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Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro review

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro, or in some regions, known as the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Max, has been officially launched in Malaysia.

Since I am interested in the phone, here’s a review or rather information I found about the phone from numerous notable sites and videos.  I believe the information I compiled here could be useful to those of you considering the smartphone.

The smartphone was launched in March 2021 and is considered one of the best smartphones under the Redmi brand out there to date.

SCREEN AND BODY

Personally, I really like how the Redmi Note 10 Pro looks like especially in Onyx Gray.  Other colours like the Glacier Blue and Gradient Bronze aren’t too bad, but I do prefer darker coloured smartphones.

I do have reservations on the camera location on the rear because I do prefer cameras to be more central in location.  The camera also causes quite a bump on the back, so putting the smartphone flat on its back is not possible.

However, other than that, the smartphone does look pretty decent and look like any other smartphone in the market.

It is worth to note that GSM Arena does claim that the rear and frame does become a fingerprint magnet easily.

“The back, and the frame, are glossy though, and fingerprints and smudges stick easily, and they will eventually ruin the looks.” the site says in their review of the unit which was the Indian variant of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro.

The fingerprint magnet verdict was also agreed by Jamshed Avari who wrote that “I was able to check out both finishes, and found that fingerprints were a bit of a problem in both cases.” when commenting about the body in his review at ndtv.com.

The screen of this smartphone is a 6.67″ AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate.

The refresh rate works dynamically in which it reverts to 60Hz when the picture is static.

“The Redmi Note 10 Pro screen is always showing 120fps throughout the UI and all system apps, but it reverts to 60Hz when the picture is static for battery-saving reasons.” says GSM Arena again.

Gorilla Glass 5 protects the glass screen which also comes with familiar 2.5D edges.

There’s a central punch hole in the middle of the upper end of the screen to host the front camera and the earpiece is right at the top edge of the screen.

AUDIO SYSTEM

Only GSM Arena made comments on the audio system of the Redmi Note 10 Pro.

It they stated that it performed better that other Redmi smartphones to date like the Redmi Note 9T and Redmi Note 9 Pro, but somewhat lacks slightly behind what realme 7 Pro had offered.

“The Redmi Note 10 Pro offers Very Good loudness. The setup provides good enough mid and high tones, but it seems to be lacking in bass.” GSM Arena said.

REDMI NOTE 10 PRO SOFTWARE

Like all Redmi smartphone, the Redmi Note 10 Pro uses the MIUI, which is based on Android, as their operating system.

This smartphone in particular uses the MIUI 12 launcher which is based on Android 11.

I personally like the MIUI system as it does have its perks.  However, it also has quite a fair bit of bloatware and annoying ads.

Jamshed agreed with me on this as he said “We’ve complained for years about the amount of advertising and promotional content there is in MIUI, from the “Glance” content on the lockscreen to constant notifications from certain apps. While it isn’t as bad as we’ve encountered in the past, Xiaomi promises that the upcoming MIUI 12.5 will dispense with all of this entirely.” in his review of the smartphone.

PERFORMANCES & GAMING

In terms of performances and gaming experience, the review made by GSM Arena was quite in-depth.

The smartphone utilizes the same Snapdragon 732G processor which is used inside the Poco X3 NFC.

It however does perform better than its Poco rival on bench mark test scores and was noted by the website to have good performance considering its pricing.

In fact, GSM Arena does say that the performance of the smartphone feels like a flagship grade smartphone, so that means it does it’s gaming job quite well.

“The Redmi Note 10 Pro (Max) is a good performer in its class and adequately equipped for its price. It easily manages whatever you throw at it, it runs Android+MIUI incredibly smooth on that screen, and the overall experience feels flagship-grade.” says GSM Arena.

CAMERA

As far as photo quality is concerned, all three reviews I am using here said that the photos are pretty good considering the price of the smartphone.

They overall say that the quality of daylight shooting using the main 108-mega pixel camera is good and over average.

They however didn’t see eye to eye when it came to the macro camera.

GSM Arena came out more critical about the macro camera and said images appeared rather noisy despite having detailed and lively colours.

“The 5MP macro shots are detailed, with lively colors. The contrast isn’t that great, and the images are noisy, though. Also – you should use the macro camera for still subjects in very well-lit surroundings. Anything else will not turn good.” explained GSM Arena.

Jamshed however praised the macro lens for its implementation saying “when the focus was just right and the subject was nicely framed, my shots came out looking spectacular.”

Jamshed also stated that the dedicated macro camera is probably the best he had used so far on a smartphone.

When it comes to videos, one can shoot 4K@30fps videos, but there’s lack of stabilization.  This makes videography shaky.

DURABILITY

GSM Arena says the phone is one of the few Redmi smartphones with an actual IP rating as the phone boast of an IP53.

“The Redmi Note 10 Pro is among the few Redmi phones where you do get an actual IP rating – IP53 in this case.” the portal claims.

BATTERY LIFE

GSM Arena puts the 5,020mAh battery in the Redmi Note 10 Pro as being the better one if compared to Realme 7 Pro and Redmi Note 10.

Both smartphones have a smaller battery than the Note 10 Max, hence the biased result in GSM Arena’s battery last test. According to GSM Arena, the battery of the Redmi Note 10 Max is excellent in terms of endurance as it clocked 118 hours in their test.

The long lasting battery of this smartphone was also approved to be accurate by Android Police in their review.

“This is a one-day phone for heavy users, and light to medium users may need to scramble for a charger only every other day.” said Prasham Parikh in his article for Android Police.

VERDICT AND AVAILABILITY

Personally, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Max is quite an all rounder.

It may slightly lack in camera department, but that too obtained good points from reviewers.

In Malaysia, the smartphone is sold at RM999 but but my checks on both Lazada and Shopee show you can get the phone at lower prices.

Buy the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro:
LAZADA | SHOPEE