Xiaomi Mi 10 series goes West: Affordable or less expensive flagship?

The Xiaomi Mi 10 series marks a rather interesting point for the company, as it delivers a much higher price in its native China compared to the Mi 9.

Now, the company has announced wider availability of the Mi 10 series, and you’re looking at a similar price leap outside its home market. For the record, the standard Mi 10 started at 3,999 yuan (~$565), while the Mi 10 Pro started at 4,999 yuan (~$707).

Read: Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro review: Delivering the goods | Xiaomi Mi 10 review: Premium hardware let down by unpolished software

European users can expect to pay a €799 (~$876) starting price for the Mi 10, while the Mi 10 Pro will be available starting at €999 (~$1,096). For what it’s worth, the 128GB Mi 9 had a €499 (~$547) price tag at its European launch last year.

Xiaomi’s UK arm revealed that the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro wouldn’t be coming to the market, so you can only expect the standard Mi 10. Nevertheless, you’re looking at a £699 (~$858) price tag for the 128GB model and £799 (~$980) for the 256GB option. By comparison, the 128GB Mi 9 started at £549 (~$674).

In any event, the phone will launch in the UK via Mi.com.

What do you get for the price?

Both of Xiaomi’s new flagships sport a 6.67-inch FHD+ OLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate, Snapdragon 865 and 5G modem, 30W wireless charging and 10W reverse wireless topups. The two devices also share a 20MP selfie camera in a punch-hole cutout and a 108MP main camera with 8K recording.

Otherwise, the vanilla Mi 10 delivers a 4,780mAh battery, 30W wired charging, a 13MP ultra-wide camera, 2MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth sensor. There’s no telephoto sensor here, so you’ll need to rely on digital zoom from the 108MP camera.

Meanwhile, the Mi 10 Pro yields a 4,500mAh battery, 50W wired charging, a 20MP ultra-wide camera, 12MP 2x telephoto sensor, and an 8MP longer range telephoto shooter (10x hybrid).

The two phones also share an in-display fingerprint sensor, MIUI 11 atop Android 10, and curved displays. Just don’t expect a 3.5mm port though, unlike the Redmi K30 Pro.

Mi 10 Lite debuts

Xiaomi also had a surprise for us at its global launch event, as it announced the Mi 10 Lite 5G. The Lite device packs a Snapdragon 765G processor, a 4,160mAh battery with 20W charging, and 64GB or 128GB of storage.

The mid-range 5G phone also sports a 16MP selfie camera, a 48MP quad camera setup, and a 6.57-inch OLED screen with an in-display fingerprint sensor.

The Mi 10 Lite 5G starts at €349 (~$383) in Europe, with availability from early May.