Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro Review

On 26 March 2020, I bought myself the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro.

I had to buy the phone because my Samsung Galaxy Note9 had a discoloration problem, which couldn’t be fixed by resetting the phone.

Fact is, I had to claim my two year SenQ warranty to get the phone fixed.

Currently, I’m not sure what’s going to happen to my phone, but this post is about my new Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro.

SPECIFICATIONS: Why I bought the Mi Note 10 Pro

If you read this post, you’d know that I was looking for a smartphone that cost below RM2,000.  The post further revealed my options, so do check it out.

Anyway, the Mi Note 10 Pro then was just under RM2,000 when I bought it on Shopee. However, today I found out that it can be bought much cheaper on Lazada, selling at just RM1,788.

Regardless, the phone has a 6.47-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, and a penta camera set-up.  It boast of 8GB of RAM which is paired with 256GB of storage space.

I wasn’t too keen on the storage space provided because I’d prefer 512GB of storage space.  However, considering the price of the phone, it was cheap.

Xiaomi always had good AI when it comes to photo processing and they do use good lenses for their high-end models .

This made me firmly believe that the Mi Note 10 Pro came with great photography capabilities. – I couldn’t be bothered about the penta camera set-up, but it was a bonus to have.

Last but not least, the phone was using an older Snapdragon 730G processor which wasn’t a huge deal breaker to me since I don’t play much mobile games. I’d further tell you why I regretted neglecting this later in this post.

THE HIGHLIGHTS: What I liked about this phone

Let’s start off with what I liked about the phone.

For starters, I love the AMOLED display of the phone which has about 88% screen to body ratio.  Colours come out sharply and gaming with the phone gives me enough detail to enjoy the experience.

Using the phone is also enjoyable as everything flips, switches and goes on without much hassle. In other words, the phone operation is smooth and pretty fluid.

The abundant number of themes available with the Android based MIUI 11 also meant that I get to customize the look of my phone to my preference.

Being a community based UI, the MIUI 11 also has a lot of neat functions that aren’t present in stock Android, hence making me love this phone even more.

One of the best functions is the dual apps which allows you to clone apps like Instagram, hence increasing the number of accounts I can control in my phone.

Then there’s the camera.  The highlight is probably the penta camera set-up (which means there’s 5 lenses), but I was more impressed with how the main camera performs.  I use the default setting anyway, so don’t get me going on why kind of lens does what.

Shots using the default camera setting were clear and crisp.  The availability of image stabilization and auto-focus on the main camera ensure images are hardly poor when I take a photo.

Macro shooting came out good too. Details are obvious and clear enough to satisfy me.  I loved how close the colors in the photos mimic what I see in real life.  It gives the phone a huge plus point.

Video taking also proved great because the image stabilization worked wonders!  You can see the video below as proof.

Last but not least is the availability of the3.5mm audio jack.  I know many of us are using wireless headphones or earbuds these days, but I don’t like the hassle of charging them.

That said, having a 3.5mm audio jack is something I really love in a phone.

THE REGRETS: What disappointed me in the Mi Note 10 Pro

No phone is perfect and so is the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro.

The first thing I don’t quite like is the bump on the rear of the camera. Without a case, the camera bump is obvious and it makes the phone unstable when placed on a flat surfaces.

And then there’s the lack of IP rating for the phone.

Flagship phones these days, by default, should have an IP rating to determine if it’s dust proof, water proof or splash proof.  Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro has none.  This means when it rains, I need to protect my phone from water.

And the there’s the lag when it comes to loading games.

Yes, gaming is fine and smooth, but loading games takes more time than other current flagships.  This is due to the Snapdragon 730G processor which is rather dated, and hence why I regret not paying extra attention to the processor when considering the phone.

Last but not least is the inclusion of adverts in the MIUI.

Unless you disable it, ads will appear intermittently on the MI Note 10 Pro and I find this rather intrusive.

CONCLUSION

Despite all the dislikes I’ve listed above, I would probably still buy the Mi Note 10 Pro if given a chance.

If you want to read a full review of this phone (and other phones), do jump to my dedicated phone blog, PhoneSentral.

As I mentioned earlier, the phone is now more expensive than what I paid for, but I did find some good deals on Lazada Malaysia.

BUY THE MI NOTE 10 PRO IN LAZADA

That said, I hope this phone will last me at least two years, and I hope my review helped.