Xiaomi Note 10 Redmire Pro review: 108 megapixels for everyone

Redmi's Note series has always been a very important player for the market, since it brought Xiaomi, among others, to the lists of the best-selling smartphones. This year's Redmi Note 10 Pro would like to convince with a 108 megapixel camera and a 120 Hertz OLED display.

It costs just 279 euros in the recommended retail price. In this article you can find out how the device performed in our test.

From the outside - design, feel, features

In the design of the Redmi Note 10 Pro There are four things to consider:

Weight & thickness

The compliance with the weight and the thickness is well achieved: 193 grams and 8,1 millimeters are two numbers that can rarely be read in the middle class. If you put that in relation to the battery capacity and the camera setup, it becomes even more incredible. Compared to its predecessor, it has more hardware, but is lighter. These data are not taken into account when buying, but they are very disturbing in everyday use.

The Note 10 is in the hand Pro comparatively pleasant. (Picture: TechnikNews)

Back side & materials

I like the back more and more over time: the camera module is quite rare, but since it fits the smartphone itself in terms of shape and aspect ratio, it looks very good. Because the new HM2 sensor 15 Procent thinner than the HM1, it protrudes only slightly.

There are some nice colors out there, all of which are made from very high quality processed plastic that I initially thought was glass. With the exception of our black model, all colors are matt. The frame is also made of plastic, which has various reasons: First of all, the price, because plastic is cheaper than metal. Another reason is the reduction in weight. This may have contributed to the fact that the smartphone weighed less than 200 grams. Furthermore, the processing of plastic gets better and better over time. Visually and haptically, the differences to metal decrease from year to year.

Picture: TechnikNews

Unlock & Connections

At first I was a little surprised why Redmi installed a lateral sensor in an OLED display. After the endprobeer, however, this amazement quickly disappeared. The device is unlocked very reliably. When gripping, you place your thumb very naturally on the sensor. Also, Redmi raises this level by another level. Unlike other manufacturers, the sensor was not incorporated into the frame, but protrudes slightly like a normal power button, which is only slightly wider.

The speed is also convincing across the board: put your finger briefly on the sensor and the device is unlocked immediately. Faster than the competition that integrates a sensor in the display. There is also an infrared port on board, which is very practical if you can't find the remote control. You can then just use your smartphone. With NFC, a jack connection and splash-proof, you can say that there is no shortage of small features.

front

First of all, the punch hole is really extremely small. Redmi herself says it's the smallest on the market, even smaller than one of them S21Ultra. In keeping with the price, the edges around the panel are of course not the thinnest. When looking at the front, the difference to the competition is not that big, because Redmi preferred to invest in the quality of the display.

Display - 120Hz AMOLED for € 279

This year there are really big specifications for the screen: 6,67 inch, 120 Hertz Full HD + AMOLED display with 1.200 nits of brightness and HDR10 + support. We see all of this combined for the first time on a Redmi, especially for less than 300 euros. But of course the real behavior in the middle class is still different than the specifications say, because if you look from the side you can sometimes see rainbow-colored discoloration.

Viewing angle (image: TechnikNews)

The real brightness is not far above the average level. The 1.200 nits are only achieved in certain situations. The sharpness of Full HD + is enough for me personally in everyday life, although green and pink edges can sometimes be seen on fonts due to the Samsung Pentile Matrix.

120 hertz is very pleasant and fluid, you can't get out of scrolling in principle. Whether the panel is that good or not, the combination of AMOLED and 120 Hertz refresh rate says it all. In the past, you could only get that together for over 600 euros, with the Note 10 Pro Redmi brings this data for less than 300 euros. Just for comparison, the significantly more expensive iPhone 12 Pro Max only supports a refresh rate of 60 Hertz. If you look at comparable competitors, they either have a miserable LC display or only 60 Hertz with the same OLED quality. Therefore, the display is definitely the best in the price range.

Loudspeaker & vibration motor

There are stereo speakers on the Redmi Note 10 Pro, which are not even that far removed from the top class and offer a nice three-dimensional sound. In addition to the earpiece, which is relatively large, sound also comes out of three holes on the top. Also on board is a Z-axis linear vibration motor. The optimization from him is not quite as good, the feedback rather sluggish, but not much more can be expected for the price range. Some 800 euro telephones use worse vibration motors.

Performance - average

In a mid-range smartphone, performance is always the most important thing. The Redmi Note 10 Pro gives us a Snapdragon 732G SoC paired with 6GB of RAM. First the bad news: 6GB Ram is far too little for the MIUI software. In everyday life, you can only keep a few apps open in the background. If you open the camera app, all applications in the background are closed. Together with that Prozessor, longevity is a major weakness.

