Is the Redmi 10 Prime Worth the Price Hike? A Detailed Look at Xiaomi’s Latest Budget Offering
The Redmi 10 Prime, successor to the popular Redmi 9 Prime, promises significant upgrades with a new MediaTek Helio G88 SoC and a 50-megapixel primary camera, but at a higher starting price of Rs. 12,499. Is this improvement enough to justify the price bump, or are there better options in this competitive budget segment? We put the Redmi 10 Prime through its paces to find out.
Redmi 10 Prime Price in India
The Redmi 10 Prime is available in two variants:
- 4GB RAM + 64GB storage: Rs. 12,499
- 6GB RAM + 128GB storage: Rs. 14,499
It comes in three color options: Bifrost Blue, Astral White, and Phantom Black.
Redmi 10 Prime Design
Xiaomi has adopted the "Evol" design language introduced with the Redmi Note 10 series, giving the Redmi 10 Prime a familiar look. It features a large 6.5-inch display with noticeable bezels, a centered punch-hole for the selfie camera (which some might find distracting due to its size), and a plastic frame that’s rounded for comfortable grip.
The Bifrost Blue color variant has a gradient finish that catches the light
The Redmi 10 Prime features a side-mounted fingerprint scanner integrated into the power button on the right, with volume buttons placed above it. While the fingerprint sensor is easily accessible, reaching the volume buttons requires a bit of a stretch. The left side houses the SIM tray, and like its predecessor, the top and bottom frames are flat. The top houses a 3.5mm headphone jack, IR emitter, and speaker holes, while the bottom houses the USB Type-C port, primary microphone, and loudspeaker.
The plastic back panel features a distinct camera module housing four cameras, which protrudes slightly causing the phone to rock when placed on a flat surface. The Bifrost Blue color variant boasts a gradient pattern at the back, but its glossy finish attracts fingerprints, requiring frequent cleaning.
Redmi 10 Prime Specifications
The Redmi 10 Prime is one of the few current smartphones powered by the MediaTek Helio G88 SoC. Xiaomi couples it with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM, depending on the variant, offering 64GB and 128GB of storage respectively. Both variants allow for RAM expansion utilizing a portion of the storage, with the base variant offering 1GB expansion and the higher variant allowing for 2GB expansion.
The 6.5-inch display boasts full-HD+ resolution with a 90Hz refresh rate and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Though set to 60Hz by default, users can switch to 90Hz in the display settings. Xiaomi claims the phone uses an adaptive refresh rate that dynamically adjusts to 45Hz for static content, 60Hz for video streaming, and 90Hz for scrolling or gaming, optimizing power consumption.
The IR emitter on the top can be used to control IR-based appliances
The Redmi 10 Prime packs a massive 6,000mAh battery, paired with a 22.5W charger included in the box, though the device itself supports 18W fast charging. It also features 9W reverse charging, allowing users to utilize the phone as a power bank to charge other devices. The smartphone boasts dual-SIM support, 4G connectivity, VoLTE on both SIMs, a dedicated microSD card slot for storage expansion, Bluetooth 5.1, dual-band Wi-Fi, and four satellite navigation systems.
The Redmi 10 Prime runs MIUI 12.5 on top of Android 11 with the July Android security patch. Several preinstalled apps are included, such as Amazon, Facebook, Prime Video, LinkedIn, Mi Credit, and Netflix, which can be uninstalled. GetApps, an alternative to the Play Store, also comes preinstalled and occasionally sends push notifications. The UI is user-friendly, and scrolling through menus feels smooth. Other Xiaomi features like Game Turbo, Second Space, and Lite Mode are also available.
Redmi 10 Prime Performance
The Redmi 10 Prime’s display proved sufficiently bright for indoor use. The stereo speakers deliver loud audio, making video watching and gaming more engaging, though the sound appears hollow at higher volumes, a common occurrence in this price range. The side-mounted fingerprint sensor is responsive and unlocks the device quickly, typically requiring only one attempt.
