The Redmi Note 10S is a barely extra highly effective model of the Redmi Note 10, which was launched in March this yr. The Redmi Note 10 continues to be a succesful smartphone and it managed rating in our assessment. Xiaomi claims to have improved upon the Redmi Note 10 through the use of a distinct processor, extra RAM, and a better decision major digicam sensor, all for a small bump in worth. Should you pay the premium for the Redmi Note 10S, or spend this cash elsewhere? I put the Redmi Note 10S via our assessments to seek out out.
Redmi Note 10S worth in India
The Redmi Note 10S instructions a premium over the Redmi Note 10 (Review) and is accessible in two variants. The base variant provides 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, and is priced at Rs. 14,999. The greater variant with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage is priced at Rs. 15,999.
Redmi Note 10S design
The Redmi Note 10S and the Redmi Note 10 look similar, making it unattainable to differentiate between the 2 until you get the newer mannequin in its unique Deep Sea Blue color. This new possibility has a gradient end which appears to be like contemporary. Just just like the Redmi Note 10, the Note 10S can be obtainable in delicate colors corresponding to Shadow Black and Frost White.
The Redmi Note 10S is a comparatively slim smartphone, measuring 8.29mm, and it weighs 179g. The polycarbonate again is curved alongside the perimeters which makes it snug to carry. The digicam module is on the left of the rear and does not protrude a lot. There is a silver spotlight across the new 64-megapixel major digicam to attract consideration to it.
At the entrance, the Redmi Note 10S has a 6.43-inch AMOLED show with Corning Gorilla Glass three for defense. You’ll see a large digicam gap on the prime. The show has skinny bezels on the perimeters whereas the chin is noticeably thicker. The body of the Redmi Note 10S is made out of plastic. It is curved on the perimeters, and comparatively flat on the prime and the underside.
The energy button has an built-in capacitive fingerprint scanner and is properly positioned on the appropriate facet of the cellphone, together with the amount buttons. The Redmi Note 10S has stereo audio system with a speaker every on the highest and backside. An IR emitter, generally seen on Redmi smartphones, is on the prime together with the secondary microphone. The USB Type-C port and three.5mm headphone jack are on the backside.
You get IP53 mud and water resistance on the Redmi Note 10S which is not quite common on this worth vary. You’ll additionally see a rubber flange across the SIM tray to assist forestall water from coming into the gadget. The battery capability stays unchanged, in comparison with the Redmi Note 10, at 5,000mAh. You get a 33W charger within the field which is an efficient addition contemplating the value of this smartphone.
Redmi Note 10S specs and software program
The Redmi Note 10S packs in a extra highly effective MediaTek Helio G95 processor than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 678 within the Redmi Note 10. This processor is paired with 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM, and also you get to decide on between 64GB and 128GB of UFS 2.2 storage. There can be a devoted slot for storage growth.
The Redmi Note 10S has an AMOLED show with a full-HD+ decision and a peak brightness of 1100 nits. It has good viewing angles and was legible underneath daylight.You can even regulate the color scheme and color temperature of the show to fit your wants. The Redmi Note 10S helps Bluetooth 5, dual-band Wi-Fi, VoLTE, and VoWiFi. It is a dual-SIM gadget and might use two Nano-SIMs.
Xiaomi ships the Redmi Note 10S with MIUI 12.5, making this the primary smartphone to run the most recent model of MIUI. The UI runs on prime of Android 11 and my unit had the April Android safety patch. The Redmi Note 10S was operating an interim model of MIUI 12.5 through the assessment interval, and extra options shall be added quickly, in keeping with the corporate. During setup the cellphone did ask permission to allow Glance for Mi, a wallpaper carousel service which I declined as a result of it exhibits sponsored content material. There are a good variety of preinstalled apps on the gadget however I might take away most of them, which is a step in the appropriate course. I obtained promotional notifications from GetApps and the Themes app whereas utilizing the smartphone.
Redmi Note 10S efficiency and battery life
The Redmi Note 10S provides superb efficiency and didn’t present any indicators of slowing down through the assessment interval. There is 6GB of RAM which makes multitasking fairly straightforward. I discovered the AMOLED show to have good viewing angles, and it did get brilliant sufficient when open air. The stereo audio system are a neat addition and assist improve the video watching expertise on the Redmi Note 10S. The side-mounted fingerprint scanner is straightforward to succeed in and fast to unlock the smartphone.