The good news, however, is that everything is still going smoothly at this point in time. The Snapdragon 732G runs much more smoothly in everyday life at 120Hz than some of the 765G from its competitors. There are seldom stutters when starting apps. Of course, this is not yet a flagship level, because particularly with heavy multi-tasking, you can still notice some strong stuttering that sometimes occurs, but the performance is very good. Current games can also be played absolutely smoothly, even with maximum image quality. This behavior is surprisingly good, and for the most part absolutely fluid. You can see that the performance optimization has succeeded well.

Software - MIUI 12

The usual MIUI 12 interface is used as the software. Personally, I really like it, but it is far from pure Android and heavily adapted. Unfortunately, many useful functions are also surrounded by advertising that must first be deactivated.

Battery

Honestly, there is not much to say about the battery, because with a capacity of over 5.000mAh there is not much to lose. In everyday life I get around 120 hours of screen-on-time with activated 8 Hertz. Therefore, of course, it can be deduced that you do not have to worry about the battery in everyday life. He brings one proflawlessly throughout the day. The Redmi Note 10 Pro also supports a speed of 33 watts out of the box at its low price. That's very bad for the environment in this price range.

Joking aside, in reality it only takes a little over an hour to fully charge, which is quite good for the price and speed. Wireless charging is of course not on board.

Camera - 108 megapixel sensor

The camera in a smartphone is very important nowadays. Was installed in the Note 10 Pro Samsung's second generation 108 megapixel sensor: The HM2. Furthermore, Redmi gives the Note 10 Pro an 8 megapixel ultra wide-angle camera and two sensors with 5 and 2 megapixels, which are used for macro shots and depth effects.

Camera software

In combination with the Prozessor, the most important question is of course the user experience. Redmi says themselves that they would get a 96 Procent faster release time. We compare the speed with the Samsung S21 Ultra, which also offers a 108 megapixel main camera, but a better flagshipProprocessor applies. In normal mode, the S21 Ultra is faster, but surprisingly the Redmi is faster in 108 megapixel mode. It also feels like you have to wait much less after the shutter release and the picture is not frozen.

Switching between the main and ultra wide-angle camera is not smooth and it only supports videos with Full HD at 30 frames pro Second, not like the main camera with Full HD at 60 FPS or 4K at 30 FPS. In addition, as with many Xiaomi devices, it was positioned at the bottom with the longest focal length. As a result, it is often obscured when shooting vertically. It is good that the module is not stretched down so long. Then the rest is more like the MIUI camera app, which I like. We don't just have one in a mid-range device Promode with Profi video but also plenty of modes for young people to play around with.

Results of the images

More important, however, are the results. As with the flagships, the main camera becomes a technology dual native ISO used. 108 megapixels also sound impressive, but in reality the HM2 is smaller than the HM1. So we are dealing with a mid-range sensor here. We now compare it to that Huawei P40 and the significantly more expensive S21 Ultra:

In the normal 12 megapixel mode, nine pixels are added to one. During the day, the Redmi always tends to be a little reddish in color. This runs across all images. The dynamic scope can hardly be distinguished from the big ones. The level of detail is only marginally worse than that of the two competitors. If you switch to 108 megapixel mode, the sharpness is worse than with the HM3 sensor in the S21 Ultra, and in some cases it even loses against the 50 megapixel mode of the P40. Not all megapixels are created equal.

Night shots, ultra wide angle camera

The behavior at night is even a bit surprising, because as soon as there is still some light, the first look can hardly be distinguished from the other smartphones. Sometimes he even has an advantage. Even with the level of detail, the difference is not very big. Of course, the sensor loses in even less light conditions, but the smartphone still beats all other mid-range devices. You don't need to expect anything from the ultra-wide-angle camera in this price range. At least it is wide enough for that and can capture some great moments.

Conclusion of the camera

Overall, based on our experience, we find that the camera of the Redmi Note 10 Pro is comparable. Add to that the price range and it's a very unrivaled camera. Compared to other mid-range smartphones, even from Xiaomi itself, there is no comparison.

Conclusion

While the Note 8 Pro At the end of 2019 the first 64 megapixel camera and a strong one Processor in the low price range, the successor wanted that Notes 9 Pro, convince more with the overall package. This year, the features are particularly the 120 Hertz AMOLED display and the 108 megapixel camera in the low price segment. Because of the development in the industry, this year is a right choice. Good hardware is known to be cheaper. While in previous years you couldn't harp on specs to bring a well-rounded package at the same time, this year it's possible. Of the Prozessor is strong enough and the other hardware is also convincing.

So it can be summarized: The Redmi Note 10 Pro is an average mid-range Android smartphone that gets the most out of the display, camera and battery. If you value these points in particular, it is a suitable smartphone.

We would like to thank Xiaomi Germany for providing the Redmi Note 10 Pro! 

Redmi Note 10 Pro to buy:

• Buy at Amazon

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