The 6GB RAM variant proved capable of quickly loading apps and effortlessly multitasking between them. Benchmark tests illustrate the device’s performance:
- AnTuTu Benchmark: 245,744 points
- PCMark Work 3.0: 8,375
- Geekbench 5:
- Single-Core: 365
- Multi-Core: 1,174
- GFXBench:
- T-Rex: 40fps
- Car Chase: 8.6fps
The Redmi 10 Prime has a quad-camera setup
Playing BGMI (Battlegrounds Mobile India) on the Redmi 10 Prime, the game defaulted to HD graphics and High frame rate. Gameplay was smooth at these settings, with no lag or stuttering observed. After 30 minutes of gameplay, the phone exhibited slight warmth and a 9% battery drain.
The substantial 6,000mAh battery easily powers the Redmi 10 Prime for over a day and a half under normal usage. In our HD video loop test, the phone achieved a runtime of 16 hours and 24 minutes. Charging with the included 18W charger resulted in a 24% charge in 30 minutes and 50% charge in an hour.
Redmi 10 Prime Cameras
The Redmi 10 Prime boasts a quad-camera setup consisting of:
- 50-megapixel primary camera
- 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera
- 2-megapixel macro camera
- 2-megapixel depth sensor
The camera app maintains familiar features from recent Xiaomi phones with quick toggles for HDR, AI, and a Pro mode offering complete manual control.
Most photos captured during the review were taken in overcast conditions. Daylight photos exhibited decent detail, but appeared oversharpened, lacking appeal. The edges of frames displayed slight graininess. The ultra-wide-angle camera delivers a wider field of view, but its output falls short in quality compared to the primary sensor and exhibits distortion at the edges.
Redmi 10 Prime daylight camera sample (tap to see full size)
Redmi 10 Prime daylight ultra-wide-angle camera sample (tap to see full size)
Close-up shots displayed good detail, with AI quickly detecting the subject. Colors were accurate, and the phone effectively differentiated between the subject and background to create a depth effect. Portrait shots exhibited good edge detection and efficient background blur. Users can adjust the blur level before capturing a shot. Macros captured decent detail but required framing adjustments to avoid the phone’s shadow falling on the subject. Output is limited to 2 megapixels.
Redmi 10 Prime close-up camera sample (tap to see full size)
Redmi 10 Prime Portrait camera sample (tap to see full size)
Low-light camera performance is merely average. Images appear dark and lack detail. Enabling AI does offer a slight improvement, but nothing significant. Night mode produces marginally brighter images but still struggles to capture adequate detail.
Redmi 10 Prime low-light camera camera sample (tap to see full size)
Redmi 10 Prime Night Mode camera sample (tap to see full size)
Selfies captured with the 8-megapixel front camera delivered acceptable results in daylight. The output appeared sharpened, with blacks heavily boosted. Portrait shots exhibited good edge detection and adequate background blur in daylight. Low-light selfies taken under a street lamp fell below average, while those captured with a brighter light source nearby were satisfactory.
Redmi 10 Prime selfie portrait camera sample (tap to see full size)
Redmi 10 Prime low-light selfie camera sample (tap to see full size)
Video recording is capped at 1080p resolution for both the primary and selfie cameras. Footage lacks stabilization during both daylight and nighttime recording.
Verdict
The Redmi 10 Prime boasts upgraded hardware compared to the Redmi 9 Prime but comes with a higher price tag. While it offers improved performance, the camera performance falls short. The high-refresh-rate display and massive 6,000mAh battery cater well to casual users. However, at its starting price of Rs. 12,499, it faces intense competition from the Realme 8i, which offers superior specifications on paper (we’ll review it soon). The higher priced variant of the Redmi 10 Prime is priced similarly to the Redmi Note 10S and Redmi 10T 5G, both offering better hardware. Ultimately, the Redmi 10 Prime presents a decent option for those seeking a budget-friendly smartphone with a large display and long battery life, but its shortcomings in camera performance and the presence of better alternatives at similar price points make it a less compelling choice.
