Meet the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro — a budget phone with a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra-rivalling 108MP rear camera.
It's one of four phones newly launched by the Chinese company, alongside the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10, the Redmi Note 10S and the Redmi Note 10 5G. The standard Note 10 won't be available in all regions, but the other three are getting a global launch — although we wouldn't necessarily expect them in the US. Here's a little look at each of them.
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Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra's 108MP rear camera is one of its best features — so to see a budget phone arrive packing the same number of megapixels is something of a surprise.
And Xiaomi really has gone all in on the Note 10 Pro's photographic skills. As well as that super-high-res 108MP sensor, it also has 8MP ultra-wide, 5MP telemacro and 2MP depth-sensing round the back. The front-facing camera uses a 16MP sensor.
And there's more: Xiaomi says its 9-in-1 binning tech should help it capture more light, plus there's a fancy RAW algorithm that uses multiple exposures of the same shot to improve night photography. We'll have to wait until we've tried it to see how it performs, but it certainly sounds good on paper.
That camera set-up is far from the Redmi Note 10 Pro's only impressive feature. It also has a 6.67-inch AMOLED screen with a super-fast 120Hz refresh rate — another feature you don't typically see outside of premium smartphones.
As reported by The Verge, the Indian version of the Redmi Note 10 Pro is called the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max and starts at Rs. 18,999 (~$260) for a model with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.
You also get both a USB-C port and a 3.5mm headphone socket, and there's a fingerprint sensor on the side. Other highlights include a 5,020mAh battery and fast-33W charging.
In fact, the only real nod to its mid-range status is that it runs on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 732G chip; this only supports 4G rather than 5G and isn't at the top of the Snapdragon line. The phone will be available in either 6GB or 8GB flavors, with 64GB or 128GB of storage.
Whether the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro makes it into our list of the best Android phones will depend a lot on how much it costs. The Redmi line is not typically expensive — the Redmi Note 9 retails at only £130 in the UK — but we don't yet have any price details. We do know that it should arrive in the UK in early April.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
The standard Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 is the model that's not getting a full release — it certainly won't be available in the UK, although we don't yet have details about which countries will get it.
It lacks the top-end features of the Note 10 Pro, but still has a 43MP rear camera backed up by 8MP ultra-wide, 2MP macro and 2MP depth-sensing sensors, plus a 13MP front camera. The screen is a 6.43-inch AMOLED with 2400 x 1080 resolution, while there's a decent-sized 5,000 mAh battery and fast-charging tech also on board.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S
The Redmi Note 10S sits below the Note 10 Pro and shares some of its headline features.
Like the 10 Pro it has a fingerprint sensor, USB-C port and 3.5mm headphone jack, but its main camera is slightly smaller: it has a 64MP sensor, backed up 8MP ultra-wide, 2MP depth-sensing and 2MP macro efforts. There's a 13MP camera round the front.
Like the standard Note 10, it has a 6.43-inch FHD+ display, with a 60Hz refresh rate — no 120Hz here. Its 5,000mAh battery is also slightly smaller than that in the Pro, although again it gets fast 33W charging.
Powering it all is a MediaTek Helio G95 mid-range processor, plus 6GB or 8GB RAM and 64GB or 128GB storage.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G
Finally, there's the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G — as you might have guessed, the only model out of these four to come with 5G compatibility.
Outside of its connectivity, it has a larger, better screen than the 10S: it's a 6.5-inch display with FHD+ resolution and a faster 90Hz refresh rate. The camera is a downgrade from that in the 10S though, with only a 48MP main sensor backed up by 2MP macro and 2MP depth-sensing. There's no ultra-wide lens on this model, and the front snapper is only an 8MP affair.
The battery is also slightly downgraded — it has the same 5,000mAh capacity as the 10S, but it only supports 18W charging.
Under the hood there's a MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset, plus 4GB or 6GB RAM and 64GB or 128GB storage.
The 5G could be a good contender for the best cheap 5G phone, but otherwise it's the Redmi Note 10 Pro that really has us interested. We'll find out more about it soon.
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