Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite review

MIUI 11 on top of Android 10

The Mi Note 10 Lite runs MIUI 11, based on Android 10, as most other recent Xiaomi or Xiaomi-related phones (cough, Poco). The flat and simple design with a high level of polish is characteristic of the entire UI, a result of many design iterations and subtle tweaks and decisions over the years.

In terms of biometric security, the Mi Note 10 Lite gives you a choice between face and fingerprint unlock. The fingerprint reader would be our top choice as it works quickly and reliably. Facial recognition isn't as secure, but if you're after convenience it'll deliver that.

We do appreciate the extra attention to detail Xiaomi put into the visual aspects of unlocking as there are plenty of fingerprint reader animations to choose from. Better still, there are a couple of fingerprint-reader-based shortcuts you can set up for some extra convenience.

Security • Fingerprint setup • Fingerprint options • Fingerprint shortcuts • Animations • Face recognition

The Mi Note 10 Lite supports an Always-on display, and you can schedule it or leave it on/off all the time. MIUI 11 has a ton of themes you can choose from and make it yours and some of them can even be further customized. The AOD also supports breathing light - the curved edges of the display will flash with colors upon new notifications.

AOD and notification edge led effects

As far as the general layout goes, you get a few nice little extras, like a quick shortcuts pane to the left of the lock screen. In there, you can arrange and control your Mi Device IR and IoT gadgets and appliances and also toggle the flashlight.

Lock screen • Quick access pane • Home screen • Folder view • App drawer

All of the Android basics are definitely there and well covered. This particular build also features an app drawer option (missing on the Mi 10 and 10 Pro). It's the same one introduced by the off-shoot Poco Launcher, which has now made it to non-Poco-specific MIUI versions. The similarly unorthodox card-based task switcher can take some time to adjust but offers all of the needed functionality.

Notifications pane • Quick toggles • Recent apps • Split screen • Quick return to split screen

Navigation is handled in the classic three-button nav-bar manner out of the box. The Mi Note 10 Lite does offer a gesture-based method and switching to that is the first thing we do on any phone. It's missing the thin bar on the bottom that's become the Android 10 default way for switching back and forth between apps. On MIUI, switching between the last two apps is done by swiping from the edge of a screen as if you are performing a back gesture and holding for a split second. If you are not fond of that quick switch, you can disable it in the settings menu.

Navigation options

A system wide Dark mode is also available, and on the Mi Note 10 Lite, we had a much better experience with it than we did on the Mi 10, where we even found the occasional Xiaomi app and menu that doesn't adhere to Dark Mode settings. Of course, if Google Maps doesn't have a dark mode itself, it just doesn't and that's that.

You get extensive theme support with MIUI. Basically, everything is subject to change including wallpapers, icons, fonts, the lot.

Dark mode • MIUI Themes

MIUI also offers a Security app. It can scan your phone for malware, manage your blacklist, manage or restrict your data usage, configure battery behavior, and free up some RAM. It can also manage the permissions of your installed apps, allows you to define the battery behavior of selected apps and applies restrictions only to the apps you choose.

A set of proprietary multimedia apps are on board too - Gallery, Music, and Video player. In some regions, the music and video apps include paid streaming options. MIUI 11 has a new document viewing app, which supports all popular formats and makes for a seamless experience. There is also a new Notes app that now supports Tasks.

Among the niceties almost forgotten, yet present on the Mi Note 10 Lite, are the IR-based Mi Remote app for controlling legacy non-connected appliances and an FM radio support.

Security app • Gallery • Video • Music • FM radio • Mi Remote

Synthetic benchmarks

The Mi Note 10 Lite is powered by the very same Snapdragon 730G chipset that you'd find in the non-Lite version. Qualcomm's mid-mid-range option features an octa-core CPU in a 2+6 configuration (2x2.2 GHz Kryo 470 Gold & 6x1.8 GHz Kryo 470 Silver) and the GPU is Adreno 618. Three RAM/storage options are in existence - 6/64, 6/128, and 8/128, and we have the medium option for review. The storage is UFS 2.1.

Looking at some raw CPU performance results in GeekBench, the Mi Note 10 Lite is turning in middle-of-the-road figures, with the Snapdragon 730 non-G equipped Galaxy A71, Mi 9T, and Realme X2 posting slightly better scores under single-core loads. The Snapdragon 765-based Motorola Edge is further up in this test, keeping company to Kirin 810-packing Huawei P40 Lite and Honor 9X. These three lead the way in the multi-core test too where the Mi Note 10 Lite isn't winning any awards either.

