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Redmi Note 10 Review — Jam Packed Features At A Value Price
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Redmi Note 10 Review — Jam Packed Features At A Value Price

by March 9, 2021
Overview
Highlights

The Redmi Note 10 is the first in the series to feature an AMOLED display. Packing a Snapdragon 678 chipset, a 5000mAh battery, and a 48MP quad camera setup, it does look like it offers quite a lot on the table. Is it the mid-range smartphone that you've been looking for?

Warranty

1-year

Price

4GB + 64GB: RM699 (SRP)
6GB + 128GB: RM799 (SRP)

Positives

+ Quite the looker for a mid-range smartphone
+ 33W charger included
+ Decent camera performance
+ Battery life isn't bad

Negatives

- Fingerprint magnet at the back of the device
- The wide camera bump seems like a waste of space
- Selfie camera placement is kind of annoying

Pokde Scoreboard
Pokde Rating
Appearance
7.9
Efficiency
8.8
Features
8.4
Materials
7.9
Performance
7.9
Portability
8.3
User Experience
7.5
Value
8.0
Bottom Line

The Redmi Note 10 presents itself as a solid offering if you're on the lookout to find a decent mid-range smartphone without the need to break the bank.

8.1
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The Redmi Note series has proven to be a bang for buck option in the mid-range smartphone segment. With that being said, we dive into this Redmi Note 10 review. Will it follow the success of its predecessors? Let’s find out.

Unboxing

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Redmi Note 10 Review – Unboxing

When we received our review unit of the Redmi Note 10, we found that it didn’t come included with the usual documentation, which will most likely be included in the final retail units. Regardless, here’s what you’ll find inside the package (aside from that).

  • Redmi Note 10 itself
  • 33W charger
  • SIM ejector
  • USB-C cable
  • TPU case

Appearance

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Redmi Note 10 Review – Front

Looking at the front, you’ll find a 6.43-inch AMOLED display along with a small selfie camera hole. The bezels are visible around it, especially on the bottom.

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Redmi Note 10 Review – Bottom

Moving over to the bottom, you can find the 3.5mm headphone jack, microphone, USB Type-C port, and the speaker grille.

You’ll find the volume rockers and power button, which also doubles as a fingerprint sensor, on the right side of the smartphone. On the opposite side, you will only find the SIM tray slot.

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Redmi Note 10 Review – Back

Switching over to the back, you can see that we’ve got our hands on the Onyx Grey variant of the Redmi Note 10. It has a slight blue / purple appearance when looking at it from an angle. The quad camera is located on the top left corner, fitted in a rather wide bump if I do say so myself.

Redmi Note 10 Specifications

CPU: Snapdragon 678 Octa-core (2×2.2GHz Kryo 460 Gold & 6×1.7GHz Kryo 460 Silver) 11nm
GPU: Adreno 612
Memory: 6GB LPDDR4X
Storage: 128GB UFS 2.2
Display: 6.43-inch (2400 x 1080) AMOLED DotDisplay
Camera: 48MP f/1.8, PDA
8MP f/2.2 ultrawide
2MP f/2.4 macro
2MP f/2.4 depth
Selfie camera: 13MP f/2.5
Connectivity: LTE Band 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/20/28/38/40/41
IR blaster
NFC
USB Type-C
Battery: Li-Po 5000mAh
33W fast charging (charger included)
Dimensions: 160.46 x 74.5 x 8.29mm
Weight: 178.8g
Ingress protection: IP53 splash-proof

Performance

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Redmi Note 10 Review – Antutu V8

This is the first time we’ve tested a Snapdragon 678-powered device and here on Antutu, we see that the phone falls behind the Redmi Note 8 Pro that we’ve tested previously. It is still better than the POCO M3 and OPPO A73 however, both of which utilized a Snapdragon 665 chipset.

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Redmi Note 10 Review – Geekbench 5

On Geekbench 5 however, the single-core performance of the Snapdragon 678 performs better than the one in the Redmi Note 8 Pro.

