Xiaomi Mi 10i review: The affordable camera king 

Over the last couple of years, affordable smartphones have become increasingly excellent in terms of performance, design, battery life and vernal functionality.

Entering 2021, the main differentiators were the camera and display. Well, the new Xiaomi Mi 10i throws that playbook out of the window. At ₹23,999 for the top of the line Mi 10i, you’re getting a hell of a phone — a phone that has an ergonomic and attractive design, a phone that has fast performance with a cutting chip supporting even 5G and a phone that gives you features that an iPhone screen doesn’t at 4 times the cost. While doing all this, it also gives you a camera system that can go toe-to-toe with the iPhone 12 snapper and beat it on many occasions.

So, when people critique the Mi 10i to be a rebranded model of Xiaomi phone from China, they are doing a great disservice to a phone which redefines the sub ₹25,000 smartphone segment just the way the erstwhile Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 upended the budget segment five years ago.

Like the other Mi branded smartphones Xiaomi launched last year, this phone also comes with a high refresh rate display clocking in a dynamic refresh rate of 120Hz inside a 6.67-LCD panel which also supposedly has the smallest hole-punch notch that’s been seen in a phone of its class. It even gets Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for scratch protection.

It is very good, both in terms of user interface fluidity and gaming. However, the screen is a tad washed out and it has prominent bezels which from the front reminds one of a Redmi class smartphone than a more premier Mi branded phone.

When you flip the phone around and see the new Pacific sunrise finish then it becomes a head-turner. It has this radiant gradient finish which also is very supple thanks to a matte glass finish. This ensures that the phone also avoids smudges and is very comfortable to hold, hence becoming an upgrade over the other Mi phones — Mi 10 and Mi 10T. It is also not a very hefty phone at 214.5 grams and 9mm of thickness, especially when compared to the Mi 10 and Mi 10T Pro. This makes it easier to use on a day to day basis. Xiaomi also adds its P2i splash protection.

Talking about day-to-day performance -- The top of the line version of the phone which I have tested has 8GB RAM, 128GB UFS 2.2 memory, and also, of course, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G processor. Xiaomi claims this phone delivers better performance than the Snapdragon 765G equipped OnePlus Nord, but that’s not abundantly clear. What’s clear is that regardless of these comparisons, it is a very responsive phone when married with the 120Hz display.

The phone can multitask superlatively while having excellent sustained performance and solid thermal efficiency. It also games well, especially with high-resolution games like Modern Combat and Asphalt relaying graphical fidelity which is close to the best Android phones. This phone is also future proof as it supports 5G so if you want to use the phone for a while, then this phone will be future proof.

The phone has an adequate battery life which is above average for a phone of its class. The 4,820mAh battery delivers around 12-14 hours of battery with extensive usage with the 120Hz panel in action. It also gets charged quite rapidly with the given 33-watt fast charger. But it must be noted the competition in the price band like the Samsung Galaxy M51 provides vastly better battery life. But what also pulls the phone down is the fact that it has such a ridiculously good camera which begs you to use the phone more.

Xiaomi has equipped the phone with a 108-megapixel primary camera system coupled with an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera and two rather unnecessary 2-megapixel companions for depth sensing and macro photography to give it a marketing advantage of a quad-camera system. In use this is a dual-camera system, but boy oh boy, what a versatile and effective stack this is.

Effectively, this is the same 108-megapixel camera system that Xiaomi deployed last year on the Mi 10 and more or less it works the same, just is a tad bit slower in terms of processing which is an equitable compromise. In daylight, you’re getting stupendous detail, mega dynamic range but also, excessively vivid colours gravitating towards a warmer colour palette. But every shot that you take looks makes you sit up and pay attention.

This effect gets even more exaggerated in low light situations as the camera system has such punchy contrast. The side effect of this is sometimes the photos of un-natural levels of contrast. But for most people, this will be an excellent camera system that will even put the camera of an iPhone to shame.

Then there is the night mode which is muted but works effectively. The big thing is that it is fast which means you end up with a few blurred shots. You get lossless zoom thanks to the massive resolution at 2x crop which is fantastic. And the pro mode is a delight for shutterbugs who know their way around the camera.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect for me was the portrait mode which had excellent edge detection even in low-light and allowed ample granular control to change the level of bokeh and also the style of bokeh which is manipulated by software. Of all major smartphone makers, Xiaomi has the third-best portrait mode after Apple and Google and this is reflective on the Mi 10i.

Like the bokeh mode effects, Xiaomi has also paid a lot of attention to the camera effects which allow you to change the vibe of the scene by changing the sky. Even though this is a software-generated manipulation of the real photo, it looks awesome.

Xiaomi’s 8-megapixel wide-angle camera is also decent but it lacks resolution though it can take a widescreen because of its 120-degree field of view. Its 16-megapixel camera is also highly usable, especially for portrait selfies.

Videographers will also appreciate that the phone can shoot at up to 4k at 30 frames per second with it having effective stabilisation at lower 1080p resolution. What stands out with the video capture is also the quality of audio at when in high decibel environments which is very clean, clearer than most flagship Android phones.

The audio capabilities of this phone are further elevated by the dual stereo speakers which get quite loud and are relatively clean. These speakers also make the movie-watching experience more immersive. Audio junkies will also appreciate the 3.5mm jack which is also certified for high-resolution 24-bit audio which works as advertised. It is a niche feature but if you care about music this could be everything. It also helps that this phone has a microSDX card slot which allows you to carry more data locally over and above the 128GB storage — certainly handy for someone who wants to use the phone like a high resolution portable audio player something you can’t even do with an ₹159,990 iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Software-wise, it has MiUI 12 based on Android 10 which is a little dated and it comes with a bevvy of unpleasant Xiaomi preloads, though unlike some of the Redmi branded phones, it doesn’t push as many ads which is nice as this is a more affordable phone. In terms of ease of use, it is quite straightforward and many people will feel at home with Xiaomi’s take on Android.

All in all, there is very little wrong with the Mi 10i at its price. In fact, it redefines the bar for what should be present in a sub ₹25,000 phone. The balance between performance, cameras, features, design, price and ease of use — there is no other phone that provides that balance.

Sure, if you want more battery life, the Samsung Galaxy M51 will make more sense, or perhaps you want more straightforward of an Android experience, then the OnePlus Nord will appeal more to the consumer. But if you want something that does everything well — it has to be the Mi 10i. And particularly if you’re talking about the camera considering it is more versatile than the single-camera system on the Pixel 4a as well. The Mi 10i certainly is the new affordable camera king in India, but for many, it is going to be a jack of all.