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    MugenReview: Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 - Ultra Premium Label on an (Ultra) Budget Phone

    By Mugentech, in MugenArticles, , 0 comments, 922 views
    Introduction
     
    With 5G gaining rapid adoption these days seeing how Xiaomi and Oppo are designing their own 5G chipset with Unisoc, its comforting to know that the 4G/LTE range is still getting love, especially in the lower cost market segment. What used to be the price for entry level phones is now competitively wrapped in a seemingly premium package; even more so in Xiaomi's latest iteration in the form of Redmi Note 10. Let's see what makes this budget Note series such a compelling combination.
     
    Unboxing
     
    Packaging of the Redmi Note Series is pretty standard, minimalistic. Subtle differences to the one found in Redmi Note 9S, but the former comes with a higher powered, well made 33W factory USB charger.  With it also comes the factory-applied screen protector, and a clear case. Straight up ready to use right out of the box onto the hands.

     
     
    Specs
     

     
    This is where the Redmi Note 10 truly shines. For around $250 what we see here is almost a Unicorn: Decent Snapdragon 678 Chipset with ample to show on benchmarks, crispy Super AMOLED Display that isn't from Mi A3 era, and Sony IMX582 rear shooter powered by a 5,000mAh battery. If that's still not enough, they threw in a 128GB UFS2.2 storage along with generous 6GB LPDDR4X ram (this 6/128GB version is the one being reviewed). Sounds almost like a better version of Rasberry Pi with touchscreen and battery. Well not literally almost but you catch the drift.
     
     

     
    Build Quality
     

     
    The Redmi Note 10 feels very well put together, with no shaky bits at all. Buttons have assuring feedback, and the side mounted power button/fingerprint sensor feels plush to the touch. They have chosen not to indent the power/sensor button in like on the Note 9S, but keep it flush along the side of the body.  That being said, the "indent" is cleverly introduced on the official casing. All very subtle yet practical. The dimensions are noticeably smaller  and thinner than the Note 9S but its really much easier to hold on the hand. Coming in lighter at 20g should be a relief for those who habitually have it glued on their palms on the go as well. Overall the phone has very refined feel on the hands, especially the touch screen experience (we'll come to that below).
     

     
     
    Granted that it's now come with a plastic back cover (in comparison with glass back on Redmi Note 9S) to save costs, perhaps Xiaomi has gotten this package right: focus on the good bits, especially where users come in contact with the most, i.e the screen. Nevertheless, the matt finish is very welcome as it doesn't attract fingerprints, although it would be common behaviour to use the free case anyway.
     
     
    Display
     
    The Redmi Note 10 display comes in at 6.43 inches at a crisp 2400 x 1080 resolution. But that's not all; Xiaomi chose to line this series up with the Super AMOLED screen, ensuring a brighter display with better colours, and a much better touch experience overall. For the discerning, comparing touch feelings on a typical tianma LCD panel vs AMOLED, the latter is a tad sensitive, at the same time providing a more padded (or plush) sensation on the thumb (or toe if you will). Really refined, and that is what has been missing on budget phones since the Mi A3. Not to mention that it's pleasing to the eyes - readability is overall better than the usual LCDs. Sunlight legibility is not a problem at all.
     

     
     
    Audio
     
    Again uncommon in this tier, this phone comes with top and bottom firing speakers, forming a stereo experience. Music is pleasing to the ears when placed in landscape mode. Definitely loud, with no distortion noticed on the highest volume setting. Has a good tinge of bass too, which is really commendable.  So, equally well done in the speakers department.
     
    Software / Daily Use / Performance
     
    For experienced android users, the MIUI is a breeze to set up right out of the box.
     

     
    Users generally have not much to worry about software updates since Xiaomi does generally support many devices well over 1 or 2 Android versions. Redmi Note 10 is based on Android 11 which is up to date.
     

     
    Being resistant to the conventional MIUI up to v11, imagine the pleasant surprise when MIUI 12 presented an app drawer on the home screen. Well finally! Gone are the days of tinkering with them phones at the risk of voiding warranty just to get a Pixel-like experience user interface, or having to install a different launcher over MIUI which doesn't always work perfect. Even less so for the pixel-like ROMs.
     
    Also improved on the MIUI 12 is even less bloatware from before. Most Xiaomi-centric apps are able to be uninstalled, and will be even more so when MIUI 12.5 arrives. That leaves more juice to the main apps in use on the phone, as well as keeping the UI animations fluid and responsive even after more than a week of uptime / usage. Good ram management onboard.
     
    The MIUI 12 also has a good looking dark mode which has a more unified experience compare to earlier versions, with good legibility.
     
     

     
     
    One of the major advantage here is having UFS 2.2 storage which really speeds up the day to day usage. Never mind the high sequential read/writes; the Redmi Note 10 has good IOPS for the storage savvy users.
     

     
     
    Camera Day
     
    In this segment the Redmi Note 10 takes really impressive day photos. The implementation of the camera stack fronted by the 48MP Sony IMX582 Exmore RS is highly commendable. It somehow brought back the sharpness of Samsung ISOCELL GM1 (found in Redmi Note 8, lost in Redmi Note 9S) and improved even more.
     
    It helps that MIUI 12 has good Camera UI which is really easy to use, and best left to its built-in intuition. Great clarity in most shots when HDR is in auto mode, with risks of overexposure when HDR is on, depending on the scene. The AI feature is also quite useful to determine the type of scene for e.g. food, night etc. It also has a Pro mode for the imaging connoisseurs equipped with tripod stands.
     
    All in all, best to leave it auto, and AI for colour boosts. 
     

     
    Pictures taken in auto mode:
     

     
     
    Macro Mode: Nice to have, useful only when mandatory to picture objects up close
     

     
     
    Camera Night
     
    No complaints, decent quality. Perhaps a minor discontentment: night shots are much brighter than reality, but the plus point is having more visible details. Impressive night mode on the MIUI 12 that actually improves the overall image quality.
     
    Low light street shot
     

     
    Night Mode ON / OFF:
     


     
     
     
    Battery Life 
     
    On typical normal usage, it is proving quite a challenge to completely exhaust battery juice within a day. No doubt Snapdragon 678 is not as efficient as the 7 series, but given that AMOLED is proving to be quite frugal on consumption, the overall discharge rate is kept low. It is safe to assume that the SOT (screen on time) on this phone could be an hour or more per 10% drop while on 4G, meaning that it should not be any issue covering 10 hours of SOT on mobile network with good signals. That being said, it simply lasts forever (well not literally) on WiFi, however it was observed that the MIUI can be a tad too tense on battery restriction; notifications are usually delayed by a few minutes when left idle.
     

     
     
    Conclusion
     
    The Redmi Note 10 is indeed an impeccable value for money package from Xiaomi. It certainly has most, if not all the right ingredients in this latest formula - both hardware and software included. It there was a bone to pick on, that would probably be the lack of Snapdragon 7 series chipset onboard. Still, with a performant mid tier CPU and all things considered, this phone is a compelling buy.
     
    MugenVerdict: 10/10 Star Buy

     

    Redmi Note 7 Pro - Latest Snapdragon Beast to be Released

    By Mugentech, in MugenArticles, , 0 comments, 1647 views
    The latest and meanest Redmi model yet from Xiaomi is due for a release in a couple of weeks.
    Following the announcement in China and India, the Redmi Note 7 is expected to be released on 18th and 13th March respectively.


    What sets it apart from the usual Redmi (Pro) series is the close-to flagship hardware used:


    - Snapdragon 675 Octa-Core Kryo 260 11nm
    - Adreno 612
    - 48MP rear camera with LED Flash, f/1.79 aperture, Sony IMX586 sensor, 6P lens, PDAF, EIS, 5MP secondary camera
    - 6.3-inch Full HD+ 2.5D curved glass dot notch display, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection
    - up to 6GB LPDDR4x RAM with 128GB storage
    - Android 9.0 (Pie) with MIUI 10
    - 4000mAh battery

    It is also among the first in Redmi series to sport the latest USB Type-C connector.
    With the new Snapdragon 675 built on 11nm process, it will be expected to see performance gains on top of increased power efficiency on battery life.

    Featuring the latest 48MP f/1.79 Sony IMX586 camera, it certainly is intriguing to note how well detailed night photography would be like.

     
    Source: 1 | 2

    Samsung eUFS 3.0 Storage in Production - The New Speedy Gonzales

    By Mugentech, in MugenArticles, , 1 comment, 1087 views
    Samsung announced mass production of the latest and first 512GB eUFS 3.0 NAND storage for smartphones, probably in line with their upcoming flagship models packed with large storage.

    With this new large and speedy smartphone storage, we can also expect to see leading makers adopt these into their line-ups as well.
    Touting 2,100MB/s sequential read speed and 68,000 IOPS on write, these new state-of-the-art chips based on Samsung's 5th-generation V-NAND  technology are expected to perform more than 5 times faster than budget phones using eMMC 5.1 storage like the MI A2 .
    There are also plans to bring in 1.0 TB version in the later part of this year.
    Source

    Xiaomi Mi A2 Review - Life after Pie

    By Mugentech, in MugenArticles, , 9 comments, 2259 views
    Xiaomi Mi A2 Review - Life after Pie
    Introduction
    Xiaomi has been making waves of tremendous success in recent years, more notably from selling low-cost android smartphones. Granted that they weren't exceptionally speedy nor sturdy in the beginning, today we see a very matured production and more consistent quality/performance even when it comes to their budget range.
    Since the release of Mi A2 in July 2018, there has been on average monthly software updates, and Xiaomi has brought Android 9.0 Pie to the A2 since December. What's it like to use the second Android One phone in its latest iteration?
    Unboxing
    The Mi A2 came in a premium looking package, as it seems to be the new norm across the range. All essentials were neatly packed with the pleasant addition of a clear soft case. Nice touch there Xiaomi. For the careful yet enthusiastic users, good to know that you are good to go with the factory screen "protector", buffered by the clear case behind.


