Table of Contents
Positioning
I have devoted a separate article to changes in the positioning of Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones, the link to which is below.
If we talk directly about Redmi Note 10, then this is the junior smartphone of the 10th series. Accordingly, this positioning imposes a number of restrictions. For example, there is no NFC. I think the question was not about money, but about how to dilute the Note 10 with the average Note 10S model (which is not yet officially on sale in Russia).
However, Redmi Note 10, even without NFC, is a rather curious thing. According to the Redmi team, the buyer may be prompted to buy a smartphone:
- AMOLED screen with 1100 nits peak brightness, DCI-P3 color gamut and Eye Care Display certification (admitted, the screen is really good!)
- 5000 mAh battery, fast charging 50% in 25 minutes, and 100% in 75 minutes (all honestly, it charges fast!)
- 6 + 128GB fast memory (pretty solid for the price quoted!)
- Enveloping stereo sound (there is stereo sound, but somehow I did not feel enveloping)
- Linear vibration motor (the vibration motor really vibrates linearly!)
- A system of four cameras with AI (the cameras are not bad, see the photos themselves in the section about them!)
- Advanced algorithms and high definition even when shooting at night (is it now called that?)
- The curved back panel and smooth edges give the device an elegant and sophisticated look (I don’t even know what to say …)
- At the time of writing (May 13), the price is 13 rubles (and for this price you have to quickly buy a smartphone without thinking!)
You cannot talk about positioning without looking at the price. With the original price of 17 rubles, Redmi Note 990 is just a well-balanced device with an obvious flaw for the Russian market in the form of the lack of NFC and an abundance of powerful competitors in the face of Poco X10 NFC or even last year’s Redmi Note 3 series, which has fallen in price.
But at a price of 13 rubles, this is a very profitable purchase that bypasses many competitors, and the lack of NFC does not look so unpleasant anymore. You can always buy Mi Band 990 NFC.
TECH SPECS
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 678 (11nm), Octa-core (2 × 2.2 GHz Kryo 460 Gold & 6 × 1.7 GHz Kryo 460 Silver), Adreno 612 graphics |
| Operating system | Android 11 |
| Memory | 4/6 GB / 64/128 GB, separate slot for microSD |
| Screen | 6.43 inches, Super AMOLED, resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels, aspect ratio 20 by 9, dot density 409 ppi, maximum auto brightness 700 nits, peak brightness 1100 nits, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, Always-On screen |
| Battery | Li-Po 5000 mAh, fast charging 33 W, 50% in 25 minutes, 100% in 75 minutes |
| Main camera | 48 MP, f / 1.8, 26mm (wide), 1 / 2.0 ″, 0.8µm, PDAF 8 MP, f / 2.2, 118˚ (ultra wide angle), 1 / 4.0 ″, 1.12µm 2 MP, f / 2.4, (macro) 2 MP, f / 2.4, (depth) Запись видео4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps |
| Front camera | 13 MP, f / 2.5, (wide), 1 / 3.06 ″, 1.12µm |
| Sim card | 2 Nano-SIM |
| Network and data transmission | GSM 900/1800/1900, 3G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, IrDA, USB Type-C |
| SENSORS | Fingerprint scanner (side), accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity, compass |
| Other | no NFC, FM radio, IP53 water protection, 3.5 mm jack, stereo speakers, |
| Materials | plastic and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| dimensions | 160.5 x 74.5 x 8.3 mm, weight 179 g. |
| Price | 17 990 rubles |
Equipment
I had an engineering sample on my test, wrapped in plastic. So there will be no photos of the kit. The official website states that the box contains:
- Smartphone
- 33W cable and adapter
- Protective case
- SIM card clip
- Documents Editing
Appearance
Xiaomi itself says that the curved back panel and smooth edges give the device an elegant and sophisticated look, and the thoughtful design of the side edges further emphasizes the refinement of the device.
I’ll tell you (despite the fact that I liked the smartphone itself, and used it with great pleasure for a couple of weeks as a second device) that its appearance is standard, and in a gray version it is difficult to distinguish it from a meter from other devices, which the camera is located on the side.
So my advice: go for a white (or azure) body color. In a different color, the smartphone really looks fresh and unusual. Otherwise, Xiaomi does not lie. The device really sits comfortably in the hand, apparently due to the “thoughtful design of the side edges”.
Screen
The smartphone has a 6,43-inch AMOLED screen, which nowadays can be called a compact size.
The screen turned out to be quite remarkable, especially considering the price of 13 rubles (and also remarkable for 990 rubles).
First, it’s AMOLED. A rare guest in this price segment. Secondly, there is a full-fledged Always-On screen. For example, a similarly priced Galaxy A32 has simplified settings, you can only put a watch. The Redmi Note 10 has a set like the older models – from watches to pictures.
Thirdly, a fairly good automatic brightness under 700 nits (comfortable to use outdoors), and a DCI-P3 color gamut with high-precision color reproduction. Interestingly, HDR support is not listed here, but peak brightness is claimed to be 1100 nits. And there are oddities here, as YouTube plays videos with HDR support, but Netflix does not. Apparently, Xiaomi saved money and did not carry out an official certification. And Netflix is known for its love of certificate verification, while YouTube focuses only on the technical capability of the device.
Fourthly, the smartphone does not have an LED indicator, but thanks to the AMOLED screen, the edges of the screen start flickering several times when a notification arrives.