Given the MediaTek Helio G95 processor, I used to be anticipating this cellphone to carry out higher than the Redmi Note 10 and it did within the few assessments that I used to be in a position to run. The Redmi Note 10S managed 330,650 factors in AnTuTu, whereas Geekbench 5’s scores had been 516 and 1,668 for the single-core and multi-core assessments respectively. The Redmi Note 10S didn’t run the graphics benchmarks GFXBench and 3DMark.
Call of Duty Mobile ran high quality with none situation. It defaulted to the High preset for graphics in addition to body charge. The recreation was playable at these settings with none drop in efficiency and I didn’t discover any stutters throughout gameplay. After taking part in for 10 minutes, I seen a three p.c drop within the battery degree, and the highest of the cellphone was barely heat to the contact.
The 5,000mAh battery within the Redmi Note 10S is able to delivering good battery life. I might use the smartphone for over a day very simply on a single cost. I didn’t discover any irregular battery drain both. In our HD video loop check, the cellphone managed to run for 17 hours and 26 minutes which is an efficient rating. Xiaomi bundles a 33W charger within the field, which took the smartphone from zero to 40 p.c in thirty minutes and to 67 p.c in an hour.
Redmi Note 10S cameras
The Redmi Note 10S has a quad-camera setup similar to the Redmi Note 10, besides that the first digicam sensor has a better decision. It sports activities a 64-megapixel major digicam, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle digicam, a 2-megapixel macro digicam and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. For selfies, it has a 13-megapixel shooter.
Xiaomi’s digicam app has many of the completely different taking pictures modes properly laid out, making it straightforward to decide on the one you need. Sadly, the Macro mode nonetheless requires a number of faucets to allow. The digicam app has AI and also you get a fast toggle for that too.
Daylight images taken with the Redmi Note 10S had been common and regarded oversharpened. There was respectable element on close by objects however distant objects appeared blotchy. Photos shot on the full 64-megapixel decision had comparatively low element and weren’t as sharp as pixel-binned ones. With the ultra-wide angle digicam, you may seize a wider shot however the element was not nearly as good, and there was noticeable distortion on the sides.
Close-up pictures turned out higher, and with the AI-enabled, the cellphone can detect scenes rapidly. The Note 10S was fast to focus and I didn’t want a number of makes an attempt to get a usable shot. Portrait pictures had good edge detection and I might set the extent of background blur I needed earlier than taking a shot. Macro pictures had been respectable however restricted to 2 megapixels in decision.
Low-light pictures appeared flat, and objects at a distance had been grainy. The cellphone managed to maintain noise underneath management however pictures weren’t one of the best I’ve seen at this worth level. With Night mode enabled, photograph high quality was marginally brighter and pictures had barely higher particulars. The ultra-wide angle digicam fails to seize respectable pictures at evening and is finest used for daylight landscapes solely.
Selfies had been respectable and the smartphone might detect faces even with masks on for portraits. You do get a slider to regulate the background blur earlier than you’re taking a shot. Low-light selfies had been additionally good. Beautification is enabled by default which softens the picture.
Video recording tops out at 4K 30fps for the first digicam. Footage shot at 1080p appeared stabilised and solely had occasional shimmer whereas strolling round, whereas 4K footage wasn’t stabilised. Low-light video shot at 1080p was strictly common and had a shimmer impact within the output, whereas 4K footage wasn’t stabilised.
Verdict
The Redmi Note 10 (Review) continues to be nice worth for cash. Xiaomi has launched a brand new sibling with a extra highly effective processor, extra RAM, and a higher-resolution major digicam, and referred to as it the Redmi Note 10S. The solely stunning factor is that this replace was launched a mere two months after the unique.
The Note 10S is costlier although, and there is a worth distinction of Rs. 2,000 between variants of the Redmi Note 10 and the Note 10S with the identical quantities of RAM and storage. I didn’t discover the cameras to be a major sufficient improve to advocate the Redmi Note 10S over the Redmi Note 10. However, for these in search of extra efficiency, the Note 10S does have a slight edge over its sibling.
If you might be in search of options, the Realme 7 (Review) and the Poco M3 (Review) are price contemplating for roughly the identical worth.