Perhaps our readers have noticed that over the past couple of months, we have been overly focused on the Chinese brand Xiaomi. Sometimes we are dissatisfied with their smartphones, sometimes with their TVs. After the release of the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra phone to the market, we can breathe a sigh of relief. The Chinese conglomerate has managed to create a truly excellent smartphone with a bright future.
The confidence comes from the fact that Xiaomi’s main competitor – Huawei – has lost support for Google services. Consequently, it also misses timely updates. Our analyst predicts a decline in sales of all Huawei devices by more than 20% by the end of 2020. If the Chinese do not establish their own service and do not implement proper multi-language support, the decline could increase two to three times.
Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra: technical specifications
| Model | Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra |
| Processor | Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865 (7 nm+) |
| Cores | Octa-core Kryo 585 (1×2.84 GHz, 3×2.42 GHz, 4×1.80 GHz) |
| Graphics Adapter | Adreno 650 |
| RAM | 8/12/16 GB RAM |
| Storage | 128GB/256GB/512GB UFS 3.1 |
| Expandable Storage | No |
| AnTuTu Score | 589,000 |
| Display: size and type | 6.67″ LCD OLED |
| Resolution and density | 1080 x 2340, 386 pixels per inch |
| Display technologies | HDR10+, 120Hz refresh rate, 800 nits typical brightness (advertised) |
| Additional features | Glass front (Gorilla Glass 5), glass back (Gorilla Glass 6), aluminum frame |
| Security | Fingerprint scanner |
| Sound system | Stereo speakers, 24-bit/192kHz audio |
| Bluetooth | Version 5.1, A2DP, LE, aptX HD |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, hotspot |
| Battery | Li-Ion 4500 mAh, non-removable |
| Fast charging | 120W fast charging (41% in 5 min, 100% in 23 min), 50W fast wireless charging (100% in 40 mins), Reverse wireless charging 10W, Quick Charge 5, Quick Charge 4+, Power Delivery 3.0 |
| Operating system | Android 10, MIUI 12 |
| Dimensions | 162.4 x 75.1 x 9.5 mm |
| Weight | 221.8 g |
| Price | $800-1000 |
What makes the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra so special?
The smartphone is dedicated to Xiaomi’s 10th anniversary. In fact, the entire 10th series is timed to this celebratory event. By the way, the Chinese brand’s birthday is April 6th. Therefore, the manufacturer tried to make a great phone, combining all available technologies. If you compare the technical specifications of the Mi 10 and previous years’ phones, you can find some similarities. But they only relate to the best features. And that’s encouraging.
Another feature is the number 120, which appeared very often during Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra’s presentation in China. Here is what we managed to find:
- The Chinese brand has 120 months (10 years of 12 months each).
- The display refresh rate is 120 Hz.
- The main camera zoom is 120x.
- Fast charging is 120 Watts.
First impressions of the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra
The highlight can confidently be called the OLED display, which is provided by the Chinese brand TCL, known for producing very high-quality LCD TVs. Before the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra hit the market, we were strongly skeptical about such a solution. After all, 120 Hz OLED displays were previously only seen on the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra flagship. Now, we can confidently say that Samsung has a competitor in the market. This means that other brands will soon adopt this technology, and Korean manufacturers will lower the prices of their expensive phones.
Gorgeous battery life and fast charging
Battery capacity is usually mentioned at the end of reviews, but we conducted several days of testing and are eager to share good news. A pleasant surprise is the 120W fast charging. It charges from 0 to 100% in 23 minutes. Draining the battery to zero makes no sense, as the battery is designed for frequent recharging. In normal use, these 120 Watts are very useful. For example, before going to work, we charged the phone from 50% to 73% in just 5 minutes. And what’s also pleasing is the support for wireless charging, which we recently described.
Regarding the battery itself, it is quite capacious – 4500 mAh. One might even marvel at this, but it’s important to remember that the processor in the phone is also top-tier. In active usage (Wi-Fi, 5G, internet browsing, and calls), the battery lasts a whole day. In gaming, the phone can last up to 8 hours of continuous operation. We haven’t tested video playback, but we estimate it should last around 12 hours.
120x zoom: another marketing move?
Let’s be honest, all these Ultra zooms and megapixels, with the microscopic size of the sensor, are truly marketing tricks by smartphone manufacturers. When taking photos handheld, the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra produces images no better than phones from 10 years ago. However, if you mount the phone on a tripod and set the shutter to automatic, the situation changes dramatically. Under low daylight or fluorescent lighting, autofocus often misses, but with adjusted settings, excellent photos can be obtained.
The cameras themselves work excellently, both during the day and at night. There have been reports that Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra surpasses Huawei in photo quality. Don’t believe it; that’s not true. The new device significantly lags behind Huawei P40 Pro Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra in photo and video shooting. Not to mention the iPhone 11 Pro Max. But, considering the price for top hardware at 1.5-2.5 times less than the mentioned models, it demonstrates comparable performance, autonomy, and ease of use. And that’s a serious achievement.
Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra: verdict
We forgot to mention the color options for the new device. More precisely, the innovation with a transparent back panel for the phone. Imagine a completely transparent back of the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra. You can see the microchips and the camera module. It’s not particularly beautiful, but very bold and unusual. And speaking of boldness, the Chinese also included a good audio system in the phone. This is probably the only case where Xiaomi’s engineers installed a proper audio board in a smartphone. The sound is excellent. Listening and enjoying the sound quality. It’s unclear why proper acoustics weren’t used in smartphones earlier.
What can be said, the anniversary phone turned out to be very interesting. Considering its sales in China, we are confident that there will be fans of this smartphone outside the Chinese market as well. The price is a bit concerning; for the 8 GB RAM version, $800 is quite a lot. But the upcoming release of the iPhone 12 is not far off. And, knowing the Chinese, we are sure that the Android gadget will drop in price within the next few weeks.
