Xiaomi Mi 10 5G Review: Xiaomi carves out a great flagship but does the price justify its true position in the market?

Xiaomi brings out a compelling flagship!

Xiaomi Mi series defines a source of excellence and premium-ness when it comes to specifications. Last time the Mi 8 was seen and there was also the Mi Mix series which had a great display and a great set of internals.
However, these smartphones could not face stiff competition in the market from the likes of Samsung, OnePlus, etc.

As a result, Xiaomi has worked hard in order to keep the Mi brand back into the game by carving out the much-awaited Mi 10 which comes with a newer design and has all the flagship features like a higher refresh rate AMOLED display, a powerful Snapdragon 865 chipset and great set of cameras all set to take on the competition.

Can the flagship from Xiaomi make a compelling buy and does the price of it justify its true position in the market?

Xiaomi Mi 10 5G Design:

The Mi 10 has a glass sandwich design both at the front as well as back and is protected by Corning Glass 5. The smartphone has a curved display on the sides which makes it look attractive and this curved display blends to the metallic frame which houses the volume and power buttons.

On the front, there is a punch-hole display with the front camera placed on the top left corner. There are no bezels due to the curved display. The earpiece lies on top of the display.

At the back, there is a quad-camera setup with the ultrawide camera lying below the three cameras and it feels premium since it is made of polished glass finish which shines when viewed from different angles.

On the top, there is a part of the loudspeaker with the secondary noise-canceling microphone with an IR Blaster to control air conditioners, televisions, etc. The sides of the smartphone house the volume controls and the power button on the right side.

The left side of the smartphone is cleaner with no controls. At the bottom, there is another loudspeaker vent just like the top, primary microphone, USB Type-C port, and a dual SIM card slot.

It lacks a microSD card slot for expansion which is not a big concern as it ships with a base storage of 128GB.

The Mi 10 is not water-resistant but Xiaomi claims to have put a nano-coating which means it can handle small accidental water spills or taken under direct rain.

The back has also support wireless charging and reverse wireless charging which is a good feature to have in a flagship.

The back feels a bit slippery and the smartphone feels a little bit heavier especially due to massive 4780mAh battery.

Overall, the build quality stands up right there with the competition as the curved display has a more appealing look and the smartphone feels solid while holding in hand.

Xiaomi Mi 10 5G Display:

The Xiaomi Mi 10 sports a 6.67 inches full HD+ Super AMOLED display (1080 x 2340 pixels) which makes it one of the best displays in the market. The screen to body ratio stands at 20:9.

The AMOLED display has very good color reproduction with good viewing angles. There is also the DCI-P3 setting seen on AMOLED displays.

Xiaomi has not gone for a Quad HD+ resolution instead they have gone for a full HD+ resolution which supports the 90Hz refresh rate.

Higher refresh rate screens have been common on mid-range as well as flagship smartphones and it is no different from the Xiaomi Mi 10. The higher refresh rate makes the display a treat to use. The 90Hz display when put up against a 120Hz display, does feel a little bit responsive but there is not a huge difference.

The display is smoother and feels much responsive when in use and the touch feels very responsive due to the higher 180Hz touch sampling rate. Under direct sunlight, the screen visibility is good and the auto-brightness calibration has been done well.

At night, the screen can go very low and there is also a Blue Light filter provided by Xiaomi. The display of the Mi 10 has various modes where you can set a warmer or a cooler tone.

The 90Hz display enhances the gaming experience and also comes into picture while scrolling, or doing multitasking, etc. The 90Hz display also supports HDR content and comes with Widevine L1.

The Mi 10 has an optical in-display fingerprint scanner which is very fast and accurate and the face unlock method is fast also. The fingerprint scanner has cool animation and can be customized in the settings.

The Mi 10 lacks the higher resolution being a flagship but what it gets is a good overall display with a curved design that is striking to look at and secondly, the 90Hz AMOLED display provides a richer experience.

Xiaomi Mi 10 5G Performance:

The Mi 10 is shipped with the best of the internals in the form of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset. This chipset is seen on most flagships like the OnePlus 8 Pro, Realme X50 Pro, and iqoo3, etc.

The Snapdragon 865 is an octa-core chipset having 1×2.84 GHz Kryo 585 Gold core and 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 585 Gold cores (both are based on the powerful ARM Cortex A77 architecture) which provides good performance and there is another set of 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 585 Silver cores (based on ARM Cortex A55 architecture) for power efficiency.

It is built on the 7nm process and has the powerful Adreno 650 GPU. This chipset is paired with an X55 Modem which provides 5G capability and also has the newer sub-6GHz Wi-fi support for better wifi and network capabilities.

The 90Hz display makes the gameplay much smoother and all high-end games like PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty, etc. play on the Mi 10 without any stutter or lag. We played PUBG at the highest graphics settings and there were not any frame drops noticed.

