We won’t keep the results section for too long, as we think we’ve covered all there is to know about the phone during our review. It must be said: Apparently, Xiaomi has managed to make a phone that is attractive in many respects with the Mi Note 10 model.
This is a very successful model with design, display, battery life, charging time, wide camera options, and performance. Of course, as we said, the Snapdragon 730G processor can’t bring it to the forefront in terms of performance; On the other hand, the lack of water protection and a microSD card slot are shortcomings. At this point, there are also important competitors, but it is clear that it sets itself apart from them with its 108 MP camera.
Who should buy Xiaomi Note 10
Those who want to buy a smartphone with wide camera options, long battery life, premium design, performance, and ideal screen, can closely evaluate the Xiaomi Mi Note 10.
Together, we closely follow the attack of Chinese companies on the smartphone market. In Turkey where the first of these companies show great interest in the market, Huawei must take place. Especially in recent years in Turkey, users access the significant pulse behind Huawei, Xiaomi, Honor, and OPPO. Today, Xiaomi from these brands is once again our guest.
Xiaomi, with which we recently tested the Redmi Note 8 Pro, did a pretty good job with that model, which we covered in our detailed review. This time, we have the Mi Note 10, a new model from the company and, well, it really stands out. In this review, we’ll look more closely at the Mi Note 10, and yes we’ll review it in detail too, because why not.
Detailed review
Mi Note 10 is a fresh phone model that Xiaomi introduced in November. Now, let’s get into it, checking Mi Note 10 right away, it grabs attention with that premium design and locking features, plus a new Snapdragon 730G processor, a big battery, an AMOLED screen, and altogether 5 rear cameras, including a 108 MP main camera. First, start with the promise, with design.
Design
Mi Note 10 is one of the premium models with its design. On the phone, where a glass-like structure is adopted, the body has curves from the front and back. The large screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 and the phone draws attention to the drop notch, which provides a very widescreen display. The phone’s screen-to-body ratio is over 87 percent.
The frame of the phone is composed of aluminum material. Therefore, the body as strong as it feels can be worn with a carrying case inside the box for those who are worried if it gets scratched.
The phone, which comes in a black model, also comes in different color options of course. You can also choose Mi Note 10 in other colors like white and green.
When we look around the phone, we see the power and volume buttons and the SIM card drawer located on the right. We have a dual SIM card. However, Mi Note 10 does not support microSD cards. So people who buy this phone need to know that they can’t increase their memory.
The bottom edge of the Mi Note 10 has a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB-C port, a microphone, and a speaker grill respectively. The inclusion of a standard headphone jack is an important plus. However, the phone does not have stereo speakers. The single-speaker output provides good sound, but of course, it’s not a replacement for stereo speakers.
On the back of the phone, there is a camera on the side, we talk about the details. 3 of them are located in a special area and create a significant protrusion from the body. So much so that when you put the phone on the table, you can see the imbalance when you press the other corner with your finger. Some may not like it.
Also, the Xiaomi logo is kind of placed on the back corner and on the front there aren’t really any extra details, besides the notch, and well that’s pretty much it.
To add, we can also mention there is an infrared sensor sitting along the top edge of the phone, right next to the secondary microphone slot.
So what does the display of the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 actually look like ?
We can say Xiaomi Mi Note 10 has a quite large screen , kinda big in hand. This display , with its 19.5:9 setup, goes across 6.47 inches , not small at all. The handset relies on an AMOLED panel and it comes in at about 399 PPI for the pixel density, with a resolution of 1080×2340 pixels.
Based on our own readings, the Mi Note 10 can reach up to 627 nit, so it’s bright-ish when it comes to the display. That brightness is honestly more than enough for readability outdoors, even if it’s a sunny day. On the other side, the contrast and color depth, thanks to AMOLED tech are really strong. On the screen, where full coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut is delivered, you also get 157 percent coverage for the sRGB gamut. HDR10 is supported as well. With all that said, it’s fair to tell you that what you see here is going to satisfy you. Whether you’re watching movies, or playing games, on YouTube and Netflix, the display looks noticeably rich, like genuinely so.
