Xiaomi’s Redmi Note series has played an instrumental role in defining the budget smartphone segment of India. Single-handedly outselling many other brands, its importance can not be undermined. With the Redmi Note 10 series expected to launch in the near future, here’s everything we know about it.
The Redmi Note 9 Pro series made its global debut in India in March 2020, with new phones being added to the family in the subsequent months. Now spanning all the way from Rs 20,000 to under Rs 10,000, it trades blows with Poco, Realme, Motorola and Samsung at various levels. A wide product portfolio and agile refreshes in response to changing demands have always helped the Xiaomi sub-brand to be ahead of the curve.
With the smartphone market almost recovered from a slow-down, Xiaomi is now looking to launch the Redmi Note 10 series. The company has also moved to a biannual refresh cycle for its mid-rangers, making now the ripe time for the Redmi Note 9 series to pass on the baton. While there is no official confirmation on the Redmi Note 10 tipped to launch in India in February, followed by the Mi 11.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The successor to the Redmi Note 9 series
- When is it coming? Likely Feb 2021
- How much will it cost? Under Rs 20,000
Release date and price
The Redmi Note 9 Pro and Redmi Note 9 Pro Max made their global debut in India back in March this year. Later, the company also launched the Redmi Note 9 in India during July. However, this time around, it is most likely that the Redmi Note 10 series will make its debut outside of India, most likely China and then make its way to the Indian market.
As per the latest report, the Redmi Note 10 series is likely to launch in India in the month of February 2021. The launch of Redmi Note 10 series is said to be followed by Xiaomi Mi 11, which is the successor to the Xiaomi Mi 10 series.
We expect multiple smartphones in the Redmi Note 10 series to launch in India, populating the Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 price band.
Design and Display
The leaked image reveals the design of the Redmi Note 10. The vanilla Note 10 is said to come with a circular camera bump at the rear in the centre with Redmi branding to the lower end of the device. To the front, it looks like the Redmi Note 10 will come with a punch-hole cutout to the right of the device which houses the selfie camera. The volume rockers will be on the right side and just below the button. You also get the power key as well as a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. The leaked image also shows off the Grey colour option.
With the Redmi Note 10, Xiaomi will continue the IPS LCD panel according to the renders. However, this time we expect at least one of the two Pro devices to come with an AMOLED panel or with a higher refresh rate. The Redmi Note 10 series, this time around is said to jump the high refresh rate ship and offer a 120Hz refresh rate.
Performance
The key area where the Redmi Note series shines is the performance ever since the inception of the Redmi Note series. The Note series has always been powered by the best possible powerful mid-range SoCs onboard. The company has used silicon from both Qualcomm and MediaTek in the past and had no issues with respect to performance.
This time, the Redmi Note series is likely to come with MediaTek’s Dimensity series chipsets. The Redmi Note 10 could be powered by Dimensity 720 SoC and the Redmi Note 10 and Note 10 Pro are likely to come with Dimensity 820 under the hood. Needless to say, the Dimesity series are 5G ready and are found on multiple mid-range and budget phones in China. With MediaTek trying to bring the Dimensity series outside of China, the Redmi Note 10 series could very well be the starting point for that.
However, a new report also suggests that the Redmi Note 10 is likely to be a rebadged Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite with the Snapdragon 750G chipset (with 5G) and a design similar to the Poco X3. The Redmi Note 10 Pro, on the other hand, might opt for the MediaTek Dimensity platform for affordable 5G and gaming performance. On the other hand, there are also rumours pointing that the devices will be powered by Snapdragon 732G SoC.
So, the Redmi Note 10 series could be powered by MediaTek Dimensity 5G SoCs or Snapdragon 5G SoCs or Snapdragon 4G processors. There is no confirmed report on the same yet. We will update the story once we have the proper details on the same.
Thanks to the latest leak, the Redmi Note 10 and Note 10 Pro India storage options are now almost confirmed. The Redmi Note 10 will be launched in at least two variants - 4+64GB and 6+64GB. The Redmi Note 10 Pro is said to come in three configurations - 6+64GB, 6+128GB, and 8+128GB RAM. There is also a report which suggests the Redmi Note 10 could be a rebranded Poco X3 with 5G connectivity.
Camera
Another key aspect of the Redmi Note series is the cameras. With the series having moved to a quad-camera array across the board this time, we expect the same to be continued — the usual high-resolution primary camera, assisted by an ultra-wide lens and a couple of novelty sensors. If we’re lucky, we might also see a telephoto shooter for the first time in this segment by Xiaomi.
The Redmi Note 7 was the first phone to come with 48MP camera from Xiaomi. The Note 8 bought the first 64MP optics and the Redmi Note 10 might be the first in the series to bring a 108MP camera setup.
According to a leak from Digital Chat Station, the Redmi Note 10 series(maybe Pro Max) will feature 108MP primary camera, implementing the new Samsung ISOCELL HM2 image sensor. With a pixel size of 0.7μm and a sensor size of 1/1.52-inches, it is one of the smallest 108MP image sensors currently available. It employs 3x3 pixel-binning for better imaging. The source also claims that the Redmi Note 10 series will also sport a telephoto lens for the first time, which will double as a macro lens. It looks like the Redmi Note 10 Pro might carry the same primary sensor as the one we've seen on Xiaomi Mi 10i.
Battery
Big batteries have always been characteristic of the series, with the Redmi Note 9 family moving to 5,000mAh or higher. It’s unlikely that they get any bigger considering the physical limitations, but that would be fine. A recent leak suggests that the vanilla Redmi Note 10 comes with 22.5W fast charging while the Redmi Note 10 Pro might come with 33W fast charging.
Charging speeds are where we expect bigger upgrades, moving beyond the current 18W-33W and catching up with the competition. We wouldn’t be too worried about anything in this regard.
Everything else
Apart from the aforementioned specs, the Redmi Note 10 series is likely to run on MIUI 12 out of the box based on Android 11. They’ll also most likely retain the IR blaster, P2i water-resistant coating, MicroSD card slot, Type-C port, and Gorilla Glass protection.
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