Redmi Note 10 is one of the three smartphones launched by the company recently. So there is a pro and a Pro Max variant launched by Xiaomi in India, as well besides this one. We have already reviewed the Redmi Note 9 series and today’s review is about the regular Redmi Note 10. In this review, we have covered all the important aspects of the smartphone with respect to its design, display, performance, battery et al. So, without further delay, let’s start the Redmi Note 10 review.
But before we begin, let’s go over the key highlights of the Redmi Note 10. This smartphone features a Super AMOLED display. Moreover, there is a quad rear camera set up and is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 678 SoC, along with Adreno 612 GPU. The device is quite economical in price starting at Rs 11,999 for the 4GB RAM and Rs 13,999 for the 6GB RAM model. So, let’s talk in detail about the younger and the more affordable Redmi Note 10.
Design and Display
On the specs sheet, the device looks impressive and in terms of design, it is quite good looking too, different from its predecessors. Yes, Redmi Note 10 is an entry-level smartphone in the Redmi Note 10 series, which comes with a lot of changes in design and features in contrast with the older generation of the Note series. The phone comes with a refreshed design, the next generation of the Note series looks exquisite. It seems like the company has worked hard on its form factor. The phone is less bulky, slim and very comfortable to hold.
As far as the built quality is concerned, to cut the cost this phone does not have a glass panel on the rear but we are ok with it, as it is a budget phone. The rear panel does give a premium look and seems to be sturdy. The review unit which we have is the Frost White colour. However, you can also choose from either Aqua Green or the Shadow Black colour variants. But, we have to say, the phone in Frost White colour looks absolutely beautiful and is matte as well. Hence, no fingerprint smudges on it.
Talking more about the design, the rear panel features a quad rear camera set up arranged in a squarish module with rounded edges. The front camera is firmly fixed on the front display at the top centre of the screen. The sensor has a silver ring around it, which is quite reflective.
The fingerprint sensor is embedded in the power button on the right side. Just above the power button, a volume rocker key is given and on the left side, a SIM tray slot is placed for two Nano-SIMs and a microSD card. The 3.5mm audio jack is given at the bottom next to the USB Type-C port. There are dual speakers on the phone one on the top and the other at the bottom and we quite liked the audio quality these can produce.
The next major upgrade is in terms of its display. This smartphone comes with a 6.43-inch full-HD+ Super AMOLED display offering 1,080×2,400 pixels of resolution. It comes with a 20:9 aspect ratio along with a 100 percent DCI-P3 wide colour gamut and can also hit a peak brightness of up to 1,100 nits under direct sunlight. So, outdoor visibility will not be an issue. The screen is Widevine L1 certified too, which means you can enjoy HD content and is protected with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
At this price point, a full HD+ AMOLED display is just fantastic. There are companies out there that offer costlier phones than this one without it. It is good to see that Xiaomi has brought an AMOLED display at this price.
As for the display quality, it’s excellent, the colours you get are on point. Brightness is great too, so our overall media viewing activity on Redmi Note 10 was incredible. In case you binge-watch a lot of videos or movies on Netflix, YouTube or generally scroll through Instagram feeds then this smartphone is perfect for you. It gives you an immersive experience because of the great display quality. 60Hz refresh rate is there as it is the standard variant, while the other two variants offer a 120Hz refresh rate display. However, this is completely ok for the price point.
Performance and Cameras
On the performance front, Redmi Note 10 has not got a major update as compared to Redmi Note 9. This phone comes with a new and improved octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 678 SoC, along with Adreno 612 GPU and up to 6GB of LPDDR4x RAM options.
When it comes to benchmark numbers, well these are results. In our Geekbench 5 test, the single-core score it achieved is 537 while the multi-core score is 1,646.
We have got the 6GB RAM with a 128GB storage variant of the Redmi Note 10. More on performance, the apps take a little bit long to launch, but that’s not a deal-breaker as multitasking is handled well. There was no visible lag while scrolling. Besides regular usage, gaming is quite good on this smartphone. On high graphics and max frame rates, while playing Call of Duty Mobile we experienced few stutters. But dialling down the graphics you will be able to retain smooth gameplay. So, the gaming performance is acceptable given the price of the phone.
Coming to the software, the regular Redmi Note 10 comes with MIUI 12 on top of Android 11 out of the box. Like we said earlier, this phone is pretty decent for day-to-day usage. But we are waiting for the company to roll out MIUI 12.5 that is slated to be coming soon for the experience to become even better. Because when it lands on your device would be able to remove the annoying advertisement notifications, lock screen ads and unwanted pre-installed apps on it. This phone has some bloatware added to it such as Mi Remote, Mi Credit, Mi Store, Netflix, Facebook and some more. While some can be uninstalled easily, you cannot get rid of other apps such as Mi Pay, Music, and ShareMe.Moving on, there are some essential functionalities that MIUI offers on the device such as floating windows, Game Turbo mode and home screen customisation options with gesture navigation options and more.
Alright, the audio performance of the phone is impressive (as said before). The stereo speakers are very loud with high-resolution audio support. The phone calls sound clear also through them.
Now it’s time to talk about the cameras. This phone features a quad rear camera setup that includes a 48-megapixel primary sensor. In addition, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, a 2-megapixel macro lens and a 2-megapixel depth sensor are also there. Upfront there is a 13-megapixel selfie camera sensor.
The Redmi Note 10 shoots warm pictures, which at times look unnatural. However, the device produces more detailed and sharper images than before. For noise reduction, the camera set up compensates by over-sharpening the images, which works well.
In the case of the Ultra wide-angle sensor, it brings down the warmer hue to a more digestible level. The end results are very detailed and less grainy too. So, we clicked mostly using this sensor.
The micro shots are relatively sharper but the phone is unable to achieve Instagramable photos. The night time images are better, the sharpness, exposure control, highlights are on point.
Now coming to the front, its 13-megapixel selfie camera gives out detailed selfies. Portrait selfies with perfect edge detection can be achieved easily.
For the videos, you can record stable videos in 1080P at 30fps thanks to the EIS in it. Similarly, you can also record 1080P at 60fps and 4K footages at 30fps but only the former one lived up to our expectations.
The Redmi Note 10 gets its juice from a massive 5,000mAh battery. If you are a heavy user then it could deliver a full one day of battery life. In contrast, the regular users will be able to hit up to a day and a half of battery life. Whereas if you are light user and your on-screen usage in a whole day is 4 to 5 hours then the mobile phone can definitely last up to 2 days.
Verdict
Redmi Note 10 is the most inexpensive Redmi Note phone of 2021. It comes with really good specs under Rs 15,000. To be honest the sAMOLED screen steals the spotlight. The device is quite slim and light to hold. If you are looking to buy a budget phone with all the superb and latest ingredients, we would definitely recommend you to go for it, since it is that good.
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