Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite 5G review

MIUI 12 but still on Android 10

It's a bit of a bummer that the Mi 10T series isn't launching with the latest Android 11, but you can rest assured that Xiaomi will take care of future updates. The Mi 10Ts are still shipping with the latest MIUI 12, which arguably the more important thing. Xiaomi tends to push at least two or even more major updates even to its low-end phones, and by major updates read MIUI versions. MIUI often delivers the latest Android features without being based on the latest version of the OS, so this is one of the best aspects of owning an MIUI-powered smartphone.

In any case, MIUI 12 offers a slew of nice features. Probably the biggest change would be the notification shade. If you opt for the new drop-down menu style, you will see the notifications and the quick toggles separated. Swiping down from the left side of the screen, you will see all of your notifications in one place. There's also a shortcut to the notification settings letting you choose which apps can send notifications and the way the notification cards appear. They can be Android's default style or MIUI style.

Notification cards

Swiping from the right side will open up the revamped quick toggles, called Control Center, along with the brightness slider. There are four highlighted quick toggles at the top - for mobile data, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and flashlight.

New Control Center

This type of overhaul is strongly reminiscent of how iOS handles toggles and notifications. We liked how it feels when you get used to it. You can focus on your notifications if needed or just open up the toggles. It's tidier this way.

Still, if all of this is too complicated (we get that it takes some time getting used to), MIUI 12 offers you the good old Android-style notification shade.

A more subtle change would be the transition animations. Xiaomi says they are more in line with the HRR displays offering smoother and faster navigation. We tend to agree with the statement because the user experience does feel light, fast, and smooth.

Home screen, recent apps and main settings menu

With previous MIUI versions, not all phones had the option to choose between a simplified home screen and an app drawer, but with MIUI 12, we believe every phone running the OS will have that option baked in. The setting is hidden within the Home screen settings. The app drawer itself is no ordinary one too. You have system-managed categories, custom ones that fit your needs, you can choose the type of scroll bar, and more importantly, the search bar has been moved to the bottom for easier reach with one hand.

App drawer and app drawer options

The display options are aplenty too. You can leave your brightness at manual, for example, but when the ambient light becomes too much, it triggers the auto mode and boosts the brightness despite being set to manual. We find this feature quite useful for users that don't really like Android's auto-adjusting brightness.

Interestingly enough, though, the refresh rate options are either 60 or 120Hz, and we can't think of a reason to go for the 60Hz mode. Due to the Smart AdaptiveSync feature, the system will choose the appropriate refresh rate to save on some battery anyway. So leave it at that.

Display settings

To our surprise, the haptic feedback is on point. It seems that Xiaomi didn't cut corners with its least expensive model from the Mi 10T lineup and put a proper vibration motor. The Z-axis linear vibration motor used here is strong and precise when you need it to be. There are a couple of options in the settings menu that allow you to adjust it to your liking. We found it to be excellent when it comes to tactile feedback during navigation or when interacting with certain UI elements. It feels really nice.

Haptic feedback options

The fingerprint reader is exactly the same as on the Mi 10T Pro. It's fast, accurate, and snappy. One issue with side-mounted fingerprint scanners is that you often get misreadings when you are fidgeting with the phone or when reaching for it in your pocket because your fingers or palm are almost always in contact with the side frame. Xiaomi has an easy fix for that - the fingerprint scanner will start reading only if you press the power button.

Fingerprint unlocking method

The battery settings menu has been enhanced with a couple of new features. The Ultra battery saver mode will restrict most of the phone's functionalities, including the demanding 5G connectivity. Only the cellular and network connections won't be affected. The phone enters into a simplified mode that allows you to use only a couple of apps you choose. Animations are disabled and almost all of the phone's features too.

Battery menu and settings

Adjusting the level of battery saving for each app is also possible. You can restrict some apps from launching in the background and allow others to run unrestricted at all times. Or use the default option - let the system analyze and decide what to do with each app. In any case, if you have an app that's misbehaving, going for the nuke option might not be such a bad idea.

For those of you wondering, there is FM radio but it requires headphones to work. It's not a standalone feature.

