Redmi’s Note series is among the most popular phones in India. But there remains a market for the non-Note number-series phones from the Redmi brand and the Redmi 10 Prime is the latest in this lineup.
It succeeds the Redmi 9 Prime and 9 Power, but does it offer enough to justify its price tag? Here’s what we think.
The new FHD+ 90Hz IPS LCD panel on the phone is great. (Image Source: The Indian Express/ Chetan Nayak)
Thanks to the big battery life, you’d actually be able to use 90Hz all the time without worrying about battery running out before the day, a luxury that even some mid-range and flagship smartphones cannot provide on a heavy use day. There’s also Widevine L1 certification, so you can binge on your favourite shows in HD.
Design: Redmi 9 Prime was a good-looking phone despite its budget pricing, almost looking like a mini Poco X2. It also borrows from the design language of the Redmi Note 10 series and the Mi 11X series with a shiny back, a large camera module and brushed sides. While this is still a plastic back, the phone is actually slimmer than the Redmi 9 Prime despite having a significantly large battery. It doesn’t skip on the 3.5mm jack either.
Looks are subjective and while we’d prefer the more minimal approach of the 9 Prime, you might like the 10 Prime better. (Image Source: The Indian Express/ Chetan Nayak)
The company has also managed to put in a USB-C port, stereo speaker implementation and a fingerprint scanner is embedded in the power button, so you have no compromises. Looks are subjective and while we’d prefer the more minimal approach of the 9 Prime, you might like the 10 Prime better.
Battery Life: Bigger batteries are always better. This is exactly why we appreciate the 6,000mAh battery capacity on the Redmi 10 Prime which is already an upgrade over last year’s 5,020mAh battery. This gives the phone enough juice for two days, even with moderate usage, and you’d really struggle killing the battery in a single day with average use cases.
A bonus is the reverse charging support, that you can use to charge devices like earbuds and wearables, effectively making the phone a 6,000mAh powerbank when needed.
Redmi 10 Prime: What’s not good?
Cameras: The Redmi 10 Prime cameras are not bad. However, they aren’t well above what you’d expect either. Considering the big deal the company made about the 50MP camera on the back, we expected more details, which came out to be average. The colours may feel slightly less saturated in images where you’d expect them to pop.
The Redmi 10 Prime features a slightly underwhelming camera experience, although not a bad one, (Image Source: The Indian Express/ Chetan Nayak)
The Night Mode, however, worked extremely well in low light scenarios and managed to capture light well. Meanwhile, the performance of the ultrawide sensor and the front camera was good enough for the price.
Check out our samples by clicking on the picture below.
Price-to-Performance Ratio: The Redmi 10 Prime’s starting price of Rs 12,499 seemed off from the beginning, given that the phone doesn’t offer a big upgrade over last year’s variant in the performance aspect, which in a budget phone should be the primary aspect to consider.
Don’t get us wrong, the Helio G88 is a capable processor for a budget device. It is snappy at day-to-day tasks and can handle casual games while higher-end games may work with below average performance. However, in a practical sense the Redmi 9 Prime with the Helio G80 could do most of that at Rs 2,000 less.
The phone features a center-aligned punch-hole front camera. (Image Source: The Indian Express/ Chetan Nayak)
A 90Hz display is great, and so is a larger battery, but a faster chip or a lower starting price for the same chip would have made the phone a better proposition. The same could be said for the slower 18W charging speed, which could have been faster given the price bump.
Verdict: Should you buy the Redmi 10 Prime?
The Redmi 10 Prime is a good overall phone, but it’s pricing right now makes it a slightly tough recommendation. Performance should be your top priority when getting a budget phone, as it can help you run more apps and games, and makes the device slightly more future-proof.
If the performance bump that usually comes with a sequel device is not a big deal to you, and you could really use a smooth 90Hz refresh rate screen at a lower price, then the Redmi 10 Prime is a good pick. However, in sheer value-for-money, the Redmi 9 Prime would still be a better buy for most. On that note, perhaps a good discount this upcoming festive season could shake things up.
Check out our full review of the Redmi 10 Prime. (Image Source: The Indian Express/ Chetan Nayak) 
The new FHD+ 90Hz IPS LCD panel on the phone is great. (Image Source: The Indian Express/ Chetan Nayak)
Looks are subjective and while we’d prefer the more minimal approach of the 9 Prime, you might like the 10 Prime better. (Image Source: The Indian Express/ Chetan Nayak)
The Redmi 10 Prime features a slightly underwhelming camera experience, although not a bad one, (Image Source: The Indian Express/ Chetan Nayak)
The phone features a center-aligned punch-hole front camera. (Image Source: The Indian Express/ Chetan Nayak)
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