Xiaomi Redmi 10 review
The Xiaomi Redmi 10 is a budget phone that offers a range of desirable features at an affordable price. While it may not have all the bells and whistles, it's a solid upgrade over its predecessor, the Redmi 9. One of the notable improvements is the design, which now features a smooth plastic finish on the back and frame, rather than the textured one found on the Redmi 9. The screen has also been upgraded to a 6.5-inch IPS LCD with a 1080p resolution and a fast 90Hz refresh rate. The phone's performance is adequate for everyday tasks, but it falls short in terms of gaming capabilities. The battery life is decent, lasting up to 127 hours in our tests, although the charging speed is somewhat slow. The camera setup has been improved with a new main cam featuring a 50MP quad-camera sensor and an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera, as well as a macro camera and depth sensor. However, while the daytime shots are good, the colors are not realistic, and there's poor contrast and dynamic range. The night mode feature is a welcome addition, providing significant improvement in sharpness, fine detail, and overall picture quality. Overall, the Redmi 10 is a solid budget phone that offers a lot of value for its price. While it may have some shortcomings, such as a mediocre chipset and slow charging, it's still worth considering if you're in the market for a budget device.
Build Quality and Design
The Xiaomi Redmi 10 boasts a sleek and modern design that's sure to turn heads. The plastic back and frame have been replaced with a smooth finish, providing a premium feel to the device. The camera bump is larger and more prominent than before, but it doesn't detract from the overall aesthetic. One of the notable changes in the Redmi 10's design is the shift away from a textured back to a smooth one on our Pebble White model. This change gives the phone a more refined look, although some may miss the tactile feedback of the previous design. The front of the device features a punch hole for the selfie camera, rather than a notch, which adds to its sleek appearance. The 6.5-inch IPS LCD screen is a major highlight, with a 1080p resolution and a fast 90Hz refresh rate. While not adaptive, this high refresh rate ensures that swiping and scrolling on the screen feels smooth and fluid. The stereo speakers have been upgraded from last year's single speaker, providing clear and punchy sound quality. A 3.5mm jack is also available for those who prefer wired audio. The overall build quality of the Redmi 10 feels solid and well-built, despite being a budget-friendly device. In terms of design, the Xiaomi Redmi 10 checks all the right boxes. It's a great-looking phone that's sure to appeal to anyone in the market for a new device. While some may find the smooth finish less desirable than the textured back, there's no denying the Redmi 10's sleek and modern aesthetic.
Battery Life
The Xiaomi Redmi 10's battery life is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it features a large 5,000 mAh battery that promises to deliver all-day performance. And indeed, it does. In our tests, the phone managed an impressive 127 hours of endurance rating, which is good but not spectacular. However, when compared to other mid-range and budget phones with similar battery capacities, the Redmi 10's performance falls a bit short. It's likely due to the power-hungry Mediatek Helio G88 chipset that powers the phone. Another issue is the charging speed. While the phone comes with an 18W charger, it takes a while to top up the large battery. We measured a sluggish 26% charge in just half an hour, which is not exactly what you'd expect from a phone that's supposed to deliver all-day performance. Overall, the Redmi 10's battery life is decent but not outstanding. While it should easily last a full day with moderate use, it may require some judicious management of power-hungry apps and features to ensure maximum battery life. If you're looking for a phone that can keep up with your busy lifestyle, the Redmi 10 might be worth considering, but don't expect it to blow you away in terms of battery performance.
Display
The Xiaomi Redmi 10 boasts a sleek and impressive display that justifies its budget-friendly price tag. The 6.5-inch IPS LCD screen offers a crisp 1080p resolution, making it perfect for streaming videos, browsing the internet, or gaming on-the-go. One of the standout features of this display is its fast 90Hz refresh rate, which ensures smooth scrolling and swiping. This means that navigating through menus, apps, and web pages feels seamless and snappy. However, the refresh rate isn't entirely adaptive, and it drops to 60Hz in video player apps to conserve battery life. The display also boasts decent brightness levels, with a maximum of around 400 nits measured in our tests. The screen is capable of producing deep blacks and accurate colors, depending on the chosen color preset. While there's some minimal light bleed around the edges of the selfie cutout, it's hardly noticeable. Stereo speakers on either side of the frame are another highlight, offering clear and punchy sound quality. Although bass response could be improved, this display is undoubtedly one of the best features of the Redmi 10. Overall, the Xiaomi Redmi 10's display delivers impressive performance for a budget phone. While it may not match the standards set by more premium devices, it's an excellent choice for those seeking a reliable and feature-packed display without breaking the bank.