The Mi 10 has a vapor cooling chamber which maintains the heat of the smartphone while gaming heavily. The Mi 10 ships with either 8/12GB LPDDR5 RAM and has base storage of 128GB/256GB storage with UFS 3.0 speed transfers.

In all benchmarks, like Antutu v8, the Mi 10 scored 578056 which is more than the last year’s flagship Snapdragon 855+ and has almost equivalent scores to the Apple A13 Bionic chip found on the iPhone 11 Pro.

In Geekbench 5.1, the Mi 10 scored 895 in single-core and 3367 in multi-core tests.

Overall, with the top of the line internals and a higher refresh rate display, the performance and gaming of the Mi 10 is a beast to use.

Xiaomi Mi 10 5G Software:

The Xiaomi Mi 10 runs on MIUI 11 built on top of Android 10. MIUI 11 in some respects has its own advantages and disadvantages. The optimizations to the battery have been improved with each update of the MIUI version. But the UI lacks a dedicated app drawer and there is a lot of pre-installed applications that eat up more memory and battery.

However, there is a dedicated dark mode which can be applied to all third-party applications, the familiar Android 10 navigation gestures and the Always-On Display works perfectly well. MIUI 12 will soon be arriving on the Mi 10 which will provide some improvements.

MIUI provides customizations to the battery and also has various other features like the Digital Wellbeing, Quick Replies, nature sounds for notifications and alarms, Multilink which can combine mobile data and wifi speeds thus enhancing the network connectivity, and other Mi specific applications.

There are no ads as such like all other Xiaomi smartphones but there is a dedicated setting to turn the ads off. One difference noticed in the UI is the presence of Google dialler and SMS applications.

Compared to other competitors like the OnePlus 8 Pro running the OxygenOS, Realme X50 Pro running the RealmeUI, MIUI falls short in providing a richer software experience at this price point and being a flagship, lacks a richer software feel.

Xiaomi Mi 10 5G Cameras:

The most highlighting aspect of Xiaomi Mi 10 is its camera. It has a 108MP primary camera which was first seen on the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. It is the Samsung HMX ISOCELL sensor with f/1.7 aperture that helps it capture some very detailed images.
The four cameras are:

108MP f/1.7 Samsung HMX sensor with support for OIS
13MP f/2.4 ultrawide camera with 123-degree field of view
2MP f/2.2 macro camera
2MP f/2.2 depth camera

Talking about the main camera which is the 108MP sensor, the images have good color reproduction, excellent dynamic range, and the details are clearly noticed in the images. During daylight, the images have good saturation with deep blues in the skies and the skin tones look natural.

The 108MP camera on the Mi 10 has a different implementation than the one on the Galaxy S20 Ultra. The Mi 10’s 108MP camera uses the Tetracell technology which results in 27MP images which scale to 25MP images.

On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra uses Nonacell technology which is 9:1 images where each image scales to 12MP ones.

During the night, the images have less noise and the details in the shadows are excellent with good color accuracy. The dynamic range is really good and with the Night Mode turned on, the images have better exposure and the noise is almost not present.

With the HDR turned on, the images whether in the day or at night, come out with more realistic colors and there is also the AI recognition mode to bring some enhancements to the images.

Check out: Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra Review: Does the name Ultra make it the beast of all smartphones in 2020?

At the 2x zoom level, the images have good details and retain the colors. The images capture in more detail without any crop and the highlights in the images retain there.

The 13MP f/2.4 ultrawide camera takes some very good images during the day with good dynamic range and the color in the images looks more detailed with proper white balance and the 123-degree field of view helps capture more details.

Similarly, at night, the ultrawide camera does a good job in taking wider images with less noise and the level of detail is good. The Night Mode takes slightly better images by reducing a whole amount of noise.

The 2MP f/2.2 macro camera takes some good close up shots but does lose some detail especially the colors look a bit washed out. The autofocus helps the Mi 10 focus more closely on the subject and captures better exposure in the background.

It would have been better if Xiaomi could have used the ultrawide camera for the macro shots and should have gone for the telephoto or the zoom camera.

There is no telephoto camera, but the main 108MP camera takes some very good images. At 2x zoom, the images have good detail and retain maximum colors. After increasing it to 10x zoom, the images still look good but the colors look a bit washed out.

At night, the 2x zoom images retain good color and low noise in the images. This is further enhanced by turning on the Night Mode.

Coming to portraits, there is a 2MP depth camera which together with the main 108MP camera provides a good background blur in the images. The edge detection is good and the level of details on animals or human subjects looks good.

Xiaomi has a lot many options to adjust the background blur and when zoomed into the portraits, the level of details remains good.

On the front, the Mi 10 gets a 20MP f/2.0 camera which takes some really good selfies. These images have good details but by default, the beauty mode is turned on. The skin smoothening is done but turning the beauty mode off helps to take some good ones.

