Review of Xiaomi Mi Note 10

A detailed review of the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 camera phone: tremble, flagships!

What is a smartphone for its owner? A means of communication and communication? Or maybe a device for entertainment and games? Or a camera that is always at hand? In fact, all at the same time. Only depending on the priorities, the cost of the chosen model can be very different. With connectivity and entertainment, everything is simple — most models can provide this, and the gaming performance has pulled up to the point that the conditional mid-budget Redmi Note pulls any modern games. But with cameras — trouble. Want the ultimate camera with quality optics, advanced sensor and advanced post-processing? Then you need flagship models that range from $ 600 to $ 1,500, depending on the manufacturer. Their huge cost is due not only to the best camera, but also to the top processor, graphics and various innovative technological solutions that cannot be found in inexpensive smartphones. But if none of this matters? If you just want a good camera phone, without overpaying for unnecessary power and other tricks? Xiaomi provided such an opportunity! Mi Note 10 is a device with a stunning 108 MP camera, which was rated higher in the notorious dxomark than the camera of the Samsung Galaxy S10 + and Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max. This is a camera with 5 lenses, including a telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom, an ultra-wide lens, a portrait lens and a macro lens.

A set for all occasions! At the same time, other characteristics did not disappoint. without overpaying for unnecessary power and other tweaks? Xiaomi provided such an opportunity! Mi Note 10 is a device with a stunning 108 MP camera, which was rated higher in the notorious dxomark than the camera of the Samsung Galaxy S10 + and Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Specifications Xiaomi Mi Note 10:

• Screen : AMOLED 6.47 “FullHD + 1080 x 2340, 600 nits maximum brightness, HDR10, AOD, Corning Gorilla Glass 5
• Chipset : 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G (2 Kryo 470 Gold cores @ 2.2 GHz + 6 Kryo 470 Silver cores @ 1.8 GHz), 8 nm process technology + Adreno 618 graphics accelerator
• RAM : 6 GB LPDDR4X
• Built-in memory : 128 GB UFS 2.0
• Pentacamera: Main — 108 MP f / 1.7, 25mm (wide), 1 / 1.33 “, 0.8µm, PDAF, Laser AF, OIS; Telephoto — 12 MP, f / 2.0, 50mm, 1 / 2.55”, 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, 2x optical zoom; Telephoto — 8 MP, f / 2.0, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3.7x optical zoom, 5x hybrid zoom; Ultra wide-angle — 20 MP, f / 2.2, 13mm, 1 / 2.8 “, 1.0µm; macro lens — 2 MP, f / 2.4, 1 / 5.0”, 1.75µm
• Front camera : 32 MP, f / 2.0, 26mm (wide), 1 / 2.8 “, 0.8µm
• Wireless interfaces : WiFi 802.11 b / g / n / ac, dual-band 2.4 GHz / 5GHz, NFC, IR transmitter, Bluetooth 5.0 with AptX HD support, navigation with GPS satellites, Glonass, Beidou, Galileo, A- GPS, FM radio
• Communication : 2G — 850/900/1800/1900, 3G — HSDPA 800/850/900/1700 (AWS) / 1900/2100, 4G — B1 / B2 / B3 / B4 / B5 / B7 / B8 / B18 / B19 / B20 / B26 / B28 / B38 / B40
• Optional : Sub-screen fingerprint scanner, NFC for payments, magnetic compass, infrared transmitter for controlling household appliances
• Battery : 5260 mAh
• Operating System : MIUI 11 based on Android 10
• Size : 157.8 x 74.2 x 9.7 mm
• Weight : 208 g

Packaging and equipment

Xiaomi itself positions its Mi Note 10 as a sub-flagship, which is inferior to the new MI 10 only in performance. The packaging is appropriate here: sturdy, with a minimalist and austere design.

The model name and color are indicated on the side face. This time I decided on a little experiment and chose an unusual color “white glacier”. In addition, no less beautiful green (Aurora Green) and classic black (Black) are available for order.

Included is a 30W fast charger, type C cable and a transparent silicone protective case.

