Xiaomi has just launched their much-anticipated Mi Note 10 and Mi Note 10 Pro here in Malaysia so here is everything you need to know about the two devices.
The Mi Note 10 and Note 10 Pro are devices that have been hyped up for one main reason, that is the 108-megapixel camera it has on the back and to put a long story short, it is pretty impressive but before that, time to cover the basics of the phones. Both devices come with a very premium design as expected of Xiaomi with its back using Gorilla Glass 5 but the glass on the back is curved to help with the ergonomics of the device. They have a 6.47-inch AMOLED display which is also 3D curved Gorilla Glass 5 and are using the dew drop notch design that we are all used to by now. The display also has the under-screen fingerprint sensor which Xiaomi states is a thinner sensor and covers a larger surface area on the display. Upon first impressions, the display seemed really vibrant and bright but it would to be judged further when I get my hands on the device and test it out in the real world. Both phones come in 3 different colour options that include Glacier White, Aurora Green and Midnight Black. Overall, the first impressions on the design and display are fairly positive and I am looking forward to testing it even further.
Moving on to performance and specs, the Mi Note 10 and Note 10 Pro comes with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G processor and although not the flagship Snapdragon 855 or the 855+, the 730G is still a very capable processor. The 730G on the phone is an octa-core CPU which can be clocked up to 2.2 GHz and is built on the 8nm process technology. Both devices also come equipped with the Adreno 618 in terms of the GPU. On the side of RAM and storage, this is where things differ slightly between both devices. The Mi Note 10 comes in only a 6GB RAM and 128GB option while the MI Note 10 Pro comes with a higher 8GB RAM and 256GB storage option. These specs are indeed specs that will make this phone a very powerful device to be used.
Both phones come equipped with an enormous 5260mAh battery inside which Xiaomi says can last for up to 2 days based on their testing. A huge battery is always a plus especially with a screen this big and bright so I am looking forward to seeing how the battery performs when I test it further. Both devices also support 30W fast charging which is said to get the phone from 0-100% in 65 minutes. Xiaomi are also including the 30W fast charging brick in the box which is amazing to see.
Now for the most important part of the phones, the cameras. The Mi Note 10 and Mi Note 10 Pro both come with a 5-camera setup on the back and the only difference between them is that the Mi Note 10 has a 7P lens while the Mi Note 10 Pro has an 8P lens but other than that, both camera systems are identical. They both come with the world’s first 108-megapixel penta camera setup which includes the 108-megapixel lens that supports OIS and has an aperture of f/1.69 and as mentioned earlier, on the Mi Note 10 it is a 7P lens while on the Mi Note 10 Pro it is an 8P lens. They both also have a 12-megapixel telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom and an aperture of f/2.0. Next is a 5-megapixel telephoto camera that has OIS and an aperture of f/2.0. This lens also supports 10x hybrid zoom and 50x digital zoom. The phone also has two more sensors on the back that are the 20-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with a 117-degree field of view and an aperture of f/2.2 as well as a 2-megapixel macro lens with an AF distance of 2cm to 10cm. On the front, the phone has a 32-megapixel AI selfie camera with an aperture of f/2.0. Now that is a lot of cameras. Xiaomi has also included some extra features with the cameras including Night Mode 2.0, ShootSteady Video, Vlog Mode and the most interesting to me, 960fps macro slow motion video. The photo quality seems good so far but I can only give a proper verdict on it once I have put the cameras through its paces in the real-world test.
There are also some small additions that Xiaomi has added with both these devices which is nice to see. Both charge via USB Type-C and both also have a 3.5mm headphone jack which is very rare in 2019. The phone also has face unlock using the front facing camera in the dew drop notch but Xiaomi says that it is only supported in some regions and others will get it via an OTA update. Overall, the Mi Note 10 and the Mi Note 10 Pro are both very interesting devices which will be interesting to test out, especially the cameras.
The Mi Note 10 will launch in Malaysia on December 7th 2019 for RM 2099 for the 6GB+128GB storage variant while the Mi Note 10 Pro will launch also on December 7th for RM 2499 for the 8GB+256GB storage variant.
Xiaomi also introduced us to their brand new MIUI 11 at the event today. According to them, this new interface was made with the idea of keeping things more minimalistic. They have made the UI simpler and have also introduced a system wide dark mode. An always on display has also been added for phones with an AMOLED display to make viewing notifications and the time easier with just a glance. This display is also very customizable with multiple different themes and special effects. Mi Share was also introduced with MIUI 11 which is similar to Apple’s AirDrop as you can easily share images or documents to other Mi devices easily and quickly. Xiaomi also boasted their Sounds of Nature which refines the sound system and adapts based on your schedule and time of day. Some other small improvements include the new task manager which is integrated in the notes app, documents in the file manager being viewed easily, printing wirelessly easily as well as quick replies.
There was a lot of things to take away from this action-packed event and I cannot wait to start testing out the Mi Note 10 to see how it performs in the real world and to see if the camera system actually lives up to the hype.
