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Mi Note 10 Review – Is it truly a Photographer’s Delight?

Xiaomi is a brand that never disappoints its customers by offering very high-quality products at an aggressive price range. From smartphones to suitcases and crazy gadgets, Xiaomi always pushes its limits by pledging to the least 5% margin on hardware and it is always ahead with its price-to-performance ratios.

The company again gives complete justice to its commitment to Xiaomi Note 10. Despite having similar form factors like competitors, it still has some killer specifications that are unlike others.

Mi Note 10 is finally here as a photography-centric smartphone. Despite having a 108MP sensor, it delivers sharp 27MP images using pixel-binning technology. It also has 4 other cameras on the rear panel for different focal lengths.

Another killer feature is its massive 5260mAh battery which really delivers good battery life optimized with mid-range Snapdragon 730G chipset. Though it is not that impressive on the software front, its powerful hardware still makes this device attractive.

Unboxing

  • USB-A to C type cable
  • 30W fast charger
  • Quick start guide
  • TPU case of dark grey color

Mi Note 10

The best thing is the 30W fast charger comes inside the box. So, you can charge your device quickly despite having such a huge battery. You will get a black TPU case with green and black units but the white model comes with a transparent case. It doesn’t have headphones in the box.

Design

  • Teardrop notch for selfie camera
  • 208g
  • 8×74.2×9.67 mm
  • Stereo speakers
  • Curved edges
  • 108MP Penta-camera module

Mi Note 10 Design

With a solid aluminum frame and curved glass edges, Mi Note 10 is a premium phone but not that interesting in the design front. It has got quite a large full HD+ 6.47-inch display, which beautifully curves across the edges. On the bottom, it has a small chin. On the top, it has teardrop notch. There is an earpiece hidden in its bezel and a speaker grill on the top.

It has a volume rocker and a power lock/unlock button on the ride side. It has SIM tray when you go further down. You cannot expand the memory with a microSD card. The bottom has speakers, a microphone, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a USB-C port. It also has an IR blaster on the top.

On the back, the device has a clean, reflective design that can catch fingerprints. There is a 5-camera setup down the edge. It has 4 different flashes along with the cameras. The device has got Gorilla Glass 5 protection on both back and front.

Camera

  • 108MP main camera snapper with OIS and f/1.69 aperture
  • 12MP 2x telephoto zoom lens with f/2 aperture
  • 8MP 3.7x telephoto zoom lens with OIS and f/2 aperture
  • 5MP Crop on 3.7x
  • 8MP tele camera for 5x optical zoom (but it is not true in real life)
  • 16MP selfie camera with f/2.0
  • Macro 2MP camera with 1.75μm pixel size
  • 12MP ultrawide camera with 117-degree FoV and f/2.2 aperture

Mi Note 10 Camera

Overall, there are 5 cameras on the back and one selfie camera on the front. The 108MP standard sensor is 1/1.33-inches long with 0.8μm of pixel size, which is similar to that of the 48MP Sony IMX586 camera. But it is larger than ½-inch IMX586 sensor for more resolution. Pixel binning works just like the 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor. The pixels are split into four and data is gathered from other pixels to generate the same result.

The camera app is quite simple to use and it also has 108MP mode because standard mode delivers 27MP images due to pixel binning. Portrait mode has a nice background cancellation. The 32MP Selfie camera is quite good which looks more natural and sharp than other cameras.

Display

  • 47-inch AMOLED panel
  • Full HD+ 2340x1080p resolution
  • Aspect ratio of 19.5:9
  • In-display fingerprint sensor
  • HDR+/HDR 10 support

Display Mi Note 10

Like OnePlus 7T, Mi Note 10 also has a full HD+ display which looks nice. It also has deep blacks with 400,000:1 contrast ratio like an AMOLED Panel. The in-display fingerprint scanner works accurately and quite fast. Xiaomi reduced the thickness of the scanner by 88%.

Performance

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G
  • 6GB RAM
  • Adreno 618 GPU
  • 128GB internal UFS 2.1 storage

Though Mi Note 10 lacks a flagship processor, it still performs quite nice and adds 15% better graphics performance than standard SD 730 processor. We didn’t notice any stuttering or lags in daily use. The processor is powered by 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage to keep things running smoothly.

Battery

  • 5260mAh
  • No wireless charging
  • 30W fast charging

The Mi Note 10 is powered by the huge 5260mAh battery so there is no doubt on battery life. Snapdragon 730G is power efficient in itself as compared to SD 855.

On average, it ran around 7 and a half hours with screen-on time.  It also has the support of 30W fast charger that can charge its battery from 0% to 100% in 1 hr. 6 min.

Software

  • Android 9 Pie
  • MIUI 11

The device runs MIUI version 11.0.3.0 based on Android 9 Pie, which is just fine. By default, it doesn’t have an app drawer. Interface just feels quite old. But Xiaomi has added Mi Drop, a new file transfer add-on that works well with Vivo and Oppo phones.

Pricing

  • 6GB RAM/128GB storage variant costs €550

And here comes the most important part. Mi Note 10 offers good value for money for €550 (around $610) – but in just battery and camera. Performance-wise, one can choose OnePlus 7T instead, which has a better display with a 90Hz refresh rate, a more powerful SD 855+ chipset, and better UI.

Plus

  • No compromise on photo quality
  • Versatile camera module
  • Headphone jack
  • IR blaster
  • Massive battery
  • Fast charger comes in the box

Minus

  • Basic design
  • Sub-par processor
  • Doubtful optical zoom

Overall

The Xiaomi Note 10 has set a benchmark as probably the world’s first smartphone with 108MP shooter and wins the race by offering more optical options than any other smartphone available in the market. With a huge battery to keep you clicking all day long, Mi Note 10 has come as a Swiss Army Knife for all photography lovers out there.

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Poonam

Having a keen interest in technology and gadgets, I love writing reviews and insights for electronic items like Smart Phones, Smart Watches, Games, Gaming devices, etc. I am a tech enthusiast with a passion for the smartphone world, been reviewing and experimenting with them for the last 8 years.

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