Why I switched from the Samsung Galaxy S10 to the Redmi Note 10 Pro

I have now tested a number of mid-range and entry-level smartphones. Last year, the OnePlus Nord, the Poco X3 NFC and the Galaxy A51 stood out for me. But the Redmi Note 10 Pro is also an exciting device that has now become my daily driver.

Exactly two years ago I started testing smartphones regularly. During this time I was able to select the best of the best smartphones on the marketpro- with 100x zoom, 65 watt fast charging, foldable display and usually with a super-fast processor. But there was also something happening in the lower price segments, where the Redmi Note 10 is located, among others. You can read in the following column why this smartphone in particular has grown dear to my heart and is now my daily companion.

Display

The Note 10 Pro has a fantastic display for its price. At 6,67 inches, it is large, especially 0,5 inches larger than my S10, but I've gotten used to that over the past two years. OLED technology and a 120 Hertz refresh rate are also supported, which only makes the panel even better. This is unbeatable in the price range up to 300 euros and feels a lot better than my S10. This also supports OLED, but not 120 Hertz. The display is the best I've seen in a smartphone under 300 euros in the past two years.

The display of the Redmi Note 10 Pro has a FullHD+ resolution and supports OLED and 120 Hertz. (Image: TechnikNews)

Hardware

The SoC used is a Snapdragon 732G, which in my "Mi Fan Festival Edition" is combined with 8 gigabytes of RAM and 128 gigabytes of internal memory. This package is slightly weaker than an Exynos 9820. Do you notice this in everyday life? No, absolutely not. The Exynos has become slower over time and is now at least as good or bad as the Snapdragon. It remains to be seen whether the Snapdragon processor will also become slower over time. I notice small differences in performance in the camera app. The images are sometimes processed a little faster on my S10, but that is not a strong argument for many users. The RAM is identical on both models, but the storage is a little smaller than on my S10 variant. 128 gigabytes is (currently) sufficient for me. My S10 has become slower over the years. The Xiaomi smartphone is a little slower, but feels faster thanks to the help of the software.

Furthermore, both devices have a headphone jack. Since I like to connect a microphone for video recordings via cable, this is important to me. I will probably miss this in future devices. Just like the microSD slot on both smartphones. The Redmi Note 10 Pro does offer one special feature, however: an IR blaster for controlling TVs or other devices.

5G is missing as connectivity, but so far that is nothing more than marketing anyway. Unless, of course, you have an 80 euro contract with Telekom or Vodafone and live in a big city. In this case you would be better advised with the Mi 11 Ultra anyway. Otherwise, NFC, Bluetooth 5.1 and GPS are at the start.

Cameras

The Redmi Note 10 Pro is equipped with a 108 megapixel main camera, an 8 megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, a 5 megapixel macro camera and a 2 megapixel camera for depth information. At first glance, this sounds just as good as the cameras on the Galaxy S10s.

The cameras of the Redmi Note 10 Pro are high-resolution, but cannot keep up with the S10 (Image: TechnikNews)

The Redmi takes good pictures, but they can't quite keep up with the Galaxy S10. But they are doing well, especially for the EIA. The 108 megapixel camera takes good photos, the colors are well coordinated and the sharpness is also convincing. But especially with backlight or objects (such as plants) the images become more spongy.

The ultra-wide-angle and portrait cameras are also more sophisticated on the S10. The colors on the ultra-wide-angle camera on the Redmi Note 10 Pro are not as sophisticated and the shadows appear too strong. However, this can possibly be fixed with an update. The macro camera is relatively dark, but the S10 doesn't have one at all. Portraits with the Redmi Note 10 Pro turn out surprisingly well, especially when it comes to recognizing people.

The cameras on the Redmi Note 10 Pro can't quite keep up with those on the S10, but the devices also appeal to a completely different target group in terms of the RRP. That's why the comparison is a little bit unfair.

Battery

The main reason for my change was the battery. The Redmi Note 10 Pro has a 5020 mAh battery, which is recharged with a fast 33 watts via USB-C - Xiaomi offers fast charging and a large battery for the price. After the Note 7, Samsung still doesn't seem to dare to install faster charging and a large battery. This was confirmed with the S21 It's better, the S10 was limited to 3400 milliampere hours, which are charged with a maximum of 15 watts. In a direct comparison in particular, there are worlds in between. Xiaomi does not use wireless charging for this. But you generally have to do without that in the middle class, the feature is not installed by any manufacturer.

The Redmi Note 10 Pro recharges very quickly with 33 watts. (Image: TechnikNews)

But how is the battery life? I can get by with my S10 for a maximum of one day, and even less if I use it a lot. The constant thought of having to plug into the slow charging cable again is driving me crazy. That's not the case with the Redmi Note 10 Pro. One day is easily enough, and in lockdown I can even get through two days without charging. But that's also because the WiFi at home means the mobile network is used very little and the focus is not on the smartphone but on the PC. I used the device at 120 Hertz, but at 60 Hertz you can certainly use the device for a few more hours.

Software

Samsung's OneUI is my favorite UI and it was difficult to part with. MIUI also offers fast animations, many setting options and has become much clearer in recent years. Samsung promises all of their devices at least three years of software upgrades. Xiaomi only brings an upgrade to Android 12 for its Redmi series, but three MIUI skin updates. MIUI 14 will therefore continue to be based on Android 12. Unfortunately, that's a shame, because many users want to use their smartphone for several years.

The Redmi Note 10 Pro runs on the latest MIUI 12, but will only get an upgrade. (Image: TechnikNews)

Conclusion

Why did I switch to the Redmi Note 10 Pro? Because it does the basics very well. Great display, good hardware, high-resolution cameras, large battery with short charging times and fast software. You do miss out on features like wireless charging, very good cameras and a longer software update cycle. But you save a lot of money.

Buy Redmi Note 10 Pro

Thanks to Xiaomi Germany for the extended provision of the Redmi Note 10 Pro.