Since the charge is carried out with a higher current and voltage, the cable must have an appropriate wire size. Here it is even visually thicker than usual. There is a note that the cable is designed for a current of 3A.

Charger, charging speed and battery capacity

Consider a charger, according to the characteristics on the case, the following modes are supported:

• 5V — 3A
• 9V — 3A
• 12V — 2.25A
• 20V — 1.35A
• 10V — 3A

The maximum power is 30W and since the charger supports Quick Charge 3.0 technology, any intermediate voltage with 0.2V steps is possible.

The charging is quite massive, about twice the volume of the standard 10W.

All declared modes were checked and confirmed by electronic load. The characteristics of the charger are fully consistent with those stated. In operation, it does not overheat, does not emit extraneous sounds, and generally behaves properly.

It often happens that the smartphone itself does not load the charger and does not use its full capabilities. But the Mi Note 10 smartphone was not one of those. From the very beginning, it switches to 9.2V voltage and 3A charging current, the power is over 28W. After 10 minutes, charging goes into the next phase, periodically reducing and again increasing the current. Here, the power is already about 29W.

After 20 minutes, the power drops to 24W. Then up to 20W and continues to fall a little.

At the final stage, charging switches to 5V mode and finishes off the rest of the charge. The whole process from 0% to 100% takes 1 hour 12 minutes! The smartphone charges very quickly, especially at the beginning. I’ll write everything down by the minute:

• 15 minutes — 27%
• 30 minutes — 55%
• 45 minutes — 82%
• 1 hour — 96%
• 1 hour 12 minutes — 100%

When charging through the tester, 24.36 Wh was poured into the battery, which at a voltage of 5V is 4872 mAh. Interestingly, the AccuBattery utility also counted from 4989 mAh to 5005 mAh, depending on the measurement method. This is slightly less than the stated 5260 mAh (typ) / 5170 mAh (min). The discrepancy is 298 mAh (the difference in minimum values) or 5.76%, which in principle is absolutely not critical. Nevertheless, the fact takes place.

Appearance and ergonomics

The smartphone looks impressive and impresses with its waterfall screen with rounded edges on the sides. We could previously see something like this in Samsung flagships and lovers of such a design will appreciate this solution. Outwardly it looks very unusual and stands out noticeably against the background of flat screens. The disadvantages include the inability to glue ordinary glass, but firstly, the screen itself is covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 with a high-quality oleophobic coating, and secondly, you can always use a hydrogel film. For the front camera, a small drop-shaped cutout was made in the screen, which almost does not take up free space and looks much more organic than the “holes” that have become popular recently.

The bezels around the screen are small, thanks to which the smartphone has a comfortable size and fits well in the hand. Nevertheless, it cannot be called compact and it will suit those users who like more diagonals. Here, the screen diagonal is 6.47 “, which allows you to conveniently use the browser, watch videos, play games, and at the same time it still fits seamlessly into the side pocket of your jeans, without interfering with walking.

Conversational speaker in the usual place with this placement of the camera. In terms of quality and volume, everything is in order, at the level of flagship models. There is no notification indicator, but with the Always On Display function, it is not needed, all icons and events will be displayed right on the screen.

The back is also covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and has rounded edges, which makes it comfortable to hold the smartphone in your hand. In white, the smartphone looks elegant and absolutely does not get dirty from everyday use, the prints on it are simply not visible.

White itself is certainly not simple here, depending on the intensity of illumination and the angle of incidence of the light, the shade shimmers from cold blue to milky white with mother-of-pearl. I never thought that white could be so rich and noble.

A block with cameras was placed in the left corner. They did it in a row and I prefer this design more than square and round blocks that resemble household gas stoves for cooking. The camera consists of 5 lenses: main (wide-angle), ultra-wide-angle, portrait with 2x optical zoom, telephoto lens with 5x zoom, and macro lens for shooting bugs and flowers. Just below the cameras, you can see a double flash, each block of which consists of 2 bright LEDs. The block with cameras protrudes strongly from the case and if you put the smartphone on the table, it rests on it, risking scratches or even cracks in the glass if used carelessly. In addition, lying on a horizontal surface, the smartphone is not positioned evenly, because the right side with the camera block protrudes. But that’s what we pay for good shots.

