Any links to online stores should be assumed to be affiliates. The company or PR agency provides all or most review samples. They have no control over my content, and I provide my honest opinion.

While some companies such as OnePlus are happy to release a phone every 6 months, Xiaomi appears to have a monthly release schedule. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro was announced a couple of months ago and we have also had the Redmi K20 Pro Premium and Mi Mix Alpha since then.

The latest phone, due to land in China at the start of November is the Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro, it is very likely this will then be called the Mi Note 10 for the global release. There are mixed reports about this Xiaomi have confirmed the Mi Note 10 is coming and that it has a 108MP Penta camera just like the Mi CC9 Pro, but some people seem to think it will have a different chipset. My personal opinion is that this is unlikely, as Xiaomi has consistently followed a schedule of launching with one name in China then another for Global with the same spec.

The new phone has some absolutely crazy specs including a 108 MP primary camera, but it is not being positioned as a flagship device, and instead uses the Snapdragon 730G which will give you near-flagship performance at a lower price point.

The Xiaomi Redmi K20 or Mi 9T for the EU has been one of Xiaomi’s best phones for the past few months, if not the year, and the Redmi Note 8 Pro is threatening to take that crown.

So how do these three phones compare?

Display and Dimensions

All three phones are around the same height and similar weights, the Redmi Note 8 Pro is the largest with a 6.53-inch screen then the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 with 6.47 inches and finally the Redmi K20 with 6.39 inches. This will also have a slightly curved display on both sides.

The Redmi Note 8 Pro has an IPS display running at 1080 x 2340 pixels, whereas both the others use AMOLED also running at 1080 x 2340 pixels.

Both the Mi Note 10 and Redmi Note 8 Pro hide their selfie cameras in a small notch, while the Redmi K20 has that pop-up selfie camera.

Chipset, RAM and Storage

There is a bit of difference here, the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G chipset while the Redmi K20 has the Snapdragon 730, you probably won’t notice much difference for day to day usage, but the Snapdragon 730G  claims to offer 15% faster graphics rendering over the Snapdragon 730.

The Redmi Note 8 Pro has the Mediatek Helio G90T, this should offer about the same performance as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G however it uses a larger fabrication process so it is likely not as efficient with power, so battery life will drop a little.

They all have the same base options with 6GB/64GB of RAM then options for 8GB/128GB.

Both the Mi Note 10 and  Xiaomi Redmi Note can expand the storage with a microSD card, but the Redmi K20 cannot.

Camera

This is where the Mi Note 10 / CC9 Pro gets interesting, it has an insane camera config with:

  • 108 MP wide lens
  • 12MP 50mm Portrait lens
  • 12MP 5x telephoto
  • 20MP ultrawide
  • 2MP macro
  • 32MP selfie

The telephoto lens is a periscope sensor that will allow the phone to support 5x optical zoom, 10x hybrid zoom and 50x digital zoom.

Then the 50mm portrait lens of 12-megapixel with a large pixel size of 1.4micron. It supports dual PD autofocus and has an aperture rating of f/2.0 aperture.

The 108MP is the Samsung sensor that has been reported about in the past and features on the Mi Mix Alpha. It is a 1/1.33-inch sensor with an aperture rating of f/1.7. The fourth one is a 20-megapixel superwide lens with 117-degree field-of-view.

Lastly is the super macro lens with a focal length of 1.5cm.

Xiaomi has revealed that the 108-megapixel lens and the periscope are both equipped with support for optical image stabilisation (OIS).

The Redmi Note 8 Pro has

  • 64MP wide lens
  • 8MP ultrawide
  • 2MP macro
  • 2MP depth sensor
  • 20MP selfie

Then the Mi 9T/Redmi K20 has

  • 48MP wide
  • 8MP 2x optical telephoto
  • 13MP ultrawide
  • 20MP pop-up selfie

Battery

Again, Xiaomi takes things to the next level with the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 fitting ion a monster 5170mAh battery and just for comparison the Pixel 4 uses a 2800 mAh battery!

The other two devices have a generous battery too, just less impressive, the Note 8 Pro has a 4500 mAh battery while the Redmi K20 has a 4500 mAh battery 

Other Features

All the phones have NFC for Google Pay, and they all have a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The Mi Note 10 and Mi 9T use an under-display fingerprint sensor, but the Note 8 Pro has a rear-mounted one.

Price

The one thing we don’t know is the price of the Xiaomi Mi Note 10, the initial launch will be in China and these prices won’t represent what we will pay in the UK.

The Redmi Note 8 Pro costs just 258-euros or £222 for the 6GB/64GB model.

