Xiaomi Mi 10T series: All you need to know about the budget flagships from 2020

The Xiaomi Mi 10T series is now over three years old. If you’re still looking to pick up the 2020 flagships, you don’t mind older hardware and software. The upside is that the phones in the lineup are now extremely affordable. Plus, unlike the Mi 9T lineup that consisted of rehashed Redmi phones, the Mi 10T phones are more premium and in line with the Mi 10 line. Of course, they now have successors in the form of the Xiaomi 11T, 11T Pro, 12T, and 12T Pro. However, the Mi 10T phones are still in circulation and offer a lot to be desired, including heavily reduced prices.

All the Mi 10T phones of them bring 5G connectivity and flagship-grade hardware from the year they were launched in. You’ll have to make some compromises, of course. Here’s everything you need to know about the Xiaomi Mi 10T series.

Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro, Mi 10T, and Mi 10T Lite: At a glance

The affordable high-end flagship series from Xiaomi, which was announced on September 30, 2020, consists of the Mi 10T Lite, the standard Mi 10T, and the Mi 10T Pro. The Lite model is the most affordable, while the Pro model nets the highest configuration among the three. Overall, the trio is designed to offer premium flagship specs at prices that don’t burn a hole in your pocket.

The Xiaomi Mi 10T and Mi 10T Pro are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chip, while the Mi 10T Lite was the first phone to house the Snapdragon 750G SoC. They all offer high refresh rate screens (up to 144Hz), large batteries, and the latest MIUI 12 software. Read on for a detailed specs overview.

Are the Xiaomi Mi 10T phones worth buying?

The Xiaomi Mi 10T and Mi 10T Pro belong to a crowded, yet fast-fading field of affordable Snapdragon 865 flagships. When they launched, they touted the highest display refresh rate of the lot, the Mi 10T Pro also slotted above the competition in terms of main camera resolution, and both phones were priced the same or are cheaper than the competition. Of course, now you also have many Snapdragon 870- and Snapdragon 888-powered devices that can compete with the Mi 10T phones in terms of specs and pricing.

The Mi 10T series misses out on premium features like wireless charging, and Xiaomi opts for an LCD screen over OLED. You also won’t get a telephoto lens with the 10T devices, which some phones in this price range offer.

The Mi 10T Lite, on the other hand, takes on the competition in the upper mid-range category. Xiaomi’s penchant for aggressive pricing shines through here as well, with the phone undercutting many rival devices.

Unfortunately, availability is an issue, since Xiaomi doesn’t officially sell the phones in the US. You can, however, get your hands on some of them through Amazon and of course, they are available across select markets in Europe and Asia.

What the experts are saying about the Xiaomi Mi 10T series

Android Authority reviewed the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro, and at the time, we were impressed with its speed and fluidity. Our reviewer found the phone to be a tad too large and heavy and said that the design was quite common in 2020. The 144Hz refresh rate is a huge selling point, making for a super responsive and smooth experience. To this date, it’s one of the highest display refresh rates you can get on a phone belonging to that affordable price category. The performance and battery life of the phone also proved to be impressive when we reviewed it.

More importantly, the Mi 10T Pro offers a lot of bang for your buck. Xiaomi foregoes flagship features like wireless charging and water resistance but makes up for it with the display refresh rate, a 108MP primary shooter, and the high-end processing package. He says that it is great to have a solid, relatively affordable option in a year in which the prices of true flagships continue to skyrocket.

Since Android Authority hasn’t done a review of the Mi 10T Lite, we turn to Tech Radar’s Andrew Williams for his take on the phone. He appreciates the fact that this phone offers affordable access to 5G and that the phone feels far more premium than its price point would suggest. It’s not perfect, though. He says that the camera feels sluggish at times, and it doesn’t offer the best gaming performance in its price range.

Xiaomi Mi 10T series: Specs

Check out the table below for a quick spec comparison of all the Mi 10T series phones.

How good are the Xiaomi Mi 10T cameras?

One of the biggest draws of the Mi 10T Pro is its 108MP triple camera setup. The large sensor uses pixel-binning to deliver shots comparable to a 27MP 1.6-micron pixel camera. You can also snap 33MP photos while recording 8K videos on the phone. Other sensors in the Mi 10T Pro’s rear camera array include a 13MP ultra-wide camera and a 5MP macro camera. For selfies, the phone uses a 20MP camera.

Our reviewer found the camera to be above average in his review. He says that the images it takes are sharp, balanced, and color accurate. It struggles in darker conditions though, and the software-based noise removal can be too aggressive.

The Mi 10T substitutes the 108MP sensor for a 64MP primary camera that results in 16MP pixel-binned shots. The rest of its camera configuration remains the same as the Pro model.

The Mi 10T Lite gets a set of four rear cameras — a 64MP main sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide sensor, a 2MP macro lens, and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front is a 16MP shooter for clicking selfies.

You won’t get a telephoto sensor on any of the Mi 10T series phones, so if you want optical or digital zoom capabilities in a Xiaomi flagship, you’ll have to go for the pricier Mi 10 Pro, Mi 10 Ultra, Mi 11 Pro, Mi 11 Ultra, or Mi 12 Pro.

