Xiaomi has unveiled the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro smartphones at an event in China, giving us a look at what would have been coming at MWC 2020, had the event not been canceled due to concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The global launch of the two phones will still happen, but at a later date, with Xiaomi announcing it has delayed the European launch event.
What about the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro? The specification is similar to the new Samsung Galaxy S20 and S20 Ultra, but with a few small differences, and a far lower price tag. The two phones have the same 6.67-inch AMOLED touchscreen on the front, with a hole-punch 20-megapixel selfie camera in the top corner, plus a 90Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling, and also a 180Hz touch sampling rate to make the phones respond quickly — a desirable feature for gamers. For comparison, the Galaxy S20 phones can reach a 120Hz refresh rate, and have a 240Hz sampling rate.
Like Samsung with the Galaxy S20, the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro are 5G phones, providing access to the fast new mobile network. The processor is also the same in both — Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 with a choice of RAM up to 12GB. You’ll be hard pressed to tell the two apart as well. The designs are practically identical outside of the camera array looking a little larger on the Mi 10 Pro, and there is a good reason for this.
It’s the camera which mostly differentiates the two phones. Both have a 108-megapixel main lens, but the Mi 10 Pro has a 12-megapixel telephoto lens for short range, a second 8-megapixel long-range telephoto lens, and a 20-megapixel wide-angle lens. This combination will provide a 50x zoom, but the exact details on how, and other special camera features, are not known just yet. The Mi 10 has a 13-megapixel wide-angle lens, and a pair of 2-megapixel lenses alongside it. Both phones can also shoot video up to 8K resolution.
The battery inside the Mi 10 Pro has a 4,500mAh capacity with fast 50 watt charging, while the Mi 10 has a slightly larger 4,780mAh battery with 30 watt charging. The phones will run Android 10 with MIUI 11, and be available in China from February 14 for the Mi 10, and February 18 for the Mi 10 Pro. The Mi 10 starts at the local equivalent of about $570, and the Mi 10 Pro at around $715, considerably less than the Galaxy S20 range. We will find out the global prices when the phones launch internationally in the future. It is unlikely either phone will be officially sold in the U.S.