Camera
The camera is one of the most important aspects of any smartphone, and in the case of the Xiaomi Redmi 10, it's a mixed bag. The main camera features a 50MP quad-pixel sensor, which sounds impressive on paper, but unfortunately, its performance is underwhelming. In good lighting conditions, you can expect to get a decent amount of detail from the main camera, especially considering the phone's price bracket. However, the colors are far from reality, and there's poor contrast and dynamic range. Portraits aren't great either, with rough edge detection and soft images unless there's plenty of light. The 8MP ultra-wide camera is a different story altogether. It produces nice shots with more saturated colors and better contrast than the main camera. The distortion correction does a good job, and while the corner softness isn't perfect, it's not too bad either. The 2MP macro camera is average at best. Sharpness is decent, but colors aren't lively, and the limited resolution means there's not much detail to speak of. There's no autofocus on this camera, which can make it tricky to use. In low light conditions, the main camera takes okay photos, with more saturated colors and some preserved detail and shadows. However, the images are still soft, with clipped highlights and contrast that leaves more to be desired. The night mode feature does provide a significant improvement in sharpness, fine detail, dynamic range, and overall picture quality. The ultra-wide camera performs well in low light too, with good contrast, punchy colors, and a good amount of detail. Exposure is on the darker side, and sharpness could be better, but these are usable photos nonetheless. Selfies taken with the 8MP front-facing camera are pretty good, with plenty of fine detail, vibrant colors, and sufficiently wide dynamic range. The phone does a good job exposing for the subject's face even in backlit situations. Overall, while the camera on the Xiaomi Redmi 10 has its strengths, it's not without its weaknesses. The main camera struggles in terms of color accuracy, contrast, and dynamic range, but the ultra-wide camera and front-facing camera are more reliable.
Price and Value
The Xiaomi Redmi 10 is a budget phone that offers a plethora of desirable features at an affordable price point. Priced competitively in the market, it's difficult to find a device that matches its specs for this kind of money. The Redmi 10 tries to improve upon its predecessor, the Redmi 9, with almost every aspect seeing some sort of upgrade. The phone's design has been tweaked with a smooth finish on the back and frame, rather than the textured one found on previous models. The camera bump is larger and more stylish-looking, while the front features a punch-hole cutout for the selfie cam instead of a notch. The 6.5-inch IPS LCD screen boasts a 1080p resolution, similar to last year's model, but with an even taller aspect ratio. One of the standout features of the Redmi 10 is its fast 90Hz refresh rate, making swiping and scrolling feel silky-smooth. However, this feature does come at the cost of slightly reduced battery life. Speaking of which, the phone's 5,000mAh battery offers decent endurance, but falls short compared to other mid-range devices with similar capacity. The Redmi 10's cameras, although not spectacular, manage to deliver decent performance in well-lit conditions and even do better at night. The price point of around $200 is incredibly reasonable for a device that packs so much value. Considering its price tag, the Xiaomi Redmi 10 offers a compelling package of features, design, and performance. While it may not be perfect, it's an excellent option for those on a budget looking for a solid smartphone experience. If you're in the market for a new phone, the Redmi 10 is definitely worth considering, especially when compared to other devices at its price point.
Performance
The Xiaomi Redmi 10 is equipped with a MediaTek Helio G88 chipset built on a 12nm process. While this chip has slightly higher CPU and GPU clock speeds than the Helio G80 found in the Redmi 9, its performance is still somewhat underwhelming. In our tests, the phone struggled to deliver smooth performance, particularly when running demanding apps or multitasking. This was largely due to the lack of optimization in the software, which resulted in frequent stutters and lags. Geekbench 5 scores were relatively average, indicating that this chip is not a powerhouse by any means. While it's sufficient for basic tasks like browsing, social media, and messaging, it fails to deliver a seamless experience when handling more demanding tasks like gaming or video editing. Furthermore, the phone's inability to adapt its refresh rate in real-time also contributed to its poor performance. The 90Hz display is only useful when scrolling through lists or navigating menus, but it quickly becomes distracting when trying to engage with apps that require sustained performance. Overall, while the Redmi 10's performance is adequate for its price point, it falls short of what we've come to expect from mid-range devices. If you're looking for a phone that can handle demanding tasks without breaking a sweat, this may not be the best option. However, if you prioritize a smooth user experience in casual use cases, the Redmi 10 might still be worth considering.
Pros
1. Affordable price
2. Smooth design
3. High refresh rate LCD screen
4. Good battery life
5. Stereo speakers
6. Good selfie camera
7. Night mode support
Cons
1. Mediocre chipset performance
2. Slow charging
3. Underwhelming main camera performance
4. Limited ultra-wide camera capabilities
5. Average macro camera performance
6. Uninspiring video recording capabilities
7. Limited availability