Xiaomi joins the affordable 5G phone battle with the new Redmi Note 10 5G

By Andy Boxall Published May 27, 2021

Xiaomi has become the latest company to introduce an affordable smartphone with 5G in the U.K., announcing the Redmi Note 10 5G for release. May 2021 has been a busy month for interesting new 5G phones at reasonable prices, with the Redmi Note 10 5G joining the Poco M3 Pro 5G and the Realme 8 Pro, along with several other models from Samsung and Oppo.

Like the Poco and Realme phones, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G uses the MediaTek Dimensity 700 processor and 5G modem, which helps keep the cost down while still offering plenty of performance and functionality. The Redmi Note 10 5G has a similar design to the Xiaomi Mi 11, with a stepped, eye-catching camera module on the back of the phone, and it comes in several colors including green and blue.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G in different colors — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The camera module doesn’t contain any surprises though and is equipped with a 48-megapixel main camera and a pair of 2MP cameras for macro and depth images. On the front is a 6.5-inch screen with a 90Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling, and because it has an adaptive rate it shouldn’t drain the battery too quickly either. The Redmi Note 10 5G has a big 5,000mAh battery inside anyway, with 18W fast charging.

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Other features include a 3.5mm headphone jack, a fingerprint sensor set in the power button on the side of the phone, NFC for mobile payments, and an 8MP selfie camera in a hole-punch cutout at the top of the screen. It comes in two configurations — a 64GB version with 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB version with 4GB of RAM.

The cheapest 4GB/64GB Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G costs 200 British pounds, or about $283, while the 4GB/128GB model is only a little more at 210 pounds/$297. For twice the storage space, it’s probably worth the extra seeing as the phone does not have a MicroSD card slot. If you’re really keen, Xiaomi is offering a free Mi Band 6 fitness tracker with each new Redmi Note 10 5G purchase for a limited amount of time.

Smartphones like the Redmi Note 10 5G and Realme 8 5G are part of the first wave of affordable 5G devices enabled by fast-but-reasonably-priced chips from MediaTek, and it’s a growing trend to watch for over the coming year. Xiaomi has also announced the Redmi Note 10S for the U.K., which doesn’t come with 5G but instead has a 6.43-inch AMOLED screen, a 64MP main camera, and the MediaTek Helio G95 processor with 6GB of RAM.

Former Senior Mobile Writer

Andy has written about mobile technology for almost a decade. From 2G to 5G and smartphone to smartwatch, Andy knows tech.

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