Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro long-term review

Camera

One of the Redmi Note 10 Pro's main differentiating features compared to most of its competitors is its main camera, a 108 MP sensor that's a first for the Redmi line (although not a first for a Xiaomi mid-ranger, as the first-ever 108 MP camera was seen in the Mi Note 10, which was also not a flagship - though it did sit in a higher price tier than this one).

The huge number obviously draws a lot of attention to itself and implies the production of some good-looking pictures, and also, subtly, that Redmi is now getting (more) serious about cameras - long a sticking point for otherwise amazingly specced handsets for their respective prices.

We're just going to dive right into samples here, and say it outright: the photos are amazing for a phone that costs this little. The daylight samples have a ton of detail, excellent (yet generally not overdone) dynamic range, low noise levels, and nice contrast and colors. Speaking of the colors, these look "natural" but aren't actually accurate - something that's pretty much become the norm in the mobile world recently.

There is some excessive oversharpening in some areas, notably building facades, sometimes, however. Some people might like that, we'd rather it was toned down a little, but this still doesn't take away from the fact that these are probably the best main camera shots you can get at this price.

Daytime samples from the main camera

Moving over to the ultrawide, this churns out some decent pictures but it can't match the main sensor. It's limited by resolution and sheer quality of the optics. You do get some rich detail, nice colors, decent dynamic range, low-ish noise, and good straightening of corners.

Daytime samples from the ultrawide

The Redmi Note 10 Pro doesn't have a dedicated telephoto camera (because all manufacturers seem to have collectively decided that's a "premium" feature now), but there is a 2x toggle in the viewfinder. This produces a cropped and upscaled shot from the main camera, and because of the digital zoom, the images are all rather bad really - soft and lacking in detail.

Daytime 2x zoom samples

As usual in long-term reviews we refrained from using the 108 MP mode for the main sensor, as we intend to show how phones behave on their Auto/default modes as much as possible. Also, as usual, we didn't shoot any macro samples with the dedicated macro camera, because frankly, we can't wait for phone makers to stop adding sensors just to pad the devices' backs. Having autofocus on the ultrawide generally makes for much better macro shots than any dedicated 2MP-5MP macro camera could ever hope to take.

Switching over to nighttime now, we need to talk about Auto Night Mode. This is a toggle that can be activated or deactivated in Settings, and when it's on, if certain ambient lighting conditions are met, the phone will capture an Auto Night Mode shot from Auto mode on the main sensor (this only works for 1x shots, not 2x). It's not the same thing as a manual Night Mode shot, however - the manually triggered ones have longer exposures, generally by a second or so.

Nighttime Auto samples from the main camera (with Auto Night Mode on)

So basically we now have three ways to capture stuff at night - Auto mode with Auto Night Mode off or not triggered, Auto mode with Auto Night Mode on and triggered, and manual Night Mode. This is getting confusing, fast, but our rule of thumb after shooting hundreds of pics with the Redmi Note 10 Pro is this: leave (or turn) Auto Night Mode on. Whenever it triggers it always (yes, every single time) produces a better image than Auto mode would have with Auto Night Mode off.

The downside is that when Auto Night Mode triggers, the capture takes about two seconds, but we don't think that's long enough for this to be a real inconvenience most of the time. If you have even more time (and the ability to stay still for an extra second or two), then the manual Night Mode will result in shots with even less noise, a bit more highlight restoration, and slightly better color saturation.

So with all that in mind, here's our suggestion: at night, when you can, use manual Night Mode, and when you can't, let Auto Night Mode do its thing if it triggers. If your hands are really shaky, then and only then we'd say stick with Auto and turn Auto Night Mode off. As this phone doesn't have optical image stabilization on any of its cameras, camera shake can be a real issue with longer exposures.

Night Mode samples from the main camera

At night, the ultrawide... can be used, but we're not sure it would ever make sense to. The images are all dark and noisy, although there is some detail in them, and the colors aren't bad. But this camera is best kept for settings where there's a decent level of ambient lighting around. It doesn't have Night Mode either, so you can't really do anything to improve its shots. Still, if you're in need of some artistic framing, it's there.

Nighttime samples from the ultrawide

The 2x shots captured at night are very similar to the ones we shot during the day, and that's to say, not very impressive at all.

Nighttime 2x zoom shots

Using Night Mode on these makes them slightly better, but not by much.

Night Mode 2x zoom shots

Selfies have nice colors, great contrast, and reasonable amounts of detail when shot during the day. At night things become predictably worse if you don't use the screen flash function. Portrait Mode selfies come out nice but with less detail. Background blur looks alright (although kind of obviously noticeable that it was created on a phone), and subject separation is good, while not being outstanding.

Selfies, day and night, Portrait Mode off/on

Overall then the Redmi Note 10 Pro has a great main camera for this price point, one that would've probably been made even greater by the addition of OIS. Even so, the daytime shots it produces are great, while at night with a steady hand you can get some good results too. The ultrawide is there for flexibility, but as usual for this price range, its usability during nighttime is limited. If your phone purchasing budget is around what the Redmi Note 10 Pro costs and camera image quality is very important for you, then this is probably the one to get.