Redmi Note 10 Pro Max Review: Worth Paying Extra For? Xiaomi has firmly established itself in the affordable smartphone category over the past five years, introducing relevant upgrades to its budget line of devices, while keeping the price well below Rs 20,000.
Many phone manufacturers are offering incremental upgrades from their previous offerings. This also applies to Xiaomi’s Redmi Note series, except this year’s Redmi Note 10 series. The company has made some serious improvements this year, from the screen to the camera to the design and durability.
If you’re looking for an affordable device under Rs 20,000 and you’re looking for something great for your money, should the latest Redmi Note 10 Pro Max be on your radar?
We’ve spent the better part of two weeks on Xiaomi’s latest offering and here are our thoughts.
Redmi Note 10 Pro Max Design And Display
Redmi has made some interesting changes to its Note 10 series this year. The most noticeable change is that the IPS LCD panel of its predecessor will be replaced this year with a Super AMOLED panel. According to Redmi, the device has a peak brightness of 1200 nits and we had no problems using this device outdoors even with dark mode on.
For its first Super AMOLED display on a Redmi Note 10 device, Xiaomi seems to have done well in terms of color accuracy, while HDR content looks great on the 1080p display. The screen also supports a 120Hz refresh rate, making scrolling through the gallery and web pages a smooth experience on both Samsung Internet and Chrome. One thing is for sure, this is the best display yet for a Note series device from Redmi.
This year, Redmi has changed the Aura design from its previous devices in the Redmi Note series in favor of its new “EVOL. Design ”and the phone looks fantastic. The frosted glass back design did not attract fingerprints or smudges.
The Redmi Note 10 Pro Max, especially the vintage bronze colorway we tested, could be subjectively the best-looking device in this price range and possibly Redmi’s most mature design to date, and we really like what Redmi has done with the overall design throughout the year.
This phone weighs 192 grams, thanks in part to the 5020 mAh battery that powers it. It is still 17 grams lighter than its predecessor, which makes a difference if you use a case that Redmi included in the box. The case even has a rubber seal for the charging port and wide cutouts for the headphone jack and fingerprint sensor.
The Redmi Note 10 Pro Max has a side-mounted capacitive fingerprint sensor that is responsive. However, we couldn’t find a way to unlock it without activating the screen first. It takes some getting used to tapping the screen or pressing the power button to unlock as most smartphone sensors wait to authenticate you as soon as you touch them.
The side buttons are easy to reach, while the fingerprint sensor can also be used to set up gestures to perform various actions on the device.
Redmi Note 10 Pro Max Camera
Another big improvement that Redmi has brought to the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max this year is the 108 MP primary camera sensor. The inclusion of a 108MP sensor seems to be the latest trend in smartphone cameras and this phone is no exception. The main sensor of the device takes very clear photos and there is a lot of detail even after you zoom in on the photo.
Unlike other devices that take a few seconds to save a high-resolution image, the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max shoots 108 MP images almost effortlessly with barely noticeable lag. These recordings are clear and you see a lot of detail when you zoom in. However, these also take up a lot of space, so you’ll likely be left with the normal daily photo mode.
While taking photos during the day, the Note 10 Po Max takes clear photos and the colors are accurate, but we sometimes had to type to get the focus. Then the phone took very sharp pictures. While the ultra-wide-angle lens seems to do a pretty good job and we didn’t notice any major distortion at the edges, we mostly shot with the main camera.
Redmi has a 5-megapixel super macro lens built into the Note 10 Pro Max. This is perhaps the first budget device that the macro camera does not disappoint. Images clicked in well-lit areas have a lot of detail and colors are fairly accurate, although you should probably avoid them in low-light scenarios. We feel that the 2-megapixel depth sensor could really have been left out altogether – the phone captured great portraits even if we covered it with a finger.
Performance
Part of the reason Redmi is so popular in the budget device category is because of its powerful spec sheet, and the Note 10 Pro Max is no exception. Redmi has built everything but the sink into this device except NFC and 5G connectivity.
The Redmi Note 10 Pro Max is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 732G processor and the Adreno 618 GPU. The device achieved 555 points in the single score test and 1783 points in the multi-core test on Geekbench 5. This puts it ahead of the older Galaxy A71 (with 495 and 1601 points), but behind the Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro with 652 points respectively. points and 2402 points. Meanwhile, 3D Mark is running
However, benchmarks are synthetic performance tests and rarely tell the full story – a device’s performance in the real world is just as important. The device’s Snapdragon 732G processor is definitely an improvement over its predecessor, and games like Asphalt 9 and Call of Duty: Mobile work fine. The device got a little warm after about 20 minutes of playing. If you’ve been playing for more than an hour, you should wait a while before charging it.
Although the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max is available in 6 GB and 8 GB RAM variants, we recommend that users opt for the 8 GB variant. This is because of Google’s recent decision to only run 64-bit Chrome on devices with Android 10 and at least that much RAM. Also, it is always a good thing to have extra RAM for all your apps and games to keep them cached.
Even the 6 GB version is extremely smooth and keeps apps in memory long enough without any problem. Switching between open apps is very smooth and there are no lags or hiccups.
The battery life of Redmi phones has always been way ahead of the competition, thanks in part to Xiaomi’s aggressive battery savings in the background. However, the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max again surprised us with more than a day and a half of battery life with moderate use. Charging with the built-in 33W charger is fast and the phone fully charges in about an hour and ten minutes.
During the launch, Xiaomi also said they built a Z-axis haptic vibration machine into the device. After using the device for a while, we found that the haptic feedback was tight and responded to small gestures like swiping the home screen. It’s a better experience than the one on the Samsung Galaxy A71, but it won’t beat the one on the iPhone (ah, well).
When it comes to software, Xiaomi’s MIUI has the same pros and cons as its predecessors – there’s a lot of bloatware and ads, but the company says you can reduce both (including some system apps) with the arrival of the MIUI 12.5 Updates later this year. You get all the MIUI related benefits, such as a dual apps mode, an iOS inspired control center, as well as the integrated app data protection service (for authorizations) and “data protection indicators”.
Conclusion
It’s almost impossible to find another device costing 18,999 RS and offering so much bang for your buck, but the question arises: if the only difference between the Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Note 10 Pro Max is the 108 MP primary camera, is it worth spending Rs 3,000 more if you don’t want to take pictures all the time?
The Redmi Note 10 Pro has all the features we mentioned in the above review, from the screen to the processor – even the 5020 mAh battery is the same.
Should you spend a little more money and buy the Mi 10i instead of the Redmi Note 10, Pro Max, instead?
It depends on.
The Mi 10i only has an LCD screen and a slightly smaller battery. It seems a bit premature to buy a 5G compatible phone now if we don’t have 5G networks in the country. By the time 5G network technology is properly rolled out in the country, a mid-range device like the Mi 10i may feel outdated. However, if you really want to buy a 5G device, the Mi10i seems a better choice.
If you’re looking for an all-round device with a great design, a vibrant AMOLED display with a high refresh rate, good photos and videos, reliable operation without jerks and hiccups, and great battery life, the Redmi Note 10 Pro is for it your Sie Max is probably the best device you can buy at this price. If you’re not really into the 108MP camera, the Redmi Note 10 Pro is a much better deal at 15,999 RS.
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