chipset in Qualcomm's stable release—you'd have to pay for a Samsung Galaxy S21 or Xiaomi's Mi 11 for that—but it sufficed for my needs and got me through my day job without a hitch. The

battery life is also solid, lasting about a day and a half with what I describe as light use.That means I make a few short phone calls, watch TikTok videos, write emails, read news, watch more TikTok videos and take pictures.

*Availability depends on market