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Redmi Note 10 Review – 3DMark

In terms of graphical performance, the Adreno 612 falls behind when compared to its competitors in the list. It’s still a decent score nonetheless.

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Redmi Note 10 Review – PCMark Work 2.0

When it comes to PCMark’s Work 2.0 benchmark, the Redmi Note 10 performs quite well with a score of 7350. It’s noticeably ahead of devices running the Snapdragon 662 SoC.

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Redmi Note 10 Review – Work 2.0 Battery Life

Recent mid-range devices from Xiaomi show that they’ve performed quite well when it comes to battery life, and it’s no different here with the Redmi Note 10 lasting 13 hours and 39 minutes on PCMark’s battery test.

In terms of real-life usage, the battery showcase a similar result where I can simply last a day and a half before I need to charge it again. I wouldn’t say that I’m a heavy user as I’d be normally be using the usual social media apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram, and also Messenger. I did watch some videos on YouTube, in case you’re wondering.

The phone was able to reach to go from 18% to 58% with just a 30-minute charging period, in case you’re wondering how fast the 33W fast charger juices up the device.

User Experience

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Redmi Note 10 Review – User experience

The Redmi Note 10 fits perfectly fine in my hands and I have no complaints about the grip. If you’ve never experienced AMOLED displays before, it is a pleasure watching videos on the device as colors seem rich and the blacks are really black which results in improved contrast. In case you didn’t notice, the AMOLED panel is one of the selling points for the Redmi Note 10 series and I’d say it’s a very much welcomed feature for its price range. Not to forget, the dual speakers really does bring the multimedia experience to another level.

Despite the selfie camera being quite small, I find it kind of a nuisance when I game on the device horizontally. I would’ve preferred if Xiaomi had put it on the corner instead as I find the placement distracting. The same goes when I watch videos on this as well.

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Redmi Note 10 Review – Material

While I like the look of the device from the back, I find glossy backs annoying. If you’ve read one of my reviews from before, I just dislike having stains or fingerprints when I hold a device. It doesn’t help that I also have sweaty hands. It’s something to take note of if you have a similar preference to me. Otherwise, you can opt to get a case of your own to cover it up.

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Redmi Note 10 Review – UI

As you might recall from my previous reviews of the POCO M3 and Redmi 9T, they were lacking the RAM to provide a smooth experience. I can say that the UI is definitely better here on the Redmi Note 10. 6GB nowadays to me feels like the bare minimum for smartphones.

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Redmi Note 10 Review – Camera UI

The same case as is for the camera UI, it’s pretty easy and smooth to use. Should you happen to not be familiar with MIUI’s skin before, it’s straightforward and if it’s not to your taste, you can tweak it on the home menu of the camera app.

For a mid-range device, the camera’s performance is quite decent. Night mode does the job rather well if I do say so myself. I would say that the digital zoom is where the phone has issues, but judging from my past experiences, it’s not surprising. You’d need stable hands or a stand to keep your shots stable so you won’t end up with blurry photos.

The HDR livens the photos a bit compared to just a normal shot, which is probably something that you would want for your social media uploads. All in all, pretty good camera performance given the price tag.

Check out the full-sized images right here.

Redmi Note 10 Verdict

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Redmi Note 10 Review – Verdict

While you can get the Redmi Note 10 from the price of RM699, I’d just go for the higher 6GB+128GB variant which costs an additional RM100. In my opinion it’s worth getting that extra RAM for a smoother experience overall.

For what it offers, the Redmi Note 10 is quite the attractive deal; an AMOLED display, fast 33W charger to juice up your 5000mAh battery, as well as features such as dual speakers and a 48MP main camera. If you are indeed looking to not spend so much yet would like to have rather premium features, this smartphone is a solid choice. For that, we give the Redmi Note 10 our Silver Pokdeward.

Pokde-Silver

We would like to thank Xiaomi Malaysia for providing us the Redmi Note 10 that was used in this review.

About The Author
Raja Idris
The name's King, Kingky King. Likes to keep it simple and straightforward. A person who games regardless of what platform. Need value for money performance? Get AMD.

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