The refresh rate of the screen is standard – 60 Hz (Galaxy A32 has 90 Hz). Perhaps these are the main features of the screen. Below are screenshots of the screen settings.
Battery
The smartphone has an energy efficient Snapdragon 678 processor, AMOLED screen and a large 5000 mAh battery.
In the PC Mark test, the smartphone delivered a fairly standard 8 hours of operation. However, I can say that I liked how the smartphone holds a charge. One day I went for a walk to Kolomna with my smartphone, that is, I took it off the charge at 7:30 in the morning.
On this day, Redmi Note 10 was my main device. On the train, he distributed Wi-Fi 1.5 GHz for a laptop for 5 hours, 250 photos from a dozen videos were taken for a walk around the city, the smartphone was used as a navigator and just for the Internet. I returned home by 11 pm, and the smartphone still had 50% charge. In my opinion, this is quite a decent indicator.
Considering fast charging, in the morning I could recharge my smartphone up to 20% in 85 minutes and not know the troubles.
Thanks to the AMOLED screen in manual brightness mode (450 nits), the smartphone can play videos for about 18 hours, and refresh the page in the browser for 12 hours.
The smartphone does not set records of autonomy. But this is not required of him. It is enough that the user will not get hung up on charging. For 1-2 days, the charge will definitely be enough + you can always recharge quickly.
Performance
The Snapdragon 678 is not enough stars from the sky, but it delivers decent performance that should be enough for any day to day activities. At the same time, Xiaomi did not skimp on the amount and speed of memory. So, when using the smartphone, it gives a positive impression. All menus fly fast, applications open quickly. And in games, the “game mode” is launched.
Pay attention to high-speed memory. Xiaomi is great. Both the RAM and the drive fly.
Speaking of games, it should be noted that this is not a gaming smartphone. You can run the same Genshin Impact without any problems, but the graphics quality will be striking even on such a small screen. But in Call of Duty, you can “drive” from the heart.
In the throttling test, the smartphone sags quite a lot. Somehow I was reproached for adding the application to the game mode and then the result will be better. And so I did. On the left is the usual version, on the right the application is added to the “game mode”. Indeed, the difference is 10% on the face.
Camera
Redmi Note 10 has not spared such a technical highlight as the built-in camera. So now the owner of the smartphone will be able not only to make calls, but to photograph something as a keepsake.
The main camera system consists of 4 lenses:
- 48 MP, f / 1.8, 26mm (wide), 1 / 2.0 ″, 0.8µm, PDAF
- 8 MP, f / 2.2, 118˚ (ultra wide angle), 1 / 4.0 ″, 1.12µm
- 2 MP, f / 2.4, (macro)
- 2 MP, f / 2.4, (depth)
The camera interface is standard, typical for the MIUI 12 shell. There are no questions to it. It’s pretty simple and intuitive. Do not be lazy to go to the settings, there you can turn off or change the shutter sound, select a standard or personalized watermark.
The smartphone camera can be described as follows. It differs in daylight conditions, and the algorithms handle pictures well at night.
By default, the user is offered modes 0.6x, 1x, 2x (the latter is a crop). The wide-angle mode worked well for my taste.
A few examples of daytime photography.
The smartphone has macro photography. I suppose comments are unnecessary here. Still, only 2 MP.
A few examples in difficult light or low light conditions.
And now the night shooting has arrived. Honestly, here I have questions, because at night the smartphone was shooting instantly, without the traditional wait a couple of seconds, holding the smartphone motionless. Perhaps this is a feature of the engineering sample. In any case, the quality of night photography cannot be praised.
And finally, a couple of examples of shots on the front camera.
Original photos (zip, 215 MB) >>>
Communication features and shell
There are no questions about voice transmission, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth operation. A nice feature of Xiaomi smartphones is the ability to distribute Wi-Fi at a frequency of 5 GHz, which has a positive effect on the speed of the Internet.
There is a recording of phone calls (when turned on, a voice notification will be triggered).
The main disadvantage is the lack of NFC. The infrared port for controlling the equipment was left, but NFC was taken away.
MIUI 12 is a wonderful shell. The main difference between the shell from a smartphone to a smartphone is the ability to remove built-in applications and advertisements in them. For example, in flagships, you can delete the Mi Picks branded app store, but here you can’t even turn it off. For this reason, I recommend immediately disabling notifications from Mi Picks, Games, Mi Video, Music. These apps have ad integrations, and they like to bombard the user with offers to download, watch, play, etc. So it’s best to put them together in one daddy and forget.
From time to time, there is a situation of app recommendation in Xiaomi smartphones. You open the folder, and at the bottom of the screen there are recommendations. Someone will decide that this is useful, but I perceive it as unnecessary advertising. To turn it off, click on the folder name and move the switch to the “Off” position.
Full review of the MIUI 12 shell at the link below. The shell is rich in features and capabilities. Look, you will most likely find something unknown.
Competitors and conclusion
Redmi Note 10 is a good smartphone for its price segment. It’s not easy to approach the question of competitors. If you focus on the price of 17 rubles, then it would be better to choose Poco X990 NFC (it is easy to find a smartphone for this price on the market, there will also be a “light” camera) or Galaxy A3, which has a slightly brighter screen and a 32 megapixel camera, plus there is NFC.
However, at a price of 13 rubles, of course, it is better to buy a Redmi Note 990 (provided that you can survive the inability to pay with your phone in the store).
