Home » Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro Review

Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro Review

Written By AJ Viray
Published • March 12th, 2021
Gadget ReviewsMobile
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Xiaomi has launched the latest iteration of its Redmi Note smartphones in the form of the Redmi Note 10 series. Having moved towards an OLED display from IPS, the Redmi Note 10 series, especially the Note 10 Pro, now has a major advantage against other competitors. We’ve been using the Redmi Note 10 Pro for a week now, and here’s our full review.

Table of Contents

Design and Construction

The Redmi Note 10 comes in Onyx Gray, Glacier Blue, and Gradient Bronze colors. The unit we have on hand is in the Onyx Gray colorway, and it’s absolute eye-candy with its gradient hue that changes depending on the angle the light hits it. We also have quad cameras here that carry a similar camera module design as the Xiaomi Mi 11 and Mi 10 Ultra. The camera module protrudes, making the device wobble when set on a flat surface. Also, it’s worth mentioning that the Note 10 Pro has IP53-rated splash and dust protection.

On the right are the volume buttons and arc power/lock button that also doubles as a fingerprint scanner. It works pretty well, is responsive, and is also positioned near the middle of the frame for easy reachability.

On the left, we have the triple card tray for two nano-SIM cards and a microSD card.

Up top, there’s the 3.5mm headphone jack, loudspeaker, IR Blaster, and secondary microphone.

Meanwhile, at the bottom, we have the main microphone, USB-C port, and another loudspeaker.

It feels premium yet fragile, probably because of the glass back panel. However, the curved sides make it comfortable to hold. At 193g, it has a decent heft and is a nice weight for a phone of this size.

Display and Multimedia

The Note 10 Pro gets a 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED DotDisplay screen, with thin bezels and a small punch-hole on the upper center for its front camera. Above that, you can find an earpiece. As for protection, it’s covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and a pre-installed screen protector.

The screen is sharp, has good viewing angles and deep blacks. You can also adjust the color profile with three options — Auto, Saturated, and Standard. There’s also an option to adjust the color temperature. At 450nits, it’s vibrant enough for outdoor use. Also, the Redmi Note 10 Pro offers a fast 120Hz refresh rate for a smoother on-screen experience. It’s set to 60Hz out of the box, so you will need to enable it manually. The phone’s display also comes with a 240Hz touch response rate, making it better for things like gaming.

As for audio quality, the Redmi Note 10 Pro features dual-speakers. They’re loud, clear, and crisp. The sound profile emphasizes vocals and middle frequencies but lacks in the bass department.

Camera

The Redmi Note 10 Pro packs a quad-camera setup consisting of a 108MP F1.9 main, 8MP F2.2 ultra-wide, 5MP F2.4 telemacro, and a 2MP F2.4 depth sensor. The 16MP F2.45 camera handles selfies.

When it comes to quality, we’re impressed with the images produced. It brings out a lot of details, vibrant colors, and a decent dynamic range in bright conditions. Ultrawide photos also turn out good as well. However, looking closely at the edges and corners, there is some softness and distortion. When it comes to macro shots, it’s pretty impressive. Details are clear, crisp, and the colors are vibrant. For low-light shots, it does a respectable job too.

On the other hand, selfies offer enough detail, and colors are nice even in portrait mode. Background separation is good too, and you can even adjust the amount of blur.

For videos, you can shoot up to 4K at 30 fps. Like with photos, the quality is sharp with a good dynamic range and colors. There’s also an electronic stabilization option, however only available for 1080p at 30fps.

OS, UI, and Apps

Running the software show is the MIUI 12.0.3 based on Android 11. It’s an improved yet familiar user interface that features custom icons and wallpapers. Apps are arranged on the home screen, but there’s also an option for an app drawer if that’s what you prefer. Users also have the option of choosing between a system-wide light mode or dark mode. There’s also an always-on display with plenty of customization options.

Pre-installed apps include Amazon Shopping, iQIYI, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Booking.com. The rest are Google apps and Xiaomi’s default apps. Storage-wise, we’re getting 128GB of total storage space with 105GB usable. If you want to expand the storage, you can take advantage of the dedicated microSD card slot.

Performance and Benchmarks

Powering the Redmi Note 10 Pro is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G with Adreno 618 GPU. The Note 10 Pro has two RAM and storage variants, 6GB and 8GB RAM, and 64GB and 128GB of internal storage. Performance is great, especially for ordinary tasks like taking photos and videos, running social media apps simultaneously, and browsing.

We were, unfortunately, unable to get any other benchmarks running on the device, as, for some reason, the phone would not allow it. The 3DMark app even says that “some devices can block online connections for certain benchmarking apps.”

Nonetheless, we can tell it runs quite well from our experience trying out some graphically intensive games. It runs well in playing games like Genshin Impact, Call of Duty: Mobile, and Asphalt 9 at the highest settings, with minimal frame drops. Some warming can be felt, but it’s not that bothersome.

Connectivity and Battery Life

The device’s connectivity features are rather basic with Dual-SIM, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, FM Radio, an IR blaster, and USB Type-C. No 5G or WiFi 6 to be found here.

Checking out the battery, we got a large 5,020mAh cell with support for 33W fast charging, which took us around 1.5 hours to fully charge the device. In the PCMark battery test, we got a score of 18 hours and 27 minutes, which is great. Meanwhile, in our standard video loop test (1080p video on loop, 50% brightness, 0% volume), the Note 10 Pro yielded us a pretty good 19 hours and 32 minutes of playback.

Conclusion

Overall, the Redmi Note 10 Pro is quite an impressive smartphone with its AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, IP53 rating, good cameras, and great battery life. However, it’s missing 5G connectivity, which you might want for your next phone to have if you’re planning on keeping it for few years. Xiaomi could have also equipped it with a higher-grade chipset, but that wasn’t the case, probably to keep the cost down. Still, we’re getting a great performance from the device and can be a good candidate as a solid daily-driver.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro price and availability in the Philippines are yet to be announced.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro (Global) specs:
6.67-inch FHD+ (2400 x 1080) AMOLED DotDisplay
120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate, HDR10
Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G octa-core CPU
Adreno 618 GPU
6GB, 8GB LPDDR4X RAM
64GB, 128GB UFS 2.2
Quad-rear cameras:
• 108MP F1.9 main, 9-in-1 Super Pixel
• 8MP F2.2 ultra-wide
• 5MP F2.4 telemacro
• 2MP F2.4 depth
16MP F2.45 front camera
Dual-SIM
4G LTE
WiFi 5
NFC (market dependent)
Bluetooth 5.1
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS
USB-C
IR blaster
Arc side fingerprint scanner
Face Unlock
Dual-speakers, Hi-Res audio
3.5mm audio jack
IP53 splash-proof
MIUI 12 (Android 11)
5,020mAh battery w/ 33W fast charging
164 × 76.5 × 8.1mm
193 g
Glacier Blue, Onyx Gray, Gradient Bronze