There is a solution and it is already available out of the box. Yes, we are talking about a silicone case that completely covers the camera and reliably protects it from accidental damage. But at the same time, the smartphone becomes thicker and all the pleasure from the tactile perception of glass and metal disappears.

The frame is metal and visually the smartphone is a kind of sandwich made of glass panels with aluminum filling. Therefore, most likely you will not even want to take the silicone case out of the box.

There is only one audio speaker here, and despite the good sound quality and high maximum volume, I would like to hear stereo in a device of this class. A reasonable decision was to leave the audio output for the headphones, especially in terms of sound, the smartphone can surprise even an avid music lover. And of course the Type C connector, without which such fast charging would be impossible. OTG is of course supported, I connected SSD drives to my smartphone through external boxes without any problems.

At the top you can see a small hole, this is the second microphone for the noise canceling system. When speaking in a noisy place or even in windy weather, you can be sure that the other person will hear you clearly and without extraneous noise. And here you can also find a chip familiar to Xiaomi — an infrared transmitter for controlling household appliances. Such a universal remote control that is always at hand: a TV set-top box, a TV, an air conditioner — all this is easily controlled simply from a smartphone.

The volume and lock buttons are located under the right hand in the usual place — the upper part of the right side. And in the lower part, a tray was placed in which you can install 2 SIM cards of the nano format. Memory expansion is not provided, but its memory is sufficient — 128 GB. If it is not enough, you can always use cloud storage or upload information to a USB flash drive via OTG.

Screen

A large, bright, juicy AMOLED display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels will not leave anyone indifferent. DCI-P3 color gamut, gorgeous color reproduction — over the years of AMOLED production, screens have stepped far forward. Now they do not have that toxic acidity and the colors look identical to IPS, but the contrast is several times higher (minimum 400,000: 1) and the picture on the screen looks lively and attractive. The screen supports HDR — a wide dynamic range, which makes watching videos on Youtube even more enjoyable.

Endless Black is not only a visual pleasure, but also a battery saver. Now every application has a dark mode, and the system itself has a black theme, and as we know, black color in AMOLED matrices does not consume energy at all

And, of course, the killer feature of all AMOLED displays is the “active screen” function, its other name is Always On Display. The point is that some information is constantly displayed on the screen, for example, hours, notifications about messages from instant messengers, missed calls, etc. With this feature, you simply don’t need a notification indicator, just looking at the screen you can see everything at once. In this case, the charge consumption does not increase significantly and does not affect the frequency of recharging. Can be configured on a schedule so you don’t waste your battery at night.

Of course, Xiaomi has developed its own screens. It can be just a clock (digital or analog) or a calendar, or it can be a kaleidoscope or a small picture. In addition, you can use your own inscription, picture or photo by simply uploading it from the gallery.

And you can also choose an additional effect on events (receiving a notification, message, etc.). For example, the rounded edges of the screen will pulsate or the screen will shine with a scattering of stars. It looks amazing in the dark and immediately draws attention to the smartphone.

But back to the screen itself. I have been using Samsung S8 + with Super AMOLED screen for a long time and I want to say that Mi Note 10 has more natural color reproduction. On a smartphone screen, both color images and with a predominance of white or black look equally cool.

The maximum brightness allows you to easily use your smartphone in the open air. The screen does not glare and remains fully readable. I took the next picture at 15:20, when the sun flooded all over the smartphone screen and nevertheless the text was read without problems, and the smartphone was comfortable to use.

Auto brightness works correctly by correctly selecting the brightness level depending on the intensity of the ambient light.

The viewing angles are high and when tilted along any planes the image does not change in any way. In the place where the screen-waterfall is rounded, the light is refracted at an angle, which is why slight deviations in shade are possible. Also, at a certain angle, a greenish tint appears on white, which is characteristic of all AMOLED screens.

