Once upon a time, there was a kingdom known for being the fastest-growing public technology in the world which just started to get 5G devices under Rs. 20,000. On analyzing the current demand and 5G availability in the region, the emperor of that kingdom set out three of its strongest warriors, unknown to the world with powers dedicated to the current position of the market. The warriors had all the potential to not just win, but dominate its competition completely and they soon won the hearts of the local people. The kingdom we are talking about is the Indian smartphone market, the emperor being Xiaomi and the warriors being the Redmi Note 10, Note 10 Pro, and the Note 10 Pro Max!
Today, we present the tale of the perfect strategist of the trio, the one who binds the novice and the expert and sits comfortably between the two, the Redmi Note 10 Pro.
Design and Display – Premium at Core and Crust!
The Redmi Note 10 Pro, shares the same armory as its expert counterpart, the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max. The shield, the sword, the warfare technique, matches between the two completely. Okay, enough of setting this up like an Ancient Tale, I really don’t want to sound like a Grandpa telling a story to his children.
The glass back here has a gradient hue finish which looks very premium and has a matte finish to itself. The edges of the device smoothly blend into the frame making for a very comfortable experience to hold it in your palm. Even with its massive 5000mAh battery, the weight distribution is so finely tuned that even after weighing 192 grams, it feels slightly lighter when you compare its in-hand feel with other devices.
Xiaomi calls this design EVOL, which is interesting and all the three devices in this series – the Redmi Note 10, Redmi Note 10 Pro, and the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max have these. Talking of EVOL, noticed something about this word? Read it again. Well, it’s just LOVE spelled backward and this is indeed a very clever naming scheme by Redmi as the device surely has a design that makes you fall in love. This perfectly bridges the gap between the regular Redmi Note 10 and the Note 10 Pro Max, giving you the same in-hand feel while being lighter on the pocket.
The display on the Redmi Note 10 Proz is marvelous. The 6.57-inch screen is an AMOLED panel with a refresh rate of 120Hz, the same as on the Pro Max model. High refresh rate, that too on an AMOLED? Yes! Redmi has managed to pull off a great stunt with this display, and it looks gorgeous! The colors look so rich on this panel, and it also comes with an HDR rating as well. We tested it with Amazon Prime, Netflix and other OTT platforms and HDR was perfectly compatible and definitely made a difference.
The refresh rate itself makes up for a very smooth scrolling experience, and you can also lower it to 90Hz or even 60Hz from the settings, but we set it to max 120Hz itself while using the device. The outdoor visibility again was exceptional as the panel gets as bright as 1200 nits, making texts and visuals easily recognizable in all sorts of lights. As icing on the cake, it also comes equipped with Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 for protection. This has to be one of the best display experiences we have had on a device in this segment.
Cameras – PROfessionally close to MAXimum
The rear camera array on the Redmi Note 10 Pro uses the same socket as the Max, but they’re only a single difference here. Well, this is actually the only standalone change between the Note 10 Pro and the Note 10 Pro Max, the primary sensor. Instead of the triple-digit 108MP sensor, the Redmi Note 10 Pro here gets a 64MP primary camera. The rest sensors, like the ultrawide, macro, and depth remain shared between the two.
The primary sensor does a fine job during the day and captures an ample amount of details. The focusing is very fast and accurate and you can manually tap to adjust the focus point. The dynamic range is very wide while capturing bright outdoor shots and the colors are just finely saturated and close to the real world. In bright conditions, the primary sensor does a great job with regular pictures.
At night, the images start to get a little grainy which is normal for any smartphone camera. The included Night Mode enhances the images shot during the dark and makes them brighter and much more usable, good enough to be directly posted on social media. But again there is a slight difference in images shot during the day and the night, which is obvious.
The macro lens is something that we really appreciate and we actually played with it for a while, exploring close-up shots! The macro shots can go to as close as 2cm, and the results are very impressive! This has to be on the best macro lenses that we have used on a smartphone. Again, the same sensor from the Max!
For videos, the primary sensor can go up to 4K 30fps, with lower resolution videos supported at even 60fps. There’s also a super steady mode at 1080p30fps. Videos from this camera maintain a good amount of details, and the dynamic range is preserved very well. Especially while shooting the sunset, or sunrise, the sensor managed well to adjust the exposure, and there we no issues of blown-out highlights here. The cameras on the Redmi Note 10 Pro have raised the bar for budget devices to a level where competitors will really have to provide a great fight. A very solid performing set we would say!
The 16MP selfie camera is housed by the hole-punch display. Well, the cut-out itself is very small on this device as compared to even certain flagships that we have tested. The selfies, are again great and come with really good skin colors. There’s also a portrait mode that blurs out the background. The edge detection is pretty good, and the selfies are very sharp. Videos from the front camera are capped at 1080p only but are stable enough when you shoot while walking.
Performance – No holding back!
The Redmi Note 10 Pro comes with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G chipset as found on the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max. The chipset here drives the 120Hz display very well with no hiccups. In daily tasks like opening apps, browsing through social media, consuming videos, and quick replies, the device was very snappy and there were absolutely no lags or stutters of any sort. The memory management is excellent, well at least it got better after receiving an update. So if you just unboxed the device, it’s better to update it first for a much better experience in RAM management. It was easily able to retain 8-10 apps in its background with no reloading issues at this point.
Tell us a better way to test the real-world performance of a device other than playing PUBG Mobile, I’ll wait. If you come up with an answer, do hit us with the same on Twitter and we will make sure to respond and include it in our reviews! In PUBG, the default settings supported are Smooth+Ultra that enables a 40fps gameplay. We landed at Sosonovka Military Base, Georopol, Novorepnoyne, and a few other crowded places with a few enemy teams in Ace lobby. The performance remains very stable with a constant frame rate of around 38-40fps even in close range fights. The performance here is the same as on the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max, and we really did not face any difference at all, the Redmi Note 10 Pro literally feels the same in terms of performance with its elder sibling.
Coming to MIUI and the tag of recommendations that this OS has up its head for a while, the answer to this is quite interesting this time around. To a surprise, there we almost no ads in the UI. There are a few pre-installed apps, which can be easily deleted with a simple click. The only notifications we got were from GetApps, but those can also be disabled. So it’s a very neat experience with MIUI this time around and it’s so good to see such a feature-packed version of Android getting matured. MIUI is finely refined here with smooth scrolling at 120Hz and is overall very responsive.
Battery – Kuch Bhi bolneka, battery pe sawal nai uthaneka!
To all the non-Hindi-speaking folks, the headline basically means – ‘Say anything about me, but just don’t question my abilities with battery life’ a dialogue I tried to use from Shahrukh Khan’s Raees movie. Did I just move away from the main topic for a while? Oh wait, I was about to tell you about the battery life on the Redmi Note 10 Pro, right. Man, this device is interesting enough to make me think wild while I write this review.
The 5000mAh battery on the Redmi Note 10 Pro can easily take you through an entire day of usage. During the few weeks, we used the device, our usage pattern included over 2 hours of media streaming, lots of social media browsing, a couple of hours of gaming, regular calls, and a few camera shots, all this with Airtel 4G sim inserted in the device. In this manner, the screen on time was constantly between 6.5-7 hours, and at times even more on the Redmi Note 10 Pro.
Redmi does ship a 33W fast charger in the box itself, so no Apple effect can be seen here. The provided adapter charges the phone from 0% to 100% in around 90 minutes, which for a battery of that size is actually very fast considering the rated power of 33 watts.
Verdict
The Redmi Note 10 Pro is the perfect device that bridges the gap between the Redmi Note 10 and the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max. A great display, amazing set of cameras, same performance from the top variant equipped with an adorable battery life makes it a complete package for Rs. 15,999/- for the base 6GB+64GB. The only major flaw with the device is its availability. The hassle of flash sales remains with a Redmi Note Series device, with the base variant sometimes not getting listed. Apart from that, the Redmi Note 10 Pro makes for a very practical choice for users who need all-rounder, capable of everything.
The lack of 5G you ask us? Simple, 5G rollout is still a long way to go in India, and with all the 4G bands support on this device, you can continue to use the Redmi Note 10 Pro with 4G for a while, by the time 5G actually gets widespread. So yes, around this price segment, the Redmi Note 10 Pro is a champion hard to compete with!