Speaking of ready screens, let’s also touch on the settings of the screen. You can make many settings related to the phone screen. First , lets talk about the ability to quickly switch into dark mode from the quick settings menu up in the top drawer. In the display settings, you can enable reading mode , and you can also adjust the color scheme of the screen. You can set the palette as saturated and standard , or you can shape it further with the palette.
Here you will also see a setting where you can hide the notch of the display, or fill the edges of the notch with a black band instead.
On Mi Note 10, the fingerprint sensor is also integrated into the screen. The scanning sensor scans your fingerprint while giving the first diagnosis, working very quickly afterward. The sensor, which we find easily accessible with its location, is also visible when the screen is closed, when you take the phone the light comes on. Meanwhile, the phone has a face recognition feature. You can enable this by rescanning your face from privacy settings.
Operating system features
The Android 9 operating system is already on the Mi Note 10, but let say it will also get the Android 10 upgrade. In terms of interface, the phone uses MIUI software, and like other Xiaomi models it comes with MIUI 11 version, kinda like a more polished environment.
We think that they will use this interface for the first time, they will attract the strange at the beginning, but they will solve it in a short time. Offering a smooth operating tempo with a simple and wide interface, Mi Note 10 comes pre-installed with some apps. Besides apps like ShareMe and Mi Community, you can delete them on the phone which comes with a few more games and 4 games.
In the operating system, as we said in the top bar, there is an extensive quick settings menu. Using this area, you can quickly take screenshots and screen videos, switch your phone to dark mode, as we said, access options to connect to other devices, and turn on settings such as GPS, reading mode, battery saver, and NFC.
You can still access many options on your phone’s settings tab. There is also a section called Special Features here. Here in Mi Note 10, there is a playground like we have seen on many recent phones, you can increase and optimize the performance by adding your games in this section called Game Turbo. You can also add a secondary area to your phone for security in this Special Features menu. As we said, there are many options in the interface, it is up to you to study them. However, let’s say this:
Specifically, we encountered questions like “How to enable developer mode on Xiaomi phones? “Let’s talk about it when it comes. As with other Xiaomi phones, to enable developer mode on Mi Note 10, you need to tap on the “MIUI version” section in the About phone section several times. Then developer mode turns on and shows up under Additional settings in the top menu. Having said this, let’s take a look at the technical and performance staff of the Mi Note 10.
How is the performance of the Xiaomi Mi Note 10?
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 comes with a new mid-range processor from Qualcomm. Using Snapdragon 730G mobile processor with an 8nm fabrication process, the phone is optimized for games and exhibits power close to the flagship smartphone models of recent times.
When we dig into the technical bits of the processor, we can say it uses an 8-core setup. It is powered by 2 efficiency leaning Kryo 470 Gold cores at 2.2 GHz, plus 6 efficiency leaning Kryo 470 Silver cores at 1.8 GHz, so overall it ends up hitting around 35% performance and 25% GPU expectations, in the real world or on paper, depends how you look at it.
Now if we stare at the numbers on paper, things get a little relative. Xiaomi Mi Note 10 comes out ahead of last year’s flagship Snapdragon 845, also ahead of HTC U12+ Exynos 9810 (Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus) and even Snapdragon 845 LG G7 ThinQ.
The Mi Note 10, which is kind of close to the Huawei P30, Huawei P30 Pro, and Honor 20 in that same table, actually falls behind the Redmi Note 8 Pro, another Xiaomi star. And we probably should open the brackets on that Redmi Note 8 Pro’s processor too. The Redmi Note 8 Pro brings the Mediatek Helio G90T chip, it showed up about 3 months after the Snapdragon 730 chipset, and it runs at a higher frequency than Snapdragon 730G, with “efficient cores” included in the mix. Because of all that , the Redmi Note 8 Pro kind of looks like it got a stronger result in the performance charts compared to what you would expect.