The uniformity of the filling of the white field is good, there are no areas with visible deviations in color or shade, no yellow spots or darkening. The backlight uniformity is normal, the deviation from minimum to maximum is 7.25% (brightness increase on the right side in landscape orientation), it is not visible visually. I recently got a luxometer, so there are no big statistics yet, but for comparison I can say that in Samsung S8 + this figure is 6.25%.

The uniformity of the black field … Well, you understand already, black in AMOLED does not emit any light, so there can be no glare and other nonsense, even in theory. Enjoy Malevich’s creation.

And the last moment that is significant for AMOLED screens is PWM. What is PWM in simple terms? This is a way to reduce the brightness of the screen by quickly turning off the screen backlight, i.e. flickering. Visually, this flickering is not noticeable, but the eyes get tired quickly, and some may even have headaches. Frankly, I can feel it on my Samasung S8 +, especially if the screen brightness is reduced below 80%. Shim there is just the wildest and the ripple ratio reaches 106%. In one of the previous reviews, I showed the data from the heart rate monitor. So what about the Mi Note 10? And everything is fine, because the firmware has a DC Dimming function , which allows you to reduce the brightness not by flickering, but by reducing the voltage applied to the LEDs. Let’s take a look at the heart rate monitor with DC Dimming off and then on.

So, the maximum brightness is 100%, the ripple is normal — 5.8%.

We reduce the brightness to 70%, the ripple is normal — 5.8%. If you continue to decrease the brightness, the ripple begins to increase, with a brightness of 65%, the CP is 15% and this is already a bit too much. That is, without turning on the DC Dimming function, it is better to use a smartphone with brightness settings 70% — 100%

By lowering the brightness even more, you get an even greater ripple factor (hereinafter simply KP):

• 60% brightness — CP 35%
• 50% brightness — CP 80%
• 30% brightness — CP 153%
• 20% brightness — CP 180%
• 10 brightness — CP 182%

Now turn on DC Dimming.

• 100% brightness — CP 5.9%
• 70% brightness — CP 5.9%
• 50% brightness — CP 5.8%
• 30% brightness — CP 6.5%

Even at the lowest brightness levels, the ripple does not exceed 10%, that is, you can safely use it in the dark without worrying about your eyes. DC Dimming works and really helps.

By the way, the description of the function says that the DC Dimming function can affect color reproduction, especially at low brightness levels. But I didn’t notice anything special.

Also, the smartphone has already become traditional “reading mode”, certified by the notorious concern TÜV Rheinland. This mode reduces the intensity of blue light, relaxing your eyes and making reading more comfortable at night.