Similarly, with the portrait mode, the selfies come out good and the background blur works very well thus differentiating the face from the surroundings.

In terms of videos, Xiaomi has not compromised with the Mi 10 as it gets the 8K video recording which the Snapdragon 865 supports. The 8K video is captured at 24fps which is the highest but actually, the video downscales to 6K.

The 4K video at 30/60fps comes out really good and with the presence of OIS helps in shooting more stabilized videos with good color reproduction. The dynamic range is good and the noise is almost not present.

The 8K video shot at 30fps has also good details but the colors look a bit washed out. A software update might fix this issue in the future. There is also the 1080p or 720p video at 30/60fps and the footage comes out really good.

The dynamic range turns out to be good with both the main and the ultrawide cameras with the autofocus working really well.

There is also a portrait mode for the videos where you can adjust the background blur and also the edge detection works well but the level of noise is present but by a very slight margin.

The front camera on the Mi 10 can record 1080p videos at 30fps which come out good but the stabilization is not so good as the video is shaky and in portraits, the background blur is not so good.

There is also a vlogging mode for the people who are interested in doing vlog videos.
Xiaomi will address all these issues in a future software update.

There is a Pro mode for both the images and videos where you can adjust the ISO levels, white balance, focus, and the shutter speeds manually according to your needs.

Xiaomi Mi 10 5G Battery Life:

The Mi 10 packs a larger 4780mAh battery which powers the 6.67 inches display having a 90Hz refresh rate. The Mi 10 can easily last for a single day with the display set to 90Hz with moderate usage which includes playing high-end games like PUBG Mobile and also video streaming through Youtube.

When the display is set to 60Hz, the Mi 10 can easily last for a day and a half with moderate usage. The standard screen on time is around 5-6 hours and Xiaomi has thrown in different modes for performance which can be optimized for efficient battery life.

There is also an option for Auto-refresh rate and MIUI customizes the refresh rate depending on the application. MIUI is good at battery optimization and with each software update, it improves further.

The Mi 10 is shipped with a 30W fast charger which takes around 0 to 100 percent in 72 minutes which is quite impressive when compared to other fast chargers like Warp Charger but slower compared to the SuperDart charger on the Realme X50 Pro.

The first half an hour charges the Mi 10 from 0 to 53 percent which is good and plus there is a vapor cooling chamber that maintains the thermal temperature of the smartphone while gaming.

The Mi 10 has support for 30W wireless charging which is quite fast and takes the smartphone from 0 to 50 percent in 30 minutes and there is even support for 10W reverse wireless charging to charge devices like Earbuds or other smartphones like Samsung Galaxy S10+, OnePlus 8 Pro, etc.

With a larger battery and a 90Hz display, the Mi 10 serves the power users perfectly well.

Xiaomi Mi 10 5G Audio Quality:

The Mi 10 has a stereo speaker setup which includes the loudspeaker vents at the top and the earpiece thus providing an excellent sound quality. The smartphone lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack which is commonly seen on flagships of 2020.

The smartphone provides an excellent sound experience which is clear and loud. The loudness is good but sometimes does get muffled up. There is support for Hi-res audio output thus providing clearer sound.

All third party earphones work well and there is an enhanced sound equalizer to tweak the sound according to your needs. Xiaomi may not have provided a 3.5mm headphone jack but does provide a USB-Type C connector inside the box.

Verdict:

Xiaomi has done a remarkable job by bringing the Mi 10 which truly sets the benchmark levels for the company. It has a lot to offer which includes an excellent design, good display with support for 90Hz higher refresh rate, a powerful chipset for gaming and performance, etc.

The most standout feature is the massive 108MP main camera which takes excellent images and video quality. The 8K video support is a good addition also. Compared to some of the 48MP or the 64MP images, this camera stands out.

The smartphone has a massive battery with support for fast charging. There is also support for wireless and reverse wireless charging which is seen on most flagships costing higher than the Mi 10.
The audio performance is also really good especially the stereo speakers work well thus providing a richer experience.

However, when it comes to software, MIUI can not provide a richer software experience like the OxygenOS or the RealmeUI as there are a lot of pre-installed applications and the ads situation is still present which makes the UI frustrating to use.

The Mi 10 does not have an official IP rating which is a big miss considering its price but you do get day-to-day water resistance.

At prices starting at Rs.49999 for the 8GB RAM and 128GB storage and all the way up to Rs.54999, the Mi 10 competes for some of the flagships like the OnePlus 8 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S10+, etc. For the price, you get a lot but you do miss out on a Quad HD+ screen and IP rating (which both the OnePlus 8 Pro has and starts at a price of Rs.54999).

On an overall basis, Xiaomi has entered into the flagship smartphone range with the Mi 10 which makes it a good buy but considering the price which starts at Rs.50000 for a Xiaomi smartphone will make a difficult choice for some users in the market.