GeekBench 5.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Honor 9X Pro
  594
• Huawei P40 Lite
  591
• Motorola Edge
  586
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S
  570
• Realme 6 Pro
  565
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  548
• Realme 6
  548
• Realme X2
  545
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  542
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  542
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  521
• Redmi Note 8 Pro
  493
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  398
• Sony Xperia 10 II
  315
• Motorola Moto G8 Power
  311

GeekBench 5.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Honor 9X Pro
  1911
• Motorola Edge
  1862
• Huawei P40 Lite
  1862
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S
  1785
• Realme X2
  1750
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  1733
• Realme 6
  1726
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  1703
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  1694
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  1692
• Realme 6 Pro
  1666
• Redmi Note 8 Pro
  1622
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  1517
• Sony Xperia 10 II
  1413
• Motorola Moto G8 Power
  1394

Antutu also ranks the Mi Note 10 Lite a bit lower than its peers - not appreciably lower, just enough to bump it down the chart.

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• Huawei P40 Lite
  325777
• Honor 9X Pro
  312668
• Motorola Edge
  305989
• Realme 6
  288931
• Redmi Note 8 Pro
  279355
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  272229
• Realme 6 Pro
  268785
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  263396
• Realme X2
  257443
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  257146
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10
  256717
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S
  254000
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  253271
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  227810
• Sony Xperia 10 II
  196545
• Motorola Moto G8 Power
  173607

There's little to no difference in frame rates in the GFXBench tests between S720, S730, and S730G devices - the odd frame per second one way or another is hardly a meaningful advantage. Having said that, the S765 Moto Edge (that's about twice as expensive, admittedly) is more noticeably brawnier in terms of GPU performance. So are the more affordable but now aging Honor 9X Pro and the more affordable but Google-less Huawei P40 Lite.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Motorola Edge
  34
• Honor 9X Pro
  34
• Huawei P40 Lite
  34
• Realme 6
  31
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10
  30
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  30
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  30
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  30
• Realme 6 Pro
  30
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S
  30
• Realme X2
  29
• Redmi Note 8 Pro
  29
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  27
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  20
• Motorola Moto G8 Power
  13
• Sony Xperia 10 II
  13

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Motorola Edge
  32
• Honor 9X Pro
  30
• Huawei P40 Lite
  30
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10
  27
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  27
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  27
• Realme 6 Pro
  27
• Realme 6
  27
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  26
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S
  26
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  24
• Realme X2
  24
• Redmi Note 8 Pro
  24
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  17
• Motorola Moto G8 Power
  12
• Sony Xperia 10 II
  10

GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Honor 9X Pro
  21
• Huawei P40 Lite
  21
• Motorola Edge
  19
• Realme 6 Pro
  18
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S
  18
• Redmi Note 8 Pro
  18
• Realme 6
  18
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10
  17
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  17
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  17
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  17
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  16
• Realme X2
  16
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  7.3
• Motorola Moto G8 Power
  7.1
• Sony Xperia 10 II
  7.1

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Motorola Edge
  18
• Honor 9X Pro
  18
• Huawei P40 Lite
  18
• Realme 6 Pro
  16
• Realme 6
  16
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10
  15
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  15
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  15
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S
  15
• Redmi Note 8 Pro
  14
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  13
• Realme X2
  13
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  7.4
• Motorola Moto G8 Power
  6.6
• Sony Xperia 10 II
  5.6

Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Motorola Edge
  12
• Realme 6 Pro
  11
• Realme 6
  10
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  9.9
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S
  9.9
• Redmi Note 8 Pro
  9.4
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  9.3
• Realme X2
  8.9
• Huawei P40 Lite
  8.6
• Honor 9X Pro
  8.3

Aztek OpenGL ES 3.1 High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Motorola Edge
  12
• Honor 9X Pro
  12
• Huawei P40 Lite
  12
• Realme 6 Pro
  11
• Realme 6
  11
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  10
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  10
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S
  10
• Redmi Note 8 Pro
  10
• Realme X2
  9.2

3DMark SSE OpenGL ES 3.1 1440p

Higher is better

• Motorola Edge
  3004
• Huawei P40 Lite
  2818
• Realme 6
  2570
• Realme 6 Pro
  2506
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S
  2494
• Honor 9X Pro
  2487
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  2467
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  2467
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  2464
• Realme X2
  2402
• Redmi Note 8 Pro
  2363
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  2182
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  1243
• Sony Xperia 10 II
  1125

3DMark SSE Vulkan 1440p

Higher is better

• Motorola Edge
  2801
• Realme 6
  2619
• Huawei P40 Lite
  2603
• Honor 9X Pro
  2535
• Redmi Note 8 Pro
  2447
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S
  2357
• Realme 6 Pro
  2334
• Realme X2
  2263
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  2253
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  2248
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  2244
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  2035
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  1551
• Sony Xperia 10 II
  1121

The Mi Note 10 Lite does not impress with performance, but delivers perfectly adequate results for its hardware. Marginally lower scores here and there aren't something to make a big deal out of. More importantly, we observed virtually no thermal throttling on the Lite. Certainly, a Snapdragon 765-based option will be more powerful, but in the current market that means twice the price and it's hardly twice the performance.