Fingerprint scanner

I took this function into a separate section, because the scanner is built under the screen, but at the same time it has nothing to do with the screen itself. Although it is worth noting the fact that sub-screen fingerprint scanners are currently only possible with AMOLED screens. Well, now about the quality of reading. The first such sensors appeared a long time ago and, quite frankly, had certain problems. For example, in Lenovo Z5 Pro GT, it works every other time, and in the cold, you can unlock your smartphone only in an alternative way. The situation is much better with the Xiaomi Mi 9T, however, the inability to recognize the fingerprint happens there too and is highly dependent on the cleanliness and dryness of the skin on the finger. Xiaomi Mi Note 10 used a new generation fingerprint sensor and you can immediately feel it. The print is read faster, and unsuccessful attempts have almost disappeared. It rarely happens that the smartphone does not recognize the finger immediately and it is enough to simply move your finger across the screen for better positioning. Well, the scanner is still not friendly with wet skin, if you washed your hands, you need to wipe them dry. Nevertheless, the scanner is no longer annoying, it works very quickly and, thanks to its location on the screen, is very convenient. If the smartphone is on the table and you want to read the message in the messenger, then you don’t even need to pick it up. Once unlocked with one touch, you can read the message and immediately write a response. For the print, you can choose an animation, you can leave the unlock icon always active (AOD), or make it appear only when you pick up your smartphone. Well, the scanner is still not friendly with wet skin, if you washed your hands, you need to wipe them dry. Nevertheless, the scanner is no longer annoying, it works very quickly and, thanks to its location on the screen, is very convenient. If the smartphone is on the table and you want to read the message in the messenger, then you don’t even need to pick it up. Once unlocked with one touch, you can read the message and immediately write a response. For the print, you can choose an animation, you can leave the unlock icon always active (AOD), or make it appear only when you pick up your smartphone. Well, the scanner is still not friendly with wet skin, if you washed your hands, you need to wipe them dry. Nevertheless, the scanner is no longer annoying, it works very quickly and, thanks to its location on the screen, is very convenient. If the smartphone is on the table and you want to read the message in the messenger, then you don’t even need to pick it up. Once unlocked with one touch, you can read the message and immediately write a response. For the print, you can choose an animation, you can leave the unlock icon always active (AOD), or make it appear only when you pick up your smartphone. you don’t even have to pick it up. Once unlocked with one touch, you can read the message and immediately write a response. For the print, you can choose an animation, you can leave the unlock icon always active (AOD), or make it appear only when you pick up your smartphone. you don’t even have to pick it up. Once unlocked with one touch, you can read the message and immediately write a response. For the print, you can choose an animation, you can leave the unlock icon always active (AOD), or make it appear only when you pick up your smartphone.

NFC module

Contactless payment by phone is especially in demand in the post-Soviet space. I do not know how to explain this phenomenon, but it comes to ridiculous — some buyers choose a new smartphone based on the presence / absence of NFC. But there are still not so many inexpensive models with NFC, although it is Xiaomi who is introducing NFC to the masses especially zealously. This year, a lot of inexpensive smartphones with the possibility of contactless payment came out, even the first bracelets appeared that allow you to pay for purchases in our countries. And of course, the Mi Note 10 sub-flagship also has this popular feature. Works with GPay perfectly (if payments do not go through, change the location of the security element to HCE in the settings).

Software part

I have been testing the smartphone for a long time and several firmwares have arrived during use, but the last one was the most thorough one, it arrived at the end of May and carried MIUI 11 on Android 10. MIUI 12 is on its way with a bunch of innovations, already in Chinese firmware.

In the screen settings there is a section “flicker elimination”, this is exactly what I was talking about in the description of the screen. There is also a customizable reading mode with the ability to set the intensity level. Well, the standard settings for color rendering, saturation and color temperature.

Ringtones, notifications and a smart alarm that picks up a melody depending on the weather or day of the week.

In general, the software is stable and reliable, for 3 weeks of daily use I have not encountered a single problem or incompatibility with third-party software. Various watches, bracelets and scales work together with the smartphone normally. Notifications from applications always arrive, you can set the priority of processes. Self-discharge is not significant, at rest the smartphone consumes little energy, the processor cores are asleep.

Communication and Internet

In terms of the quality of communication, there are absolutely no questions, everything is at the highest level. If we talk about the quality of the spoken speaker, then it transmits speech well, and the maximum volume margin is quite large. The interlocutor hears me clearly, which indicates a good microphone and normal noise reduction.

Everything is fine with the Internet, for WiFi there is support for the 5 Ghz range in the ac standard, the download and upload speed is 237 Mbps.

At 2.4 Ghz, the speed floats from 30 to 50 Mbps.

Navigation is fine. A cold start with the Internet on takes 5 seconds, on average, a smartphone finds up to 3 dozen satellites, most of which are in an active connection. The average signal level (SNR) of the satellites during the testing was 38.5–39. The satellites of the GPS, GLONASS, BEIDOU and GALILEO systems were in active work.

In reality, navigation works very well, it does not lose connection. I constantly use google maps in walking and driving mode, the track clearly coincides with the road. There is a magnetic compass to correctly determine the direction when positioning on the map.