Will you get good battery life with the Xiaomi Mi 10T series?

None of the Mi 10T series phones borrow 120W charging from their predecessor. However, they amp up battery capacity up to 5,000mAh, which is the highest of any Mi 10 phone on the market.

We found the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro’s battery life to be good. Mileage varies based on what the display refresh rate is set to, though. The good news is that even with it set to 144Hz, he was able to comfortably get a full day’s use out of the phone with everyday usage. On lighter days, with around two hours of screen-on time, he would still have as much as 70% of battery left at the end of the day.

The included 33W charger lets you charge the phone completely in around 50 minutes. It’s not the fastest charging we’ve seen, but it’s quick enough to be very convenient.

The Xiaomi Mi 10T comes with an identical setup, so we can expect the battery life to be similar. The Mi 10T Lite has a slightly smaller 4,820mAh unit, but also a lower 120Hz display refresh rate. Overall, battery life shouldn’t be a concern with any of the Mi 10T devices.

How is the performance of the Xiaomi Mi 10T series?

Under the hood, the Snapdragon 865 does all the work on the Mi 10T and the Mi 10T Pro with support for 5G connectivity and 8K video recording out of the box. The chipset is paired with UFS 3.1 storage and LPDDR5 RAM. It might not be the latest and greatest processor around, but it’s plenty fast, and performance isn’t an issue with these phones.

The base RAM on the Mi 10T Pro is 8GB, paired with 128GB and 256GB internal storage options. The vanilla Mi 10T gives you an option to start with 6GB RAM going up to 8GB. However, it only offers 128GB of storage.

The Mi 10 Lite is equipped with the Snapdragon 750G which is a Qualcomm chipset that lowers the entry barrier for 5G. The SoC stacks just under the Snapdragon 765 series which powers phones like the OnePlus Nord, Redmi K30, LG Wing, and others.

Xiaomi Mi 10T series software

Out of the box, the Mi 10T series comes with MIUI 12 based on Android 10. Key features of the software include Game Turbo, which lets you optimize performance for gaming. Mi Remote allows you to control media devices using the phone’s IR blaster. You also get a built-in screen recorder, QR code scanner, and a slew of other pre-installed apps. It’s not too bloated though, and the high refresh rate and optimizations make for a smooth and responsive software experience.

That said, the phones started receiving MIUI 13 based on Android 12 in April 2022. Unfortunately, if you’re buying the devices in 2023, you won’t get to enjoy Google’s latest OS as they are not in line to get the Android 13 update.

Xiaomi Mi 10T series price and availability

The Mi 10T series launched in Europe, starting with the Mi 10T and Mi 10T Pro, on October 1, 2020. Availability for the Mi 10T Lite started on October 13, 2020. Xiaomi also launched the phone in other markets it operates in, like India.

Europe

In European countries, you can now get the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro 256GB model for as low as €355

Meanwhile, the Mi 10T with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage is priced at €290.

The Mi 10T Lite is the cheapest of the lot and starts at €259.

United Kingdom

In the UK, the Mi 10T Pro will set you back £354 for the 8GB/256GB model. There are two color options to choose from, Cosmic Black and Lunar Silver.

India

The Xiaomi Mi 10T is priced at Rs 24,999 for the 6GB RAM option.

Xiaomi Mi 10T series competition and alternatives

If you look at the competition, the Xiaomi Mi 10T and Mi 10T Pro are way cheaper than premium flagship phones from Samsung and even Xiaomi’s own Mi 10 series. They aim to target buyers who can’t afford to pay $1,000 to purchase a smartphone with top-shelf specs.

Mi 10T and 10T Pro alternatives

A good alternative for the Snapdragon 865 toting Mi 10T phones could be an ASUS Zenfone 8 series device. The phone has the newer Snapdragon 888 chip, a 120Hz refresh rate, and is upgradeable to Android 13. It starts at $418.

You can also consider the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G. It gets a Snapdragon 865 chip, 120Hz refresh rate, and a triple camera setup starting at $339.

Coming to Snapdragon 870 alternatives, you can consider picking up the OnePlus 9R. Not only does it get the chipset upgrade, but it also boasts a 120Hz AMOLED display, a 4,500mAh battery, and a quad-camera setup led by a 48MP shooter.

Mi 10T Lite alternatives

When it comes to alternatives for the Mi 10T Lite, the device is very competitively priced under €300 (~$350). It goes up against the likes of the Moto G 5G and POCO F3 in Europe and Mi 10i in India, which also offer 5G at a low entry point. The Samsung Galaxy A42 and Galaxy A52 5G are also decent alternatives, albeit slightly more expensive. That said, if you’re willing to shell out some more dough, there are some pretty good phones you can buy.

You could consider getting the OnePlus Nord instead of the Mi 10T Lite. The phone packs a Snapdragon 765G chip, a 90Hz display, four rear cameras, and two front cameras. You also get the Oxygen OS experience that some people may prefer over MIUI.

Top Xiaomi Mi 10T series questions and answers

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