Xiaomi Mi Note 10 (Pro)
Design
The housing of the Mi Note 10 consists of a high-quality aluminum frame and a particularly scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 5 front and back. With dimensions of 157.8 x 74.2 x 9.7 mm, the smartphone is comparatively compact despite the 6.47 inch display. The weight is a stately 208g, which is mainly due to the large 5260 mAh battery. The smartphone is available in the colors Midnight Black, Glacier White and Aurora Green.
Display
Xiaomi uses a 6.47 inch AMOLED display with a high resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels. As a curved display, the screen curves towards the edges and merges into the housing frame. A small notch surrounds the front camera at the top edge of the display. The energy-saving AMOLED technology makes it possible to use the display “Always-On”. Notifications and other information can be read directly from the screen without having to switch on the smartphone.
With a luminance of 600 cd / m², the display is above average bright, so that good readability is guaranteed even in strong light. The DCI-P3 color space is covered and HDR10 Ready is supported. An in-display fingerprint scanner is hidden under the display for secure unlocking.
Performance
The smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G. The Octa-Core System-on-Chip places itself in the upper middle class in terms of performance. The total of 8 processor cores are divided into 2 Cortex-A76 and 6 Cortex-A55 cores. The Adreno 618 GPU guarantees smooth gaming. The memory of the Mi Note 10 is divided into a 6GB LPDDR4X main memory and a 128GB UFS2.1 data memory.
Only the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB data storage. A memory expansion is not supported! By the way, the operating system used is MIUI 11 based on Android 9. Xiaomi has already announced an update to Android 10.
Camera
The main focus of the Mi Note 10 is clearly on the new "Penta camera". A total of 5 sensors are arranged vertically on the back of the smartphone. The sensors are divided into:
- Main camera with 108 MP Samsung S5KHMX image sensor with f / 1.7 aperture, 0.8 µm pixel size, laser autofocus and optical image stabilization (OIS),
- Telephoto camera (1) with 12 MP Samsung S5K2L7 image sensor for a 2x optical zoom and an f / 2.0 aperture,
- Telephoto camera (2) with 5 MP OmniVision (OV08A10) image sensor for 5x optical zoom, an f / 2.0 aperture and optical image stabilization (OIS),
- Ultra wide angle camera with 20 MP Sony IMX350 image sensor, an f / 2.2 aperture and a 117 ° wide angle,
- Macro sensor with 2 MP and an f / 2.4 aperture
The 108 MP sensor was created in collaboration between Xiaomi and Samsung. Photos can be taken with a resolution of up to 12.032 x 9.024 pixels. RAW recordings are still possible with 27 MP. The improved "Night Mode 2.0" combines 4 pixels using "pixel binning", which enables noise-reduced photos with an impressive 27 MP. Two of the sensors are equipped with an optical image stabilizer. The result is shake-free, razor-sharp images with an above-average level of detail.
Almost loss-free zooming is possible with the Mi Note 10 with up to 10x magnification (hybrid zoom)! A digital zoom even enlarges the image area by 50 times! Further highlights of the camera are 1.5 cm macro shots, a 960 FPS slow-mo video mode, a new vlog mode with cinematic overlays, and a 4K ultra-wide-angle mode. The front camera records with up to 32 MP.
connectivity
In contrast to its Chinese counterpart, the Mi 9CC Pro, the Note 10 supports the world's most common mobile phone frequencies. In Germany, the smartphone can be used without restriction in the LTE network. A dual SIM slot is available. Further connection features are dual-AC WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0 and NFC for contactless payment. The sensors include a proximity sensor, a brightness sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope, an e-compass and an infrared transmitter. For navigation, the smartphone understands itself with GPS, Galileo and GLONASS. Friends of the headphone jack will also get their money's worth. The Mi Note 10 has it! Hi-Res Audio ensures the best possible playback quality.
Battery
Another feature worth mentioning is the battery with a high 5260 mAh capacity. With normal use, a running time of 2 days + should be achievable. Thanks to its 30 watt fast charging function, the smartphone can be charged almost completely within an hour. Unfortunately, Qi charging is not supported.
First impression of the Xiaomi Mi Note 10
Xiaomi surprises us with a mid-range smartphone that can even compete with the big ones when it comes to cameras. In the DxO camera test, the Mi Note 10 is just behind the Huawei P30 Pro in second place in the smartphone camera charts. If you rely on the test results from DxO-Mark, the Mi Note 2 would even put the much more expensive Galaxy Note 10+ in your pocket.
The current price gives a bitter aftertaste. Despite decent camera equipment, the Mi Note 10 remains just a mid-range smartphone thanks to the Snapdragon 730G. If you compare the price with the structurally identical Xiaomi Mi 9CC Pro, which appears in China from 2.800 yuan, i.e. the equivalent of € 350, Xiaomi beats a whopping € 200 on the Chinese sales price for interested European buyers! A detailed review of the Mi Note 10 will follow soon. A test copy is already on the way to us!