Also, the Mi Note 10 is roughly half the price, so the Redmi Note 8 Pro feels important again, even if it is not in the exact same league across every single metric.
Now going back to the Mi Note 10, and assuming the phone scored 264838 points on the AnTuTu Benchmark test. The Pro model with 8 GB RAM has 6 GB of RAM too, like the Note 10 model we have. And the storage is 128 GB as well. At this point, let us remind you that you cannot increase the memory using a microSD card.
When we look at the game performance of the phone, we can say that it provides a very smooth gaming experience in both Call of Duty Modern Warfare and PUBG scenarios, with high-end graphics settings. Therefore, you will not have any problems with this device in new generation games.
Finally, let’s say the phone actually has support for 802.11ac Wi‑Fi , Bluetooth 5.0 , NFC , and aptX HD along with the engineering team , and then let’s just move on to the Mi Note 10 battery performance notes by mentioning that the battery, Its exactly 5260 mAh.
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Battery performance
The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 is a phone with a kind of very big battery, you know. The Mi Note 10, also a top tier battery smartphone, has a capacity of 5260 mAh , and it kinda shows that in its weight and thickness. Even though the edges are rounded off a bit, the body is still 9.7 mm thick. And the phone weighs 208 grams, so yeah it feels substantial in hand.. The Note 10, a thick and heavy phone for these values, delivers on par with its battery performance.
Mi Note 10, which will be a very comfortable phone for your daily use, promises 2 days of battery life. You can easily take a day off in performance demanding mixed uses.
Even though we were connected to mobile data via 4G and the phone’s average screen brightness was 13 hours and 5 minutes, it made over 12 hours in the scenario we looked at. In this 90-minute Full HD video test with a scenario where Wi-Fi is connected and the screen brightness is completely clear, the phone lost 12 percent, which can produce a result of about more than 12 hours.
At the game point of the phone let’s say at this point it consumes a 10% charge for 30 minutes in Call of Duty Modern Warfare and also a 15% charge in PUBG for 30 minutes. Again, with a raw account, you can play this phone for 3 to 5 hours at full-screen brightness. You can also access more by dimming the backlight. If we compare the Mi Note 10 in this respect, we can say that it produces better results with its battery performance than many of its counterparts.
Meanwhile, you can extend the time by using battery saver modes to use less battery.
So how long does the battery of the Mi Note 10 charge? You might think that a huge capacity like 5260 mAh will take quite a while to charge, but conversely, it can fully charge the capacity in just 1 hour. The battery, which fills to 19 percent in the first 10 minutes, can reach 63 percent charge in 30 minutes. Full capacity is charged within 1 hour. Meanwhile, we also say that there is no wireless charging support on the phone.
10 minutes: 19%
20 minutes: 34%
30 minutes: 63%
40 minutes: 76%
50 minutes: 89%
60 minutes: 100%
What are the features of Camera Xiaomi Mi Note 10?
Well, we kind of reach the camera part of the Xiaomi Mi Note 10, and you know Xiaomi already jumped ahead with the Mi Note 10. They introduced what is basically the first 5-camera layout with a 108 MP sensor so… yeah. So if we look at the main camera of the Mi Note 10, it’s fair to say the 12 MP camera resolution on the Apple iPhone 11 gives you around exactly 9 times less.
Now, that 108 MP ISOCELL bright HMX sensor inside the Mi Note 10, which is also said to be used in the Samsung Galaxy S11 model, Xiaomi used before on the Mi Mix Alpha. But here’s the catch , the Mi Mix Alpha has a triple camera array, while the Mi Note 10 comes with a 5-camera setup, so the Mi Note 10 ends up being the first 5-camera smartphone to actually use a 108 MP sensor.
Let’s get a bit closer at the cameras themselves. The top unit is a 5 MP telephoto camera. With it, you can get 5x optical zoom and also 10x hybrid zoom, and then there is 50x digital zoom at f/2.0, plus OIS support is there too.