Performance and synthetic tests

Mi Note 10 is based on the mid-range Snapdragon 730G chipset with the Adreno 618 GPU. This explains the lower cost compared to the flagships. But if you think that this is a weak processor, you are mistaken. The performance of this solution is enough for absolutely any tasks, including games and in everyday tasks, the smartphone works no worse than, for example, MI 10 on Snapdragon 865. I got acquainted with the Snapdragon 730 chipset back in the Xiaomi Mi 9T smartphone and I immediately liked it for its economy of charge , lack of heating and optimal performance. Here we also have an improved version of the Snapdragon 730G with an increased frequency of the graphics accelerator for more fun in games. Well, in addition, we have as much as 6 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and a fast UFC 2.0 drive with 128 GB. All this works gorgeous and there is no lack of power anywhere. Well, except that in the camera, expensive flagships have an advantage in terms of rate of fire and faster processing of images.

This bundle gives out 271,500 points in Antutu.

Other popular tests.

Also checked the speed of the drive. Depending on the benchmark, the write speed varies from 167 to 238 MB / s, and the read speed from 428 to 498 MB / s, which is already comparable to the speeds of classic SSD disks.

The speed of copying RAM — more than 20,000 MB / s. Fast RAM and flash memory directly affect system performance, which makes the device surprising with its responsiveness and speed.

The throttling test showed a decrease in performance under continuous load up to 83% of the maximum possible. To avoid overheating, the processor slightly reduces the core frequency.

Game possibilities

The smartphone fits well for games, the Adreno 618 graphics accelerator pulls absolutely any games at high graphics settings. I note the proprietary application Game TURBO (Game Acceleration), which optimizes processes and allows games to get more resources. Among other things, the application can be opened at any time on top of the game and do a lot of useful actions without being distracted from an important fight. The application allows you to estimate the load on the processor and graphics, enable or disable the Internet, free up RAM, change the image settings (make it brighter or more saturated), take a screenshot or even record a video of the gameplay.

In addition, you can open another application in windowed mode and simultaneously respond in a chat or view pages in a browser while playing. If the game does not require constant interaction, for example Hearthstone, then such a function can be very useful.

Now let’s see how the smartphone behaves in more demanding games and, as always , the Gamebench game benchmark will help me with this , where detailed statistics are collected during the test and then presented in the form of convenient graphs for analysis. To warm up WOT Blitz, the graphics settings are high, HD textures, grass is turned on in sniper mode and vegetation is displayed in high quality.

I played 4 battles on different maps and everywhere the fps was in the range of 57–60, even in moments of serious collisions. Actually the graph below confirms my words, and sharp drawdowns are menu loading between rollers.

Let’s take a more serious game — PUBG. Graphics settings are high, frame rate settings are high.

FPS froze at around 30 and stayed there throughout the game. The battery discharge in the game is 16% per hour, that is, a full charge will last for 6.3 hours of playing with a high screen brightness.

Call of Duty mobile allows you to set the parameters to the maximum and enable additional effects such as anti-aliasing, blurring, etc. I turn on absolutely all settings to the maximum, including the frame rate.

The average FPS is 58, 85% of the playing time is displayed exactly this value. The game works great, and smoothness has a positive effect on shooting terrorists

I also installed Fortnite, but Gamebench could not test the game, because Fortnite refuses to start with USB debugging enabled. But the game has its own fps counter and during the game its value was in the range of 29–30 frames per second. Graphics settings allow you to set only average graphics quality.

Sound

Do you still carry your audio player with you? Sell ​​it urgently, because very soon it will be akin to a cassette tape recorder — a useless and unnecessary piece of iron from the past. The sound level in smartphones has long reached the level of budget HiFi players, and even surpassed in some models. Last year, my favorite for the sound of smartphones was the Mi 9T, this year — the Mi Note 10. The chipset is practically the same Snapdragon 730 and Snapdragon 730G, so the audio codec in these models is the same. But in MI Note 10, we worked on the firmware and made some cool innovations. I will not describe the sound with epithets, because no words can describe it. You just need to listen to the sound. But in my opinion it is balanced, detailed and powerful. The volume is good. Everything else is decided by the setting.

