Xiaomi Mi 10 5G review

Design

There is a lot to love about the design of the Mi 10. It's the well-refined "glass sandwich" designed, complete with all of its benefits and drawbacks. The same goes for the increasingly-popular curved display. It is safe to say that if you find the Mi 10 Pro appealing, then the same will also be true for the vanilla version as well. Since the two are identical. We can only assume that saves Xiaomi some of the manufacturing costs. And, we really can't say we mind at all since the design in question is a trendy and great-looking one. Plus, case hunting for the Mi 10 should be a bit easier - Pro or vanilla - both work.

Anyway, with the Mi 10, you get a curved sheet of Gorilla Glass 5 on both sides. Nothing overly aggressive or too steep in terms of angles. The back panel extends a bit further up than the sides of the display go down, which is somewhat detrimental to symmetry. Still, it's the right approach, since an aggressively overflowing display often leads to touch and palm rejection issues, as well as control compromises. There is none of that on the Mi 10. The middle metal frame is still wide enough to accommodate both a traditional volume rocker and a power button. Both ergonomically positioned on the right-hand side.

The overall build of the Mi 10 feels really solid, with practically no flex whatsoever. Gorilla Glass 5 provides enough peace of mind as far as cracking are concerned, though, we would still recommend a case if you are a bit clumsy. Potentially, a screen protector, as well. But even those who do take extra good care of their handset could probably benefit from a case since the matte finish on the back of the Mi 10 is a real grease magnet. It is also very slippery. Unlike the Pro, which only comes on White and Gray, the regular Mi 10 offers a lot more color variety.

What we have at hand is the Twilight Grey, which can range in looks vastly from metallic to blueish and even slightly green, depending on light and angle. Coral Green and Peach Gold are potentially even more visually pleasing. So much so, that it could be a bit hard to cover them up with a case. Then again, the camera module on the Mi 10 protrudes quite a bit - all of which compeling reasons for snapping a case on the back.

Even with its extra slippery nature, the Xiaomi Mi 10 fits snugly and securely in hand, with the metal frame perfectly shaped to provide a little bit of extra grip. We do have to point out that the 13MP ultrawide camera - the bottom one in the camera roll, sits a bit too low. Expect to bump into it with an index finger quite frequently.

Quickly flipping the device over for a second, the punch-hole selfie camera is not overly obtrusive and fairly easy to get used to. The lens of the 20MP snapper is quite small compared to the entire size of the cut-out.

Neither the Mi 10, nor the Mi 10 Pro has an official ingress protection rating. Xiaomi claims that there is some splash-proofing on both. They can definitely survive some rain and probably a quick accidental dip in water too. Still, not going the extra mile to certify a premium flagship leaves a bit of a nasty aftertaste.

Controls

Just like the Mi 10 Pro, the vanilla version has a very traditional control layout. Biometric authentication is handled by an excellent optical under-display fingerprint module. It's both snappy and reliable.

There is no status or notification LED. Xiaomi expects its AOD options to replace that. Of course, we know it's not the same thing, and AOD does come with its own penalty. Though, credit where credit is due, most of the visuals and animations, like the one during charging are incredibly polished.

The speaker situation is a bit different and not strictly conventional on the Mi 10. At the very top edge, on the front, there is a tiny conventional earpiece. Just like its bigger brother, the Mi 10 has a pair of stereo speakers. One on the top side and another one at the bottom. Since the Mi 10 Pro set the bar pretty high with its stereo speaker performance, you are probably wondering how the vanilla stacks up. Jump on to the audio section for our review and check out the new speakerphone test.

Before we get to what is, spoiler alert, a pretty great all-round showing in audio output, we can't fail to mention that while we admire Xiaomi for their dedication and success in fitting these speakers in the Mi 10, their position could be better. Mostly, since, having the two grills on either side of the phone makes them pretty easy to cover up, while holding the device horizontally.

Rounding the controls tour off, we appreciate the inclusion of an IR blaster on the top bezel. The phone lacks a microSD slot and our particular unit only takes a single Nano-SIM. A pretty rare sight on a modern phone (not counting ones with an internal eSIM solution). This results in an odd-looking SIM tray, which almost seems to be taunting us with extra space on the plastic piece, just perfect for a microSD. That, of course, is there, simply because there is a dual-SIM version of the Mi 10, which has it occupied by the second Nano-SIM tray.