Initially they were to be announced on February 11, 2020, the same day as the Galaxy S20 range (for more details on the latter, you can consult our test of S20, S20 + and S20 Ultra). However, it was eventually decided to make the presentation event in China on February 13 and the global launch in Barcelona on February 23 (although the latter could be at risk due to the cancellation of the Mobile World Congress).
In any case, despite the problems related to Coronavirus, the event in China was held without problems and the long-awaited were revealed to the world Xiaomi Mi 10 and Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro smartphones. Let us therefore analyze together what was announced by the Chinese company.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 technical sheet
The first thing to keep in mind is the fact that Xiaomi has decided not to hold back and to go to the top of the range band in all respects. This means two things: discerning users will find everything they need, but forget the aggressive prices that the Chinese company has accustomed us to over the years. In China the 8 / 128GB variant costs 3999 yuan (about 525 euros at the current exchange rate), the 8 / 256GB one has a price of 4299 yuan (about 565 euros) and the 12 / 256GB model requires an outlay of 4699 yuan (about 620 euros).
Mi 10 Pro instead costs 4999 yuan (about 658 euros) in the 8 / 256GB variant, 5499 yuan (about 725 euros) in the 12 / 256GB variant and 5999 yuan (about 790 euros) in the 12 / 512GB model. Availability in China will start on February 14th. The colors available will be Pearl White and Starry Blue.
Counting that these prices are destined to increase with the arrival of smartphones in Europe, let's contextualize them for a moment. Well, last year Xiaomi Mi 9 in China cost 2999 yuan in its 6 / 128GB variant. This price then "turned" in Italy to 449.90 euros. In short, we would certainly not be surprised if the starting price of Xiaomi Mi 10 should approach 600 euros in our country and if the more expensive variant of Mi 10 Pro touches 850 euros.
We will probably find out the official European prices at the end of February 2020, we will see. In the meantime, the hypothesis of the last few days according to which it could have reached the top of the 1000 euros seems to be at least averted.
With the price question removed, the time has come to go and analyze the smartphone. Well, as mentioned above, the Chinese company has spared no expense, creating a device that wants to compete directly with the top of the range (especially as regards the Pro version).
In fact, under the shell we find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 octa-core processor operating at a maximum frequency of 2.9 GHz, flanked by an Adreno 650 GPU, 8 / 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM at 2750 MHz and 128 / 256GB of internal memory UFS 3.0. We are talking about a configuration that makes use of the latest standards and components on the market and it is certainly one of the most performing hardware sectors that have ever been seen so far on a smartphone. The fact that these components are also assembled from the less expensive variant, suggests how much Mi 10 could breach the hearts of fans.
To manage all this brute force, the Chinese company has implemented a heatpipe-based cooling system and an external accessory with a fan has also been announced which will be sold for 129 yuan (about 15 euros). Also very interesting is the screen, that is a 6.67-inch AMOLED with Full HD + resolution (2340 x 1080 pixels), aspect ratio 19.5: 9, hole for the camera positioned at the top left and refresh rate of 90 Hz.
There is no lack of support for HDR10 + and the maximum brightness reaches 1120 nits, according to the Chinese company. The coverage of the DCI-P3 range is 100%, the edges are contained and Xiaomi also announced that the sampling of the touch screen is 180 Hz.
In short, the Chinese company wanted to focus a lot also on the screen, adopting a panel that, at least on paper, is able to offer at the same time a good general visual quality and that extra fluidity guaranteed by the high refresh rate.
The interesting features did not end there, however, since Xiaomi Mi 10 also has a respectable photographic sector. We find indeed a quadruple rear camera consisting of a 108MP primary sensor (Samsung HMX, f / 1.69), a 13MP wide angle lens (f / 2.4), a 2MP macro lens (f / 2.4) and a 2MP depth of field sensor ( f / 2.4).
This is the configuration adopted by the basic variant of the smartphone, but the main difference between Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro lies precisely in the photographic sector. In fact, Mi 10 Pro mounts a quadruple 108MP rear camera (Samsung HMX, f / 1.69) + 20MP (f / 2.2, wide angle, 117 degrees) + 8MP (f / 2.0, OIS, telephoto, 10x hybrid zoom, digital zoom up to at 50x) + 12MP (f / 2.0, for Portrait mode). As for the available modes, we point out the presence of Super Night 2.0 and the possibility of recording videos in 8K resolution and taking photos in full resolution.
There are also some features that allow you to use the bokeh and the lens for macros in the video environment. The front camera, also capable of recording slow motion videos at 120 fps, is 20MP (f / 2.0) in both models. The photographic sector of Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro has already been tested and rewarded with flying colors by DxOMark with a total of 124 points.
As for autonomy, Mi 10 has a 4780 mAh battery with 30W fast charging support in the basic version of the smartphone. Mi 10 Pro instead has a 4500 mAh battery with support for charging via cable at 50W, while both models can be charged via wireless at 30W.
Xiaomi has also announced a wireless charging base with integrated fan that will be sold for 199 yuan (about 25 euros). For the rest, the Chinese company has also focused heavily on the audio sector, implementing stereo speakers. There is also support for all the necessary connectivity, from Wi-Fi 6 to 5G, via the USB Type-C port and Bluetooth 5.1 and NFC. The operating system is Android 10 with MIUI 11 customization. The dimensions of both models are equal to 162.6 x 74.8 x 8.96 mm, for a weight of 206 grams. In short, Xiaomi has launched respectable smartphones. We just have to wait for the official announcement regarding Europe, which should take place later this month.
