That means no dedicated telephoto and no ultra-wide. The former is no great surprise in a phone of this price, but the latter is slightly more noteworthy. True, we often decry budget ultra-wides as being scarcely worth the space they occupy. But if you offered us one in return for that dodgy macro sensor and depth sensor, we’d probably take it. We’ll say one thing for the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G: it doesn’t look like a slightly compromised budget phone. We’ve been using it alongside the similarly pitched Realme 8 5G and the Oppo A54 5G, and it’s considerably nicer to hold and behold than either. With such a standout screen and stereo speakers, The Redmi Note 10 Pro is a streamer’s dream. Its 20:9 aspect ratio makes it a perfect fit for new cinematic widescreen movies and shows like Mandalorian, and the quality is beyond reproach for the price.

By far the standout feature of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G is its stamina. With a 5,000mAh battery on board, alongside those otherwise modest specifications, it has the potential to last a full two days on a single charge. We have to confess that familiarity has bred a certain level of contentment with MIUI. It’s a highly customizable UI, with the potential for a neat split notification pane and a fully fleshed out themes store. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G features a 5,000mAh battery. That’s a large cell by modern smartphone standards, but it’s also the exact same size as the batteries found in the Oppo A54 5G and the Realme 8 5G. The Redmi Note 10 5G’s night mode shots turned out better in both situations than the Oppo A54 5G, and while they were a lot noisier than the Realme 8 5G’s in full night conditions, they had better clarity in low ambient light. As it is, this more functional system is hardly the snappiest way to gain entry to your phone. But it’s reliable enough all the same.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G is classy but compromised

The 2MP macro sensor is truly terrible, to the point where a whole series of what we thought would be usable examples of flower close-ups turned out to be nothing of the sort. The camera completely failed to pin their subjects, yielding a blurry, noisy smudge of colors. More unique is the provision of an IR blaster on the top edge of the phone, which enables you to use it as a remote control. This isn’t unusual for anyone familiar with Xiaomi’s previous work, but it does set the phone apart from the Realme 8 5G and the Oppo A54 5G. Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G: display The best camera in the world can’t detract from the Redmi Note 10 Pro’s adverts. Yep. Ads for third-party apps pop up when you install a new app. They’re pretty gross, but you can turn them off. Nevertheless, to get away with such an eye-sore, the Note 10 Pro would have to be the best phone money can buy at its price, which, as you’ve probably gathered by now, it is. So, should I buy it? Optional extras that, practically speaking, are useless to many right now (we’re looking at you 5G) are missing from Xiaomi’s latest Redmi phone. Instead, it’s got a best-in-class screen and camera, excellent battery life with fast charging, not to mention standout design for the price. Just like the aforementioned Oppo A54 5G and Realme 8 5G, the Redmi Note 10 5G goes with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor rather than the more fashionable in-display method. We really don’t mind such an approach at this end of the market, where in-display methods are generally slow and unreliable.

In addition to its 108MP main camera, the Redmi Note 10 Pro features an 8MP ultra-wide lens for action-cam-a-like shots, and a 5MP macro camera, which, thanks to autofocus, isn’t a massive waste of space. There’s also a depth sensor for good measure. Xiaomi’s AI does a reasonable job with the phone’s portrait mode, for a budget phone at least. It’s far from perfect, with a slight hazy halo around the subject, and with certain elements (such as hats) losing corners to the algorithm. But the subject was given plenty of pop, and there was plenty of detail to be found in the skin. Typically with such cheap phones, the best you can hope for is either a 120Hz refresh rate (like the Poco X3 NFC) or a vibrant OLED panel (like the Realme 8). The Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G has neither. The fingerprint scanner, for example, is curved to match the rounded frame, and it feels considered; the stepped camera bump is also a clear sibling of that of the flagship Xiaomi Mi 11; the frame’s dual-texture has a buffed flat top, and high-gloss sides. Even nice-to-haves, like the selfie camera and 4K video recording, perform very well at the phone’s price, instantly making it our favourite affordable camera phone. The Note 10 Pro also starts with 64GB storage, and has an SD slot, so tonnes of potential space for photos and videos, or you can pay extra for the 128GB version. Why oh why...

At its price, you’re kidding yourself if you’re expecting the Redmi Note 10 Pro to be a fancy glass and metal mix. Instead, it’s one of the best plastic phones we’ve tested. In general shooting, the Redmi Note 10 5G is a reasonably competent performer, running as it does off the same Sony IMX 582 sensor you’ll find in the Poco F3 and Poco X3 Pro. Neither of those phones took spectacular pictures, even at their respective price points, but they were (and are) solid. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G runs on a MediaTek MT6833 Dimensity 700 5G, which is the exact same 7nm chip used by one of its closest rivals, the Realme 8 5G. You only have to look at the shared nomenclature of these three handsets to see why this might be. 5G modems are some of the most power-hungry components to be found in any modern smartphone.