     
    Specs
    As the Mi A2 does not belong in the highest tier segment, the manufacturer went with Snapdragon 660AIE instead. While not the best performing chipset from Qualcomm, it does qualify well as a mid-tier SoC, more than capable of great real-world performance especially when married to Google's very own flavour of Android.

    Build Quality

    Lightweight phones has never been my preference; and the Mi A2 ticked that box for sure. Build feels premium and the hardware is clad in a metal unibody, which gives a chunky feel on the hand. Glad Xiaomi did not cheap out on raw material. Design, however, does resemble that of iPhone. Power, Volume buttons feels firm and assuring to the touch; and the rear mounted fingerprint sensor rarely, if ever, fails recognition.
    Overall the phone build feels very sturdy and emits the assurance that it won't be breaking any time soon.
    Display
    Coming in at 5.99" the A2's screen is definitely not small by any standards. Yet it also isn't overly huge, given its narrow bezels, with a screen-to-body ratio of ~77.3%. The LTPS touchscreen LCD is also protected by 2.5D curved Gorilla Glass 5, which feels good to the touch. Touchscreen is mostly  responsive, and did not require any calibration out of the box.
    The camera notch has been quite a subjective preference, and I'm glad to say that there isn't one on the A2. Never mind that minor difference in height; I prefer the screen estate to be shaped regular. 

    FHD+ resolution is certainly much appreciated, although it has more or less become the norm even in budget models. Images and videos look crisp and sharp. Clarity is more than adequate on the Tianma display panel. What is perhaps lacking is brightness; legibility on max brightness can still be a hit or miss on full outdoor sunlight. 
    Audio
    Although the A2 has 2 sets of speaker grilles, only one houses the mono speaker, which is to be expected in most of their line-ups. The solo speaker does a pretty good job on sounds, and does not noticeably break on its loudest. Although it is extremely common to to expect the lack of bass on phones, Mi A2 does its best with a feeble inclusion during audio playback.
    For audio enthusiast on the go, it will be disappointing to see exclusion of the native 3.5mm audio jack. The only consolation is an included type-c to 3.5mm jack, but still disappoints when in need of powerbank juice. 
    Music playback over bluetooth is seamless and fuss-free.
    Software / Daily Use / Performance
    Mi A2 usage is a breeze under the Android One program. Menu's are well structured, UI is simple and intuitive to use. Setup was hassle free due to cloud backup and restore. All previously downloaded apps, settings etc. had been restored in less than an hour, less a couple of re-initializations and its ready to use.




    Day to day use is speedy and fluid; given the more than adequate 6GB memory, all apps open and close with ease. Camera launches immediately and video playback starts with ease. Scrolling is smooth and rarely stutters, if ever.
    Updates arrive monthly on average, bringing various stability and security improvements.
    However, there seems to be some random issues with touch latency ever since update to Pie 9.0; typing fast may cause some letters to get skipped / not registered. Also the touch area of the on-screen "back" button has expanded since 9.0, and it can be sometimes annoying to have the palm touch on accident. Perhaps future updates may fix this minor niggle.
    Camera Day
    The highlight of Mi A2 seems to be the cameras. Utilizing IMX376 / IMX486 all-round is quite impressive given its accompanying price tag.
    Day shots are mostly on-point; mostly easy to capture using the phase detection auto focus. Dynamic range and colours are rather wide, and picture clarity grade is high.

    Indoor shots and close-up food pictures are equally visually pleasing, courtesy of Sony's dual shooters:

     
    Camera Night
    Night shots usually determine whether the phone holds up in the camera department. Thankfully the Mi A2 did not disappoint in this price segment. Dual f/1.75 lens used here shows their advantage in night scenes. Exposure is adequate and noise is bearable for the most part. However for the avid photographers, the lack of OIS often leaves the end result noisy and blurred, especially when taken hand-held. Auto-focus isn't always on point and need correction on many occasions, but captures fairly decent handheld stills, even more so when HHT is enabled. For the photo-savvy, manual mode reveals a couple of settings fit for use on tripod - Aperture, ISO, Shutter speed etc.

    Battery Life
    Xiaomi / Google has done an impressive job in battery life for the A2. Given the mediocre 3000mAh battery pack, most avid users would go "meh" when fiddling with store demo sets. The trust in Android One has not gone wasted; upon upgrade to 9.0 the most featured "adaptive battery" managed to boost the phone to a full day of web surfing. Below results are based on Dual Sim, heavy 4G usage on mostly web surfing habits.

    With rugged use of Dual 4G/3G and varying brightness in/outdoors, pulling close to 6 hours SoT is rather admirable for the A2, considering battery size and that it isn't using the 10nm Snapdragon 710, nor does it come with AMOLED.
    Conclusion
    The Mi A2 is yet another feature packed quality product from Xiaomi. Although equipped with modest CPU and battery, the A2 performs exceptionally well in the mid-range category with its fluid performance and good battery life. Camera performance is equally good which is a welcomed advantage. Finally, with Android One's promise of delivering OS upgrades for at least 2 years, the A2 will see itself remain competitive in the Android market for quite a while.
     

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