The Xiaomi Redmi K20 / Mi 9T costs a little more at 299-euros/£258 for the same 6GB/64GB

The Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro with a Qualcomm SD 855 costs 367-euros/£316 and this is positioned as a flagship device, so I would be inclined to say the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 will fall somewhere between the Mi 9T and Mi 9T.

Comparison Table

Xiaomi Mi Note 10Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 ProXiaomi Redmi K20
Dimensions157.8 x 74.2 x 9.7 mm (6.21 x 2.92 x 0.38 in)161.4 x 76.4 x 8.8 mm (6.35 x 3.01 x 0.35 in)156.7 x 74.3 x 8.8 mm (6.17 x 2.93 x 0.35 in)
Weight208 g (7.34 oz)200 g (7.05 oz)191 g (6.74 oz)
BuildFront/back glass (Gorilla Glass 5)Front/back glass, aluminum frame
SIMDual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
TypeSuper AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colorsIPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colorsSuper AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size6.47 inches, 102.8 cm2 (~87.8% screen-to-body ratio)6.53 inches, 104.7 cm2 (~84.9% screen-to-body ratio)6.39 inches, 100.2 cm2 (~86.1% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution1080 x 2340 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio (~398 ppi density)1080 x 2340 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio (~395 ppi density)1080 x 2340 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio (~403 ppi density)
ProtectionUnspecifiedCorning Gorilla Glass 5Corning Gorilla Glass 5
HDR10+500 nits max brightnessHDR
HDR
OSAndroid 9.0 (Pie); MIUI 11Android 9.0 (Pie); MIUI 10Android 9.0 (Pie), upgradable to Android 10; MIUI 11
ChipsetQualcomm SDM730 Snapdragon 730G (8 nm)Mediatek Helio G90T (12nm)Qualcomm SDM730 Snapdragon 730 (8 nm)
CPUOcta-core (2x2.2 GHz Kryo 470 Gold & 6x1.8 GHz Kryo 470 Silver)Octa-core (2x2.05 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55)Octa-core (2x2.2 GHz Kryo 470 Gold & 6x1.8 GHz Kryo 470 Silver)
GPUAdreno 618Mali-G76 MC4Adreno 618
Card slotmicroSD, up to 256 GB (uses shared SIM slot)microSD, up to 256 GB (uses shared SIM slot)No
Internal64GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM64GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM64GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM
UFS2.1UFS2.1
Front Camera108 MP, f/1.7, (wide), 1/1.33", 0.8µm, PDAF, Laser AF64 MP, f/1.9, 26mm (wide), 1/1.7", 0.8µm, PDAF48 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/2", 0.8µm, PDAF
12 MP, f/2.0, 50mm (telephoto), 1/2.55", 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, Laser AF, 2x optical zoom8 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide), 1/4", 1.12µm8 MP, f/2.4, 53mm (telephoto), 1/4", 1.12µm, PDAF, 2x optical zoom
20 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide), 1/2.8", 1.0µm, Laser AF2 MP, f/2.4, 1/5", 1.75µm (dedicated macro camera)13 MP, f/2.4, 12mm (ultrawide), 1/3", 1.12µm
2 MP, f/2.4, 1/5", 1.75µm (dedicated macro camera)2 MP, f/2.4, 1/5", 1.75µm, depth sensor
FeaturesQuad-LED dual-tone flash, HDRLED flash, HDR, panoramaDual-LED flash, HDR, panorama
Video2160p@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, 720p@960fps2160p@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, 720p@960fps, gyro-EIS2160p@30fps, 1080p@30/120/240fps, 1080p@960fps
Selfie32 MP, f/2.0, 0.8µm20 MP, f/2.0, 0.9µmMotorized pop-up 20 MP, f/2.2, 0.8µm
FeaturesHDRHDR, panoramaHDR
Video1080p@30fps1080p@30fps1080p@30fps
LoudspeakerYesYesYes
3.5mm jackYesYesYes
Active noise cancellation with dedicated micActive noise cancellation with dedicated mic24-bit/192kHz audio
Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
WLANWi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspotWi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspotWi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX HD5.0, A2DP, LE5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX HD
GPSYes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDSYes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDSYes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS
NFCYesYesYes (China only)
Infrared portYesYesNo
RadioFM radioFM radio, recordingYes
USB2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, USB On-The-Go
SensorsFingerprint (under display, optical), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compassFingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compassFingerprint (under display, optical), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
BatteryNon-removable Li-Po 5170 mAh batteryNon-removable Li-Po 4500 mAh batteryNon-removable Li-Po 4000 mAh battery
ChargingFast battery chargingFast battery charging 18WFast battery charging 18W
ColorsBlack, Red, Blue, White, GreenBlack, Red, Blue, WhiteCarbon black, Red flame, Glacier blue, Pearl White
Price258-euros / £222299-euros/£258

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *