Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S: A consistent OS would have been nice

When compared to the Redmi Note 10, the main distinguishing feature of the Redmi Note 10S is an NFS chip. The Redmi Note 10 Pro has a considerably better camera system than the Redmi Note 10S. In terms of price, The Redmi Note 10S, which costs about 220 Euros (~$263), slots in between the Redmi Note 10 and Redmi Note 10 Pro.

However, all models feature the same software. They run Android 11 with a custom launcher known as MiUI (12.5). While the Redmi Note 10 displays advertisements when installing applications via the File Manager app, the Redmi Note 10S does not. The Redmi Note 10 Pro feels very responsive. There are security prompts when changing system settings.

The Redmi Note 10S failed to run some of our benchmarks because it was unable to connect to the servers of the benchmark providers. It appears as though Xiaomi has intentionally blocked some benchmarks from running.

The Redmi Note 10 did not exhibit this sort of behaviour. However, the Redmi Note 10 5G did. System-level restrictions seem to limit the ability to run benchmarks on some Xiaomi smartphones. We do not find this to be a particularly good development.