For example, the volume of certain frequencies was adjusted depending on age. After all, everyone knows that old people hear music in a completely different way than teenagers. Personally, when it turned on, it seemed to me that the sound became worse, but it’s worth trying, because everyone’s hearing is different.

There was also a “HiFi sound” item, although I would call this anti HiFi function. It makes the recording cleaner, removes minor flaws when recording in the studio and extraneous noises. The recording becomes more reference and this is just the catch, because real HiFi, on the contrary, allows you to hear more details, analog noise from acoustics and other “jams”. Some people like it. Some don’t. I can say for sure that there is no need to clean up the “dirt” in rock, because it gives charm and depth to the sound. But let’s say DeepHouse, Trance and all sorts of remixes with a predominance of electronics, they only benefit from the inclusion of this function. So there is a lot of benefit from this function. By the way, when you turn on the HiFi sound, you can no longer turn on the Mi sound enhancement. You need to choose one thing. The Mi sound enhancement will be appreciated by those who want to get the most out of their headphones. You can choose a ready-made headphone preset or adjust the sound in the equalizer. With MI Sound Enhancement, you can add density, bass or ringing, depending on your sound preference.

For wireless sound, too, if not all, then a lot is provided. There is support for high quality codecs from qualcomm — aptX and aptX HD, with which the sound is comparable to a regular wired connection, especially if you listen to MP3 music. For the sake of interest, I did a little experiment, took my Mixcder E10 headphones, which support both wired and wireless connections, and let several people listen in turn so that they could not see what kind of connection they were. 3 people said the sound quality was the same, 1 said wired is better and 1 said wireless is better. Full spread. But in principle I thought so, because the difference in wire and bluetooth using aptX is so small that not everyone will hear it, and only in direct comparison. And I have not tested this aptX HD yet, because there are simply no headphones with their support. There I think there will be no difference at all.

Camera

Well, here we are getting to the main feature of the smartphone — the camera. The application interface is clear and user-friendly. There is a button on the main screen that quickly switches lenses, which enables 2x optical zoom, 5x optical zoom, zoom out (ultra wide) and macro shooting. There is also a panel with quick settings and the ability to turn on / off HDR mode and enhance images using AI (artificial intelligence). There are also various filters and effects. Separately, you can switch to 108 MP shooting mode, because in normal mode the camera shoots at 27 MP using Super Pixel technology, which combines 4 pixels in 1. The camera has 4-axis optical stabilization, which helps to get a clear picture even when shooting “on the run”. Even a person who is far from photography can make masterpieces with this smartphone. Automation and stabilization work at 100%, the device can be used in the “pointed and removed” mode.

For professionals, there is a corresponding section with manual settings, here you can adjust the focus yourself, adjust the white balance, shutter speed, exposure and change the ISO value. Moreover, this can be done using any lens and in 108 MP photography mode. There is the possibility of shooting in RAW, which will allow you to stretch the maximum amount of details during subsequent post-processing in editors.

Next, let’s look at examples with small comments ( all originals can be downloaded from here ) and, for a start, I propose to evaluate a few images in cloudy weather. All shots were taken in automatic mode, in the most amateur way. Focusing is instant, the picture is always clear, color reproduction is accurate.

Or vice versa, zoom in on a single element using a 2x zoom.

Or 5x.

An example with a building, an ordinary lens can do this.

And the whole building is in the ultra wide and in the foreground there is a huge space for group photos.

And here are a couple of examples from a macro lens. Here it is quite controversial, because to focus it you need to bring it so close to the object that you risk crushing the bug with the camera. It’s easier to take a picture at 108 MP and then cut out the desired area, maximizing the subject of interest. Nevertheless, the macro will also be of interest to creative people.

Shooting under artificial lighting with a standard camera. The price tags on the far shelves are easy to read.

Gcam makes the shot even better by correcting overexposed areas and adding contrast.

And of course the night mode. The standard camera on the machine copes relatively well with the task.