There's also the Game Turbo selection of features, if we can call it that. It gives you quite a bit of control over certain game-related things and supposedly boosts performance, but no specifics have been given so as to how it affects performance.

What blew us away was the individual profiles you can set for each game. You can adjust the touch response (why would you want a slower response, though) and sensitivity to repeated taps. We can see how that one is useful in certain games that require lots of tapping on a single control.

Game Turbo options

Setting up an area of the screen that doesn't react to touches is also possible. It solves the issue of accidental touches for users with bigger hands. And visual effects to each game can be added. The slider increases the contrast and sharpens the picture to your liking.

In-game overlay

A set of quick shortcuts is always available during gaming. An awkward swipe from the upper-left or right corners of the screen will bring out the said shortcuts. They can launch apps or certain gaming-related features. For instance, you can restrict notification bubbles, clear up the memory, make a screenshot, start recording your gameplay or even cast your screen to a bigger one as long as the receiving device supports Wireless Display. One particularly useful option is the ability to turn off the screen and leave the game running in the background. This is especially useful for games that require you to be online most of the time. It will save you a lot of battery.

Xiaomi has done a great job with its latest iteration of MIUI. It feels fast, smooth, and full of features while being rather easy to use. There are a couple of bold moves like the Control Center, and we do appreciate that.

Performance

The brand new Snapdragon 750G 5G is running the show, and the Mi 10T Lite is the first device we've tested with the SoC. It's a typical mid-range SoC that's supposed to fill the gap between the Snapdragon 765G and the Snapdragon 690. It can also be considered as a successor to the Snapdragon 730G. It's still built on the 8nm node.

The CPU configuration is as follows - 2x Kryo 570 Gold (Cortex-A77 derivative) @ 2.2 GHz and 6x Kryo 570 Silver (Cortex-A55 derivative) @ 1.8GHz. The chipset also gets a slightly newer Adreno 619 GPU, which is expected to be 10% faster than the Adreno 618 found in the SD730G.

The "G" at the end of the name denotes that the chipset has been optimized for gaming as well supporting Snapdragon Elite Gaming and the fifth-gen AI Engine.

And as for memory, the handset starts at 6GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 64GB of internal, expandable storage and can go up to 6GB/128GB. The 64GB model uses UFS2.1 for storage, but the 128GB configuration boasts the latest UFS2.2.

Now let's see how it compares to other Qualcomm and MediaTek alternatives on the market.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
  2009
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  1927
• Realme 7 Pro
  1811
• Poco X3 NFC
  1777
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  1694
• Samsung Galaxy M31s
  1261

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
  661
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  616
• Realme 7 Pro
  576
• Poco X3 NFC
  568
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  521
• Samsung Galaxy M31s
  349

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
  318882
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  318117
• Poco X3 NFC
  283750
• Realme 7 Pro
  278414
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  253271
• Samsung Galaxy M31s
  187863

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  38
• Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
  33
• Poco X3 NFC
  33
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  30
• Realme 7 Pro
  30
• Samsung Galaxy M31s
  12

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  32
• Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
  28
• Poco X3 NFC
  27
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  26
• Realme 7 Pro
  25
• Samsung Galaxy M31s
  14

3DMark SSE Vulkan 1.0 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  3080
• Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
  2595
• Poco X3 NFC
  2495
• Realme 7 Pro
  2358
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  2248
• Samsung Galaxy M31s
  1013

As expected, the Snapdragon 750G 5G offers better raw CPU performance in single and multi-threaded scenarios compared even to the Snapdragon 765G. Still, due to its inferior GPU, it falls behind in strictly GPU-intensive tests. In compound estimations (look at the AnTuTu 8 sores), the two SoCs are head to head. Coupled with the great battery efficiency, this is a great showing from the new Snapdragon 750G 5G.

As far as actual gaming goes, the Mi 10T Lite 5G was able to run some of the popular games above 60fps, but not all. We can confirm that Space Force: Reloaded and Alto's Odyssey, for example, run at 120 and 90fps, respectively. You need to try your favorite games and see what works and what doesn't. Your mileage may vary from game to game.