Xiaomi has always been considered an outsider due to the excellent value for money of its products. Which allowed him to conquer quite a few markets. Including ours. Everything has changed, however March 27 when the manufacturer presented the Mi 10 and the Mi 10 Pro, its two new flagships.
Much more expensive than the previous generation, they reach € 799 and € 999 respectively, which has earned a lot of criticism for the brand.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro and its magnificent matte back
–
And the question you are probably asking yourself is whether the investment is worth it. We will try to answer it in this test.
Design & Ergonomics
The Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro is not for fans of slim jeans. It is indeed quite heavy, and very imposing. But we will see later that this is also an asset.
The finishes are superb. There is a glass case as on the previous model, but the brand has opted for a mat glass plate on the back. The device will therefore be softer to the touch, and it will especially be less sensitive to fingerprints.
At the front, there is a curved screen with contained edges. This year, Xiaomi skipped the notch, to prefer a punch.
So it’s not very surprising given the current trends, but the Mi 10 Pro suddenly has an air of resemblance to most of its competitors. It’s a bit of a shame, because the more time passes, the more smartphones tend to look the same.
Ergonomics do not change. We always have the buttons on the right edge and the connector on the bottom edge. And of course, the device skips the headphone jack.
However, it has a little something extra that should make music lovers very happy.
This little thing is the presence of two speakers. So of course, the Mi 10 Pro is not the first smartphone to have a sound system of this type, but the latter is a bit special.
The speakers are indeed identical in all respects and they have been specially calibrated to offer identical sound reproduction. As a bonus, Xiaomi placed them on the upper and lower edges so that the sound can encompass us.
And it works really well, especially that behind these two speakers are both of very good quality.
We suddenly have a more powerful sound, with beautiful bass that does not crush the midrange or the treble and that of course reinforces the immersion in the game or in front of a video.
The photo module, finally, is quite imposing and it also emerges a little from the shell. It is not necessarily very aesthetic, but we will gladly forgive this difference to Xiaomi given the very good performance of the terminal in this area.
Another important point before I forget, the Mi 10 Pro is not IP68 certified. It will therefore be preferable to keep it well away from your heated swimming pool … or more probably from the bowl of your toilet.
The front of the Mi 10 Pro, very borderless
–
We find a punch at the top left
–
Screen, Processor & Autonomy
The Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro is far from being given away and that also means that we have the right to expect the best from its performance.
The time has come to tackle the technical part of this test.
Screen level, the Mi 10 Pro has an AMOLED type screen, with a diagonal of 6.67 inches and a definition in Full HD +, for a resolution of 2340 x 1080. No QHD, therefore, and that is nothing surprising given the habits of the brand.
The slab is of good quality and it also has the merit of covering 100% of the DCI-P3 color space. It will therefore display a beautiful range of colors, which is sure to delight multimedia enthusiasts.
Especially that behind, we can also change the color scheme and go from a natural profile to a saturated profile, or advanced. And if you choose the latter, then you can choose your color range and switch for example to the P3 or the sRGB.
However, in practice, the screen performs well and is really cut out for video. I had the opportunity to watch several episodes of Ozark on it, with very dark atmospheres, and the Mi 10 Pro came out with all the honors.
As a bonus, we also have a refresh rate of 90 Hz, which is sure to delight our gaming friends.
Thanks to this high rate, the Mi 10 Pro will indeed be able to display more images every second and the animations will therefore be much more fluid than on a standard screen confined to 60 Hz.
And inevitably, in an action game like Fortnite, PUBG Mobile or even CoD Mobile, the difference is palpable.
However, it is unfortunate that the Mi 10 Pro does not go higher. The OnePlus 8 Pro and the Galaxy S20 indeed reach 120 Hz and they do a little better than their new challenger.
But the real problem ultimately comes from the platform, or rather from its animations. We will have the opportunity to talk about this a little later, but these do not seem to have been optimized for the refresh rate of the slab. They therefore lack fluidity.
Regarding the SoC, Xiaomi left without surprise on a Snapdragon 865. The chip is coupled to 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage in UFS 3 format.
If you had to quibble, you might regret that the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro does not go up to 12 GB of RAM like some of its competitors, but in reality, of course, the difference will not be palpable.
In general terms, the terminal was therefore generally quite reactive during these two weeks of testing. I just had problems with freeze at first with Chrome, but I managed to correct it by clearing the application cache and the problem did not arise again.
Then, in terms of autonomy, the phone pleasantly surprised me. It will be easy to last a day, even with the 90 Hz refresh rate.
And PC Mark seems to agree with me since the phone lasted 16 hours in 90 Hz and more than 20 hours in 60 Hz! I had never crossed this threshold before with a smartphone.
Another important point, the 4500 mAh battery is compatible with fast charging and it is even sold with a 65 W charger … which I unfortunately could not test since the phone was delivered without.
Fast wireless charging also responds, up to 30W. However, you will need a compatible charging station to reach this power level.
The connector, in USB Type-C format
–
The photo module of the Mi 10 Pro is impressive, of course, but it is also very flexible
–
Photo & Video
Xiaomi, like many manufacturers now, has communicated a lot in the photo, promising us mountains and wonders. And we will see that the Mi 10 Pro is not doing so badly.
So we have a module consisting of four sensors at the back. The main sensor reaches 108 mpx and it is accompanied by a stabilized optics opening at f / 1.69. An optic composed of 8 lenses, which is quite rare on a smartphone.
Then we have an 8 mpx sensor with a 10x hybrid zoom and a stabilized optics opening to f / 2.
The third sensor reaches 12 mpx and it is accompanied by a 2x optical zoom designed for portraits, with an aperture at f / 2.
After that, we have a 20 mpx sensor coupled to an ultra wide angle offering a field of view of 117 ° and an aperture at f / 2.2.
Nice profusion of sensors, therefore, which gives a lot of flexibility on the phone.
By day, the Mi 10 Pro is capable of achieving very good results. Stung images, beautiful dynamics, colo that hits the nail on the head, it can even be surprising in many cases.
Nothing to say either of the autofocus, very precise and very fast, or of the exposure, very well managed by the phone.
Be careful, however, with AI which will tend to saturate colors, and not always in the best way.
Indoors, the Mi 10 Pro remains very efficient, at least as long as there is a light source.
On the other hand, the night mode did not conquer me at all.
Unlike a Pixel 4 or OnePlus 8, terminal processing algorithms have a heavy hand in terms of exposure. The Mi 10 Pro will therefore produce very bright images, as if we were in the middle of the day. So we lose all interest in nightlife.
The Mi 10 Pro offers a wide focal range. You can easily switch from a wide angle to an ultra wide angle or zoom. And it is obviously very practical in everyday life.
On the other hand, the colorimetry is not constant and it varies a lot from one focal to another. In particular on the zoom, which sometimes tends to draw a little too much towards the yellow.
If there is one area in which the Mi 10 Pro excels, it is in portraits. The images are very sharp and we have a nice dynamic, with a fairly soft and fairly homogeneous background blur.
So it will of course be better to have a nice light, but this mode is undeniably a strong point of the phone.
On the video side, you can shoot in 8K at 30 fps, in 4K at 30 or 60 fps, in 1080p at 30 or 60 fps or in 720p at 30 frames per second. We also have a slow mode at 960 fps but the latter is just there for the form. And if you really want to film a slow motion, it will be better to capture a video at 60 fps and then slow it down in post production. The image will indeed be of better quality.
Still, the Mi 10 pro is capable of achieving very good results once again, at least as long as there is light. It will be a little more difficult on dimly lit stages.
Good point also, stabilization is quite effective … even if it does not equal that of an iPhone 11 Pro.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro is not a featherweight
–
The finishes are neat
–
Functions & Platforms
And now is the time to tackle the tricky part of this test, which is the platform. Yes, delicate, because fans of the brand may fall on me.
The Xiaomi Mi Pro 10 that was loaned to me by the brand worked on MIUI 11.0.7 and therefore with Android 10.
The interface is quite successful, with beautiful icons and a fairly simplified ergonomics. Simplified, but incomplete since the application drawer is sorely missed. And you have to admit, when you are used to it, it is very difficult to do without it.
But for me, that’s not the problem. The main criticism I can make of the Mi 10 Pro is that it comes with dozens of completely useless bloatware.
Xiaomi has always been very generous in this matter, it is true, but the context is a little different here.
The Mi 10 Pro does not have the same positioning as its previous models. It is presented by the brand as a technological showcase. This obviously explains the selling price revised upwards behind.
And in principle, it’s a choice I fully respect. Now, when targeting a premium segment, you also have to offer premium services. And these dozens of bloatware are really stain in the table.
And it’s the same principle with the recommendations that will occasionally appear on the application download window. If it will be possible to deactivate them manually, one wonders if they really have their raison d’être on a phone offered at 999 €.
Afterwards, more generally, I think there is still some optimization work to be done, especially for the animations of the platform which are a little too chopped and which lack fluidity.
So beware, overall, the experience is not to be thrown away either. MIUI has gained a lot in simplicity over the versions and this change has been rather profitable for it.
But behind, there are still a lot of little things wrong and I sincerely hope that Xiaomi will focus more on the software part for the next few years. MIUI 12 seems to go much further than its predecessor if we believe the first information communicated by the brand.
The grip is nice, but still plan large pockets
–
The photo module exceeds a little but it is not annoying on a daily basis
–
In conclusion
The Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro is certainly a good surprise. The design is neat, the screen is of quality and we also have a raw computing power equivalent to that of all the big flagships on the market with an extraordinary autonomy.
The photo part is not to be outdone. The module is flexible and capable of achieving very good results, especially in portrait mode.
But afterwards, it is impossible not to mention the question of price. Xiaomi’s hand was very heavy, it’s a fact. The brand has said it itself several times, the Mi 10 Pro is above all a technological showcase.
In itself, this strategy is perfectly valid and we know anyway that other more accessible devices will soon arrive on the market. Still, the pill is hard to swallow for fans of the brand, which is also understandable.
And the main point that ultimately disappointed me was the overlay. It does not go far enough in my opinion and the profusion of bloatware disappoints for a device offered at this price.
– .