But the stock camera has a night mode and it works very cool! Look at the sign “crayfish”, it has become clearly visible, getting rid of overexposure. Dark areas such as grass near a tree or a house in the background have more detail. But in night mode, any moving objects will be smeared, and the camera itself must be held still while shooting.

GCam simplifies the situation and allows you to take pictures simply by hand, but leaves little overexposures.

Another example. Standard camera on the machine.

Standard camera “night mode”.

GCam in night mode just tore up the stock camera, like Tuzik a heating pad.

The last example, stock on the machine:

Stoke, night mode.

Gcam on the machine. In general, if you shoot stationary objects, it is better to stock with a night mode, and if in a quick way from your hand, then Gcam is better. Well, Gcam in night mode is generally a fly away, but you need either a tripod or patience and a few tries.

And finally, about the flash. It is really very powerful and it can be used not only as a flashlight. 4 LEDs flood the frame with light and allow you to take photos in complete darkness. Example? Easy. A typical courtyard in the middle of the night looks like this on camera:

And if you take a photo with a flash — that’s it. Everything is illuminated for a couple of tens of meters, and when using a standard camera on the machine, the result will be even better on Gcam.

The 32 MP selfie camera also did not disappoint and can offer detailed shots with correct color rendition and accurate post-processing. The camera is suitable not only for video conversations, but also for selfies on Instagram and other creative selfies.

And now about the capabilities of the video camera. First, I propose to get acquainted with the capabilities and modes:

• 4K video — 30 fps
• 1080p video — 60 or 30 fps
• Slow motion video 1080p 120 or 240 fps
• Slow motion video 720p120, 240 or 960 fps

Autonomy

some Hearthstone games, sometimes navigation. As a result, the charge is enough for 2 full days with an active screen time of 6 hours 32 minutes. If you lean more actively, you can drain the battery in a day, but the screen activity time will also increase.

But the survivability of the battery under various types of load and screen brightness:

• Youtube in FullHD quality at 100% screen brightness — 19 hours 1 minute
• Youtube in FullHD quality at screen brightness 50% -21 hours 35 minutes
• Movie in FullHD quality at 50% screen brightness — 22 hours
• Play PUBG with screen brightness about 70% — 6 hours 20 minutes

Outcome

The smartphone came out as a truly hit and almost the only modern camera phone for an adequate price. Opportunities in photography are what it is worth buying a device for, because more expensive smartphones and even flagships shoot worse, as evidenced by numerous direct comparisons on forums, for example w3bsit3-dns.com. I also think that the device is very strong in terms of photos, and together with GCam, if not the best, then definitely one of the best. This is evidenced by the score in DxoMark, where the smartphone received 121 points for the photo (for comparison, the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ smartphones received a score of 117). Yes, and without any “authoritative” publications, it is clear that the camera is cool and will satisfy both an amateur and an advanced user. With the video, everything is not so rosy yet, Xiaomi is just learning, but I have absolutely no questions about some modes. 4K \ 30 fps shoots perfectly: detail, stabilization — everything is on the level. Even the famous Xiaomi sore with a disgusting sound bypassed the device, the sound is excellent. What, then, does Mi Note 10 lose to flagships that cost 2 times more? Camera speed. It’s hard for the processor to process images on the fly, so in some modes, for example 108 MP, a certain thoughtfulness appears. Otherwise, the processor is sufficient for any task, including games with high graphics settings. Outwardly, the device did not disappoint either, the waterfall screen may not seem very practical, but it looks very unusual and the smartphone is pleasant to use. Glass and metal — only premium materials, no plastic. Handsome and fun, that’s how I would describe it! True, the design was not without “jambs”: without a case, it rests on the camera and lies slightly skewed. In the case, the problem goes away, but the ergonomics are getting worse, the device feels thick, and the nice materials are covered with cheap silicone. In principle, this is all for the shortcomings, but there are many more pleasant moments: amazing sound in headphones, DC Dimming function to eliminate flickering in AMOLED screens, NFC module for contactless payments, decent autonomy and fast charging that will fully charge your smartphone in 1 hour.