The second camera is a 12 MP portrait camera. We tested portraits using this one, it supports 2x optical zoom, f/2.0 aperture, and dual-pixel autofocus. In this portrait mode you’ll have to step back a certain distance from the subject so the depth of field stays smooth. Also, in that mode, you can set the depth of field… right from the camera interface, which is pretty handy.
In that triple camera array in the dedicated zone, the bottom lens is basically the phone’s 108 MP main shooter. While the camera matters a lot, with its f/1.69 aperture and also 4-way OIS backing, it makes 27 MP photos by default. To get the full performance from the camera, you need to switch to the 108 MP mode located in the interface. While the photo you take this way will have a resolution of 9024×12032 pixels, the average file size will be around 10 MB – 27 MB, let’s mention that.
The wider lens located just below the triple camera is a 20 MP ultra-wide-angle camera. With a 117-degree field of view, the camera has an f/2.2 aperture and laser autofocus. To shoot on this camera, you need to switch from Photo mode to 0.6x.
The small lens below the ultra-wide-angle camera allows you to take macro photos on your phone. You can also activate this camera by selecting it from the interface.
Let’s also say that the phone’s cameras have HDR support and include artificial intelligence support. You can open both modes from the camera interface. On the other hand, there is a special night mode on the phone and for those who want to shoot with flash, a set of 4 flashes is also available on the rear.
Two of these flashes work when you want to take a photo with the flash, while the top two allow you to take low-light photos. Especially the macro shots that you’ll be taking in dim light look pretty good. Of course, you also benefit from this dim light scenario in other conditions. For example, when recording a video, you can turn on dim light from the settings above and record a lighter video in darker conditions.
Mi Note 10 is also kind of a strong pick in the video department. The handset can manage about 30 frames per second in 4K, and still for Full HD it can push up to 240 fps. For slow-motion scenes it does even more , with 960 frames while remaining at 720p, so yeah pretty smooth. And yeah, you can also turn on moving subject tracking, so the footage stays steadier even when you are moving around, or at least that is what it aims for.
Now lets shift to the front camera first, then afterward we can judge how the cameras perform overall. The front side includes a 32MP camera, and it grabs 26mm wide angle shots with an f/2.0 aperture. Through this lens you can use facial beauty options, or turn on top down HDR, or activate the AI features, meaning artificial intelligence. Also take note that the front camera supports 30 fps recording in Full HD resolution too so it can handle normal video capture without dragging.
How is the camera performance of the Xiaomi Mi Note 10?
The main camera of the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 captures much more detail than other smartphones on the market. However, it doesn’t perform at its best when it comes to dynamic range and low-light performance in auto mode. A similar problem can be said for the phone’s ultra-wide and telephoto cameras. In automatic mode, these cameras are also in a row behind the top competitors. Macro cameras can achieve great results in good light.
Going back to the 108 MP camera, when you put it into HDR you’ll find that the dynamic range is expanding and the details are getting richer. Biareview thinks it takes some time to process the photo while shooting.
When you magnify a photo that was taken at 108 MP, you can see the small stuff becomes clearer like, really. At that point ,we’ve compared the Mi Note 10 with the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ and also the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, and it feels like a win for the Mi Note 10. Whether you bring the image closer with your upper finger phone screen or look at the computer screen, you will find that the photos taken with Mi Note 10 are more accurate.
In the general frame, it is quite possible to say that it can take very successful photos in good light conditions for all cameras. When lighting conditions decrease, particles can show themselves. At this point, of course, you can get better results using the professional shooting mode.
In macro mode and selfie mode, it can still be said that particles appear when light falls. In the meantime, suppose you can enable richer tonal adjustments by activating the night mode in night shots.
Tech Reviewer & Product Analyst
Định Bia has spent over 10 years testing consumer electronics with a focus on smart technology. He work as a product advisor at Biareview where he helped customers find the right devices for their needs. He personally tests every product featured on this site using a consistent evaluation framework covering quality, durability, and value. All reviews are based on experience, not influenced by the manufacturer.
