Xiaomi became the latest company to introduce an affordable 5G smartphone in the U.K. with the announcement of the Redmi Note 10 5G. May 2021 was a busy month for exciting new 5G phones at reasonable prices, with the Redmi Note 10 5G joining the Poco M3 Pro 5G and Realme 8 Pro, as well as several other models from Samsung and Oppo.
Like the Poco and Realme phones, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G uses a MediaTek Dimensity 700 processor and 5G modem to keep the cost down while still delivering high performance and functionality. The Redmi Note 10 5G has a design similar to the Xiaomi Mi 11, with a stepped, eye-catching camera module on the back of the phone, and comes in several colors, including green and blue.
The camera module contains no surprises and features a 48-megapixel primary camera and a pair of 2-megapixel cameras for macro and depth imaging. On the front is a 6.5-inch screen with a 90Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling, and thanks to the adaptive frequency, it shouldn’t drain the battery too quickly. Inside the Redmi Note 10 5G is a large 5,000mAh battery with 18W fast charging.
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Other features include a 3.5mm headphone jack, a fingerprint sensor mounted in the power button on the side of the phone, NFC for mobile payments and an 8MP selfie camera in a 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 Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G with 4GB/64GB costs 200 British pounds, or about $283, while the 4GB/128GB model is only slightly more, at 210 pounds/$297. It’s probably worth paying extra for twice the storage space, since the phone doesn’t have a microSD card slot. If you really want one, Xiaomi is offering a free Mi Band 6 fitness tracker with every new Redmi Note 10 5G for a limited time.
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Smartphones like the Redmi Note 10 5G and Realme 8 5G are part of the first wave of affordable 5G devices powered by fast but inexpensive chips from MediaTek, and it’s a growing trend to watch for next year. Xiaomi also announced the Redmi Note 10S for the U.K., which doesn’t feature 5G but instead has a 6.43-inch AMOLED screen, a 64 MP primary camera and a MediaTek Helio G95 processor with